Just as a tide of cancelled orders has prompted Airbus to halt production of the A380 superjumbo, Japan’s biggest airline is betting it can succeed where others have failed -- by filling the luxurious double-deckers with tourists flying to Hawaii. Starting May 24, ANA Holdings has scheduled three flights a week from Tokyo to Honolulu on the 520-seat behemoths, painted in a special sea-turtle theme. The carrier will bring on two more A380s for the Hawaii service by August, ANA President Yuji Hirako said, adding that reservations for the route are already more than 40% higher than a year ago. The plan leaves ANA as the only passenger line with A380s on order, other than Dubai-based Emirates, which has been the plane’s mainstay airline. The aircraft -- which wowed travelers with in-flight showers, bedrooms and bars but was too big to win over most carriers -- may help ANA close the Hawaii market-share gap with JAL. Still, some question whether the carrier can keep filling the plane once the novelty wears off. “ANA is spending a lot on advertising, so they will initially be able to fill the planes, but in coming years, it may get harder to consistently sell all the seats,” said Yasuo Hashimoto, chief researcher at Japan Aviation Management Research. Even with the added capacity, <br/>
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Brussels Airlines is upgrading the cabins and introducing a premium economy class on its newly acquired Airbus A330-330s. The Lufthansa Group subsidiary is replacing seven leased A330s in its long-haul fleet with second-hand A330-300s and refurbishing the cabins of the new arrivals at a cost of E10m per aircraft. The new business class cabin, designed in collaboration with JPA Design, features 30 seats in a 1-2-1 configuration. Each seat can be converted to a lounge sofa or a 2-m full-flat bed with adjustable softness, and includes a tilting 15.6-in. IFE screen and noise-canceling headphones. Behind the cabin is walk-up bar—a first for the airline. “With this significant investment in our long-haul travel experience, we emphasise once more our commitment toward an exceptional passenger experience. The experience delivered by the finest boutique hotels has been the source of inspiration for our new intercontinental business class,” airline CEO Christina Foerster said. The carrier is also launching a premium economy class on the A330s, with 24 seats in 2-3-2 configuration. The first refurbished aircraft is scheduled to be operational in April.<br/>
Lufthansa will be an active player in consolidation among European airlines, CE Carsten Spohr said Wednesday, declining to comment on whether the German airline group was interested in Thomas Cook’s Condor. “We don’t comment on M&A speculation,” he said when asked about Lufthansa’s reported interest in Condor.<br/>