A brief sampling of industry news that caught my attention today:
- Bombardier’s CSeries jetliner took to the skies for the first time today in Montreal. The CS100 jet and family is designed for the 100- to 149-seat market and it will certainly provide new competition for Airbus and Boeing.
CSeries first flight (Source: Bombardier)
- American Airlines inaugurated Airbus A319 service today from Dallas-Fort Worth Airport. Festivities were relatively quiet, except in Wichita where local Airbus employees took pride in their (partial) creation upon its arrival.
- Also at Dallas-Fort Worth today, Alaska Airlines inaugurated daily Portland (PDX)-DFW flights using Boeing 737-800s. The airline is offering double Mileage Plan miles on the flights through October 31. Registration is required.
- United Airlines will add a fifth daily Ontario-San Francisco flight beginning December 19. As with the other four ONT-SFO flights, the new addition will be operated by United Express using a CRJ-200 aircraft.
- Emirates airline will launch daily Dubai-Kabul service December 4 using three-class Airbus A340-500s. Afghanistan isn’t on my list of destinations to visit, but the new service is expected to be successful for the airline, particularly its cargo division.
- The most expensive U.S. metropolitan area for hotel rates is Honolulu, according to a Hotels.com Price Index study. Average rates in the city are $230 per night, having overtaken New York at $211 per night.
- Construction of a new 5-gate addition to Concourse C has begun at Denver International Airport. It’s expected to open in November 2014 and will accommodate Southwest Airlines.
- The world’s highest civilian airport has opened in China’s southwestern Sichuan province. Daocheng Yading Airport in Garzi sits at an elevation of 14,472 feet above sea level, overtaking Qamdo Airport in Tibet as the world’s highest.
- Finally, be sure to check out my critique of Air Astana’s long-haul business class amenity kit that I posted earlier today. It blows some first class kits out of the water.
Air Astana’s long-haul men’s amenity kit
– Follow Darren Booth on Twitter, @FrequentlyFlyin, for more airline, hotel and travel industry news, reviews and opinions.
Related:
Notable Airline, Hotel and Travel News: September 13, 2013
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