United Airline start 787 international flights from Los Angele

United Airlines' first scheduled international flight on a Boeing 787 from Los Angeles to Tokyo Narita departed 5min early at 11:10 local time today.Flight 32 is scheduled to arrive in Tokyo at 15:32 local time on 4 January, according to the Chicago-based carrier's website.We are delighted to offer our customers in Los Angeles and Tokyo the comfort and spectacular flying experience of our new Boeing Dreamliner aircraft," says Jim Mueller, vice-president of Atlantic and Pacific sales at United, in a statement.

The flight is operated by 787 registration number N26902, according to the airline's web site. It is the same aircraft that was grounded for six days due to the failure of an electrical generator inflight on 4 December 2012. The aircraft returned to service on 10 December 2012.Boeing and United have been investigating the cause of the failure but it is unclear as to the status of the investigation.The airline has delayed the launch of its 787 international services between Houston Intercontinental and Lagos, London Heathrow and Amsterdam as it works with Boeing to improve the reliability of the aircraft.

The 787 replaces a Boeing 777-200 on United's flights between Los Angