A380s in Denver, Hawaiian 787s in New York, and Other Airline News From This Week

From giant jets landing at the foot of the Rocky Mountains to developments affecting airlines all over the world, this past week had a lot of airline news.

Let’s have a look at the most important stories that we did not cover in individual articles.

Hawaiian’s New 787 Goes to New York

Hawaiian Airlines will begin flying its new Boeing 787-9 to New York-JFK this spring. It will be the debut of Hawaiian’s new long-haul jet on a route suited to its capabilities. So far, the airline has been flying its 787s only to the West Coast from Hawaii.

Ishrion Aviation reported that flights from Honolulu (HNL) to JFK will operate with a 787 every day from April 22 to August 20, which we confirmed by checking on the Hawaiian site.

Flight HA50 departs Honolulu at 3:55 p.m. and arrives at JFK the next day at 6:55 a.m., while HA51 departs JFK at 9:05 a.m. and arrives in Honolulu at 1:55 p.m.

At almost 5,000 miles, this is the second-longest domestic flight in the U.S., surpassed only by Boston (BOS) to Honolulu, also operated by Hawaiian.

The 787’s business class, arranged in a 1-2-1 layout, is a marked improvement over the Airbus A330-200 now used on the route. The Airbus has a 2-2-2 business layout in Hawaiian’s configuration.

The problem with Hawaiian’s 787s is that they do not have Wi-Fi yet, while the Airbuses do. With the New York to Honolulu flight lasting typically between 10 and 11 hours, the lack of connectivity could be a problem for some.

Denver Gets the A380 for the First Time

The biggest jet in the world is coming to Denver. Lufthansa said that the Airbus A380 will fly from Munich (MUC) to Denver (DEN) every day from April 30 to September 30.

“It’s a first not only for Lufthansa, but also for the airport,” Lufthansa Chief Customer Officer Heiko Reitz said.

The good news for passengers is that the 509-seat A380 has a lot more capacity in business class than the plane now operating the flight. With 78 seats in business, about double the Airbus A350 it replaces to Denver, the A380 offers a lot more chances for upgrades or purchasing business class with points and miles. Unlike the A350, the A380 also features Lufthansa‘s first class, a rarefied atmosphere that’s a cut above business.

The reason for deploying Lufthansa’s biggest plane to Denver? Tourism and business growth in the city, plus the many connections available on United Airlines, which has a hub at the airport and is a close partner of Lufthansa’s in Star Alliance.

IAG Wants To Buy Portugal’s TAP

That alliance, though, might lose a member if IAG succeeds in buying TAP Air Portugal.

The parent company of British Airways and Iberia wants to buy TAP, Portuguese news agency Lusa reported. The airline group is in talks with the Portuguese government, which is trying to sell the airline.

“Over time, we would like to have a path towards a majority [shareholding],” IAG director Jonathan Sullivan said.

If TAP entered the orbit of British and Iberia, it would leave Star Alliance and join rival grouping Oneworld, along with the rest of the IAG carriers. The realignment would be part of a wave of consolidation among European airlines, with the 3 biggest players seeking market share.

The other 2 giants, Lufthansa Group and Air France-KLM, are also interested in TAP. Lufthansa Group just bought 41% of Italy’s ITA Airways, seeking, like IAG, to shore up its position in the southern part of Europe.

Turkish Airlines Starts Minneapolis Flights

Turkish Airlines, which flies to more countries than any other carrier, will start serving Minneapolis (MSP) from Istanbul (IST) in April or May, chairman Ahmet Bolat said according to a Google translation from Turkish site Turizm Ekonomi.

Bolat said last year that Turkish Airlines was considering flying to Charlotte (CLT), Philadelphia (PHL), and Orlando (MCO) as potential future U.S. destinations in addition to Minneapolis.

Today, the airline operates 14 U.S. routes, including Atlanta (ATL), Boston (BOS), Chicago (ORD), Dallas Fort Worth (DFW), Denver (DEN), Detroit (DTW), Houston (IAH), Los Angeles (LAX), Miami (MIA), New York (JFK), Newark (EWR), San Francisco (SFO), Seattle (SEA), and Washington, D.C. (IAD).

