http://www.airlinerworld.com 15News Review • Americas
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Wheels Up has ordered 17 King Air 350i
turboprops to take its fleet to 75. The
deal comes on the back of $90m in debt
funding which was secured from private
equity firm KKR.North Star Air has taken delivery of its
first ATR 42-300, leased from West Wind
Aviation. The turboprop will serve the
First Nation communities at Fort Hope,
Neskantaga and Webequie, as well as
being available for charter. Frank Kelner,
President and CEO of the Thunder Bay,
Ontario-based airline, said: “The addition of
the ATR 42 to our fleet is a major milestone
allowing us to respond to the evolving
market requirements while offering the
highest standard of comfort and safety.Canadian low-cost carrier WestJet has
announced a slew of new routes for the
winter timetable. New weekly services
to the Mexican city of Huatulco will begin
from Vancouver and Edmonton on October
29 and November 2 respectively. WestJet
will begin a weekly flight from Calgary to
Belize on November 3. It has also added 55
weekly flights from Toronto to key domestic
and sun destinations in the US, Mexico
and Caribbean and increased frequencies
on flights from Kelowna, British Columbia,
to Edmonton, Calgary and Toronto.
(Photo WestJet)Delta Air Lines will launch a new Atlanta/
Hartsfield Jackson to Shanghai/Pudong
service next July, subject to government
approvals. The route will be flown on a
291-seat Boeing 777-200LR, featuring 37
lie-flat seats with direct aisle access in
Delta One, 36 seats in Delta Comfort+ and
218 seats in the Main Cabin. The airline
already serves Shanghai from Detroit,
Seattle and Los Angeles. CEO Ed Bastian
has confirmed Delta will place its initial
Bombardier CS100s in New York although
he refrained from detailing which routes
the aircraft would fly.Start-up Canada Jetlines plans to launch
its ultra low-cost service next summer,
using a fleet of four Boeing 737s. “Canada
still doesn’t have a true ultra low-cost
carrier and it has some of the highest air
fares in the world. The environment is
perfect for this kind of opportunity,” the
airline’s CEO, Stan Gadek, told the Financial
Post newspaper.Hawaiian Airlines has revealed the routes
its new Airbus A321neos will be operating.
The Honolulu-based carrier will introduce
the type on services from Maui to Portland
(starting January 18), Kaua'i to Oakland
(April 11) and Kona to Los Angeles (next
summer). Hawaiian will debut the A321neo
on its Maui-Oakland service on January 8.in brief
BRITISH COLUMBIA-BASED Harbour Air
joined Canada’s 150 birthday celebra-
tions with a stunning Canadian flag-
themed livery on de Havilland Canada
DHC-2 Beaver C-FFHA (c/n 39) and
DHC-3 Otter C-FODH (c/n 3). The
special scheme was applied to the
aircraft earlier this year in preparation
for the anniversary on July 1.
“The Otter and Beaver are iconic in
aviation and Canadian history,” said
Greg McDougall, the CEO of Harbour
Air. “These aircraft were designed andmanufactured right here in Canada. We
still fly these aircraft today at Harbour
Air, a testament to their reliability and
Canada’s excellence in aviation. We
thought it was only fitting to mark
Canada’s 150th by honouring the Otter
and Beaver, the two aircraft that opened
up and united this vast country — and
helped Harbour Air build an airline.”
Harbour Air has a fleet of 38 aircraft
operating regular services, tours and
private charters.
(Photo Harbour Air Seaplanes)Harbour Air Flies the Flag
PED
Restrictions
lifted for
Carriers
Restrictions placed on large personal
electronic devices (PEDs) being carried
on US-bound flights have been lifted,
the Department for Homeland Security
(DHS) has confirmed.
It said all airlines and airports around
the world were complying with the
requirements set out by US Homeland
Security Secretary John Kelly on June
- At the time passengers flying from
ten airports in the Middle East and
North Africa were banned from carry-
ing large PEDs in their carry-on lug-
gage, forcing them to place the devices
in their checked bags.
Affected airports were Amman/Queen
Alia, Cairo, Istanbul/Ataturk, Jeddah/
King Abdulaziz, Riyadh/King Khalid,
Kuwait, Casablanca/Mohammed V,
Doha/Hamad, Dubai and Abu Dhabi. It
impacted a host of carriers including
Emirates, Etihad, Qatar Airways and
Turkish Airlines.
One by one the airports were removed
from the list, starting with Abu Dhabi
on July 1. The DHS says all ten air-
ports had implemented the required
“enhanced security measures”.
“The Transportation Security
Administration (TSA) has lifted the
restrictions on large personal elec-
tronic devices for the ten airports/
nine airlines in the Middle East and
North Africa, which were announced in
March,” the DHS said in a statement.
“These airports and airlines have suc-
cessfully implemented the first phase
of enhanced security measures.
There are currently no airlines under
restrictions for large personal elec-
tronic devices. Airlines worldwide have
implemented additional security mea-
sures that ultimately make the global
aviation community more secure.”
US Officials have not detailed what the
new requirements entail simply saying
they needed enhanced “overall
passenger screening”.
Southwest Latest to
Slash Cuba Flights
LOW-COST CARRIER Southwest Airlines
has confirmed it is ending flights to
Varadero and Santa Clara de Cuba from
September 4. Southwest’s decision
to scale back its services to the
Caribbean island follows withdrawal
from the Cuban market by Frontier
Airlines, Spirit Airlines and Silver
Airways. All have cited insufficient loads
for their decisions.
The routes have also been hampered
by tighter restrictions placed on
Americans travelling to Cuba by US
President Donald Trump.
Southwest will however, maintain its links
to the capital Havana. The LCC flies to
Havana from Fort Lauderdale (twice daily)
and Tampa, with both routes performing
well. As a result, the airline has applied to
the US Department of Transportation for athird daily rotation from Fort Lauderdale.
“Our decision to discontinue the other
Cuba flights comes after an in-depth
analysis of our performance over several
months, which confirmed there is not a
clear path to sustainability serving these
markets, particularly with the continuing
prohibition in US law on tourism to
Cuba for American citizens,” said Steve
Goldberg, Southwest Airlines’ SVP
(Ground Operations).
In other news, Southwest teamed up with
the Discovery Channel to celebrate the
latter’s Shark Week, between July 23 and- As part of the celebrations, Boeing
737-7H4 N944WN (c/n 36659) received
a shark-themed livery, which it was due
to wear until August 31, and the carrier
hosted a Discovery ‘takeover’ on one of its
flights. (Photo Southwest Airlines)