A couple of years ago, German leisure airline Condor announced plans to refresh its narrow body fleet, and the airline has now taken delivery of its first of these jets. Condor refreshes narrow body fleet with A320neo family In July 2022, Condor placed an order for 41 Airbus A320neo family aircraft, in order to refresh its short and medium haul fleet. Condor placed a firm order for 13 Airbus A320neos and 28 Airbus A321neos, plus additional purchase rights. There’s now a major update, as Condor has just taken delivery of its very first Airbus A320neo, representing the first jet in the carrier’s ..read more

IHG’s luxury wellness brand is expanding its footprint, with the opening of the Six Senses Kyoto. Basics of the new Six Senses Kyoto The new 81-room Six Senses Kyoto has opened as of April 2024, and marks the brand’s entry into Japan, and continued expansion in urban markets. Six Senses Kyoto exteriorSix Senses Kyoto lobby Here’s how the hotel’s design inspiration is described (I won’t even try to paraphrase this): The hotel’s design draws inspiration from the Heian period (794-1185), when Heian-kyo (now Kyoto) was the capital of Japan, considered by many the golden age of art and culture tha ..read more

During a recent trip to Seattle, I spent a night at the 152-room Thompson Seattle, which opened in 2016. Not to go on a tangent right out the gate, but the hotel markets itself as being a boutique hotel — Thompson properties regularly do this, but is a hotel of this size really boutique?! Anyway, this hotel has some stuff going for it, like a central location, panoramic views, friendly staff, delicious breakfast, a popular rooftop bar, and reasonable rates. However, I wouldn’t return to this property, as there were just too many things I didn’t like (and admittedly we’re all looking for differ ..read more

Russians aren’t exactly spoiled for choice when it comes to the airlines they can fly internationally, given the restrictions currently in place. Turkish Airlines is the carrier offering the most one-stop global connectivity from Russia, and now the country is urging citizens to not fly with the Star Alliance airline to Latin America… Russians being denied boarding on Turkish Airlines flights The Russian Embassy in Turkey is advising Russian citizens to take precautions when flying with Turkish Airlines to Latin America. Authorities claim that Turkish Airlines has repeatedly denied boarding to ..read more

JetBlue already has an incredibly impressive suite of inflight entertainment options. Not only does the airline offer unlimited free Wi-Fi to all passengers, but it also has seat back entertainment on all aircraft, with audio and video on demand, plus live TV. The airline has now announced plans to further improve entertainment options, with more customization. New Blueprint By JetBlue entertainment features JetBlue has today announced Blueprint by JetBlue, which is the carrier’s name for a more personalized inflight entertainment platform that will provide more customizability across the trav ..read more

Hey, this is exciting! Etihad Airways has just announced that the Airbus A380 will soon be flying to yet another destination! Etihad A380 will fly from Abu Dhabi to Paris At the start of the pandemic, Etihad Airways grounded its Airbus A380 fleet, with plans to likely retire the aircraft permanently. Fortunately the airline had a change of heart, and as of the summer of 2023, the Abu Dhabi-based carrier brought back the super jumbo. Etihad had announced that its plan was to fly the A380 exclusively between Abu Dhabi (AUH) and London (LHR), with no firm plans to fly the jet to any other destina ..read more

United MileagePlus has just significantly hiked the cost of international first class awards, as flagged by ChazzaBazza and Live and Let’s Fly. These increases are rough, though I’m not sure this change matters all that much, quite frankly. United MileagePlus raises ANA & Lufthansa first class award costs While United no longer has international first class on its own planes, the airline does allow first class redemptions on Star Alliance partner airlines. It would appear that for flights as of Wednesday, April 24, 2024, the program has considerably increased international first class rede ..read more

Southwest Rapid Rewards has just introduced a new option for redeeming points, but don’t get too excited. Southwest’s new Cash + Points redemption option Southwest Rapid Rewards is a straightforward, revenue based frequent flyer program. You typically need a certain number of points toward each dollar of airfare, and it doesn’t matter which flight or fare you’re redeeming toward. For example, currently you need around 86 Rapid Rewards points per dollar of airfare. The catch is that under Southwest’s up until this point, you’ve needed to have enough points for the entire redemption, so you coul ..read more

A new CEO has just been appointed to lead Airbus Americas, and it’s… a puzzling choice? Robin Hayes appointed Airbus Americas CEO Airbus has announced that as of June 3, 2024, Jeffrey Knittel is retiring as CEO of Airbus Americas, and will be replaced by Robin Hayes, the former CEO of JetBlue. Hayes has been in the industry for 35 years, most recently having spent 19 years at JetBlue, where he served as CEO for nine years. In his new role, Hayes will lead the commercial aircraft business at Airbus Americas, and will have the responsibility for coordination among the company’s helicopters, spac ..read more

You wouldn’t expect to see Air China operating a route between Spain and Cuba, but that’s exactly what’s about to happen, as flagged by AeroRoutes. Air China launches Beijing to Madrid to Havana route As of May 17, 2024, Air China will launch a new 2x weekly flight from Beijing (PEK) to Havana (HAV) via Madrid (MAD). The route will be operated by a Boeing 787-9 with the following schedule: CA865 Beijing to Madrid departing 7:00AM arriving 12:45PM CA865 Madrid to Havana departing 2:45PM arriving 6:30PM CA866 Havana to Madrid departing 11:55PM arriving 3:30PM (+1 day) CA866 Madrid to Beijing dep ..read more