Hong Kong Airlines Returns to the Americas

Chinese carrier Hong Kong Airlines has returned to North America after a 5-year absence due to financial trouble. The airline resumed direct flights to Vancouver, Canada, on January 18.

The flight from Hong Kong (HKG) to Vancouver (YVR) leaves on Tuesday and Saturday and returns from Vancouver on Wednesday and Sunday. At 6,368 miles and often more than 13 hours to Hong Kong, it’s also the longest flight operated by an Airbus A330-300.

Hong Kong Airlines competes with much larger Cathay Pacific, also based in Hong Kong.

American Goes at Delta in Mississippi

American Airlines is beginning its first-ever service to Columbus, Mississippi (GTR) on May 5. While small, Columbus is an interesting airport because it has long been a Delta fiefdom, which American is attacking directly as part of its strategy of connecting smaller airports in the South.

American will operate once-daily flights from Dallas Fort Worth (DFW) with 65-seater CRJ-700 regional jets, The Points Guy reported. So far, only Delta has served GTR, operating daily flights to Atlanta (ATL).

Delta Defies Alaska From Los Angeles to Anchorage

Meanwhile, Delta is taking a stab at Alaska Airlines via a new service from Los Angeles (LAX) to Anchorage (ANC).

Route expert Ishrion Aviation reported that Delta will start a once-weekly flight between the 2 cities on May 24 using a Boeing 737-900ER.

Only Alaska Airlines was serving the route. A check on the Delta site found that the new flight is priced starting at $194 or 13,600 SkyMiles plus $6 in taxes and fees.

Delta Announces a Return to Israel

In another route expansion, Delta has announced its return to Tel Aviv, Israel (TLV) as of April 1. Delta will fly from New York-JFK to TLV using an Airbus A330-900neo aircraft, operating the flight daily. This announcement comes after the announced ceasefire agreement and what Delta describes as “a comprehensive security review.”

JetBlue Begins Flying From New Hampshire

While American expands in the South and Delta in the West, JetBlue is concentrating where it’s relatively strong: in the East and Florida.

JetBlue announced the launch of service from Manchester, New Hampshire (MHT), complementing its large operation in Boston (BOS). As of January 23, it serves Fort Myers (RSW) and Orlando (MCO), while on January 24 it starts flying to Fort Lauderdale (FLL), using the following frequencies:

Flights from Manchester will operate on Airbus A320 aircraft, which do not have Mint business class but feature JetBlue’s newly launched EvenMore onboard experience.

Qatar Airways Makes It to 16 Airports in the Americas

Qatar Airways said it will serve a total of 16 destinations in North and South America this year, thanks to the addition of an unusual service from Doha (DOH) to Bogotá, Colombia (BOG) and continuing to Caracas, Venezuela (CCS).

What’s unusual about it is that the return from Caracas goes straight to Doha nonstop, instead of following a more traditional Doha-Caracas-Bogotá-Caracas-Doha round-trip schedule. Thus, it will look more like a triangle.

That’s because a fully loaded Boeing 777 may have trouble taking off from the high-altitude Bogotá airport for the long flight to Doha. Caracas, at sea level, does not pose that problem. An added benefit may be that Qatar Airways‘ crews would not have to spend their rest period in Caracas, where the security situation is uncertain.

Eurowings Gets the 737 MAX

The 3 big European airline groups all have a subsidiary mimicking low-fare carriers. IAG has Vueling, Air France-KLM has Transavia, and the Lufthansa Group has Eurowings. The latter is embarking on a fleet renewal with the arrival of the Boeing 737 MAX.

Eurowings said the first of 40 Boeing 737 MAX 8 it has ordered will arrive in 2027 and begin replacing the smaller Airbus A319. The MAX 8 is the most common version of Boeing’s workhorse single-aisle jet. American Airlines, Southwest, and United all fly MAX 8s.

Final Thoughts

This week, several pieces of airline news may have cheered up travelers in the U.S.

For the first time, Denver gets the giant Airbus A380, bringing a lot more premium seats to book with points or get upgraded into. Hawaiian Airlines brings its new Boeing 787 flagship to New York for a much-improved passenger experience — though sadly without Wi-Fi. And, among many other news items, we learned that the airline with the most destinations in the world is adding another in the Midwest. You can now fly between Minneapolis and Istanbul on Turkish Airlines.