Alaska Air Group has set the date for launching transpacific flights between Seattle and Seoul, as part of a broader international expansion plan enabled by Hawaiian Airlines’ widebody jets. The five-times-weekly flights to Seoul Incheon International airport will start 12 September using Hawaiian’s Airbus A330-200 aircraft, Alaska said on 25 March. Alaska Air Group’s acquisition of Hawaiian, completed last year, provided the company with an existing long-haul network from its new Honolulu hub. Hawaiian’s A330s and Boeing 787s are also allowing Alaska to pursue its first transpacific flights from Seattle. Seattle-to-Toyko service is set to launch on 12 May. Alaska calls its base at Seattle-Tacoma International airport the “largest airline hub on the West Coast”, with nonstop flights to 104 destinations across North America. It envisions flowing domestic and near-international traffic into a long-haul network stretching across the Pacific. By 2030, Alaska plans to fly to “at least 12” international cities from Seattle. Hawaiian operates more than 30 A330s and two 787-9s. The Honolulu-based carrier has 10 more 787s on order. <br/>
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Kenya Airways is focusing on completing a capital restructuring, to reduce leverage, and increasing liquidity after it turned in a full-year net profit of KShs5.4b ($41.7m). CE Allan Kilavuka says the company is still seeking a strategic investor in order to ensure long-term sustainability. “Our turnaround strategy is yielding positive results,” he states, insisting that the airline is an “attractive investment” for a strategic partner. Kenya Airways says it will invest to expand its fleet – it introduced two freighters last year – and modernise the cabins of its passenger aircraft. It says the financial performance reflects a “remarkable” improvement from the previous year’s loss of KShs22.6b. The company attributes the achievement to its ‘Project Kifaru’ strategy, which has helped lift revenues by 6% to KShs188.5b and generate a near-60% hike in operating profit to KShs16.6b. Kenya Airways says the opening of services to a number of destinations – including Mogadishu, Eldoret and Maputo – as well as increasing frequencies has contributed to the revenue growth. “Other initiatives undertaken by the management included partnerships with other airlines as well as cost-containment measures,” it says.<br/>
Qantas Airways has said it will start its “Project Sunrise” ultra long-haul flights in early 2027 as the Australian carrier bets on strong passenger demand for direct routes. Vanessa Hudson, chief executive, said the first of 12 Airbus A350-1000 planes on order would be delivered at the end of next year. The airline plans to offer customers some of the world’s longest flights between London and Sydney, and New York and Sydney. No decision has yet been made about which route will be launched first. The flights are expected to take up to 19 hours. Passengers on the aircraft are expected to pay an estimated 20% premium on London to Sydney tickets, but Hudson said the airline was getting positive customer feedback on its current direct service between London and Perth that it launched in 2018. Project Sunrise is part of a wider refresh of the airline’s fleet with previous plans to upgrade its planes delayed in recent years. When the carrier ordered its planes in 2022, it had announced a 2025 launch for the ultra long-haul flights. It was then pushed back in part after regulators asked Airbus to redesign the extra fuel tank on the aircraft. Qantas was still “very confident” in demand for the services, Hudson told reporters on the sidelines of an Airbus event in Toulouse. She added that customer feedback had shown passengers were prepared to pay for the premium experience. “There are absolutely customers who say, ‘I value getting there in one stop. I value point to point. I value the premium experience, and I’m prepared to pay for that’,” said Hudson. Given the flights’ length, the airline is working with the Charles Perkins Centre in Sydney to study how passengers will be able to manage jet lag, “when to eat, when to sleep, when to move”, said Hudson. “We will be building that into an integral part of the in-flight experience.” Qantas pilots have collected 12 months’ worth of wind data and are doing flight planning simulations. “There will be limits in terms of payload we will be able to manage,” said Hudson on the number of passengers, cargo and baggage the plane can carry. The airline will still need to carry out local certification flights before starting services. <br/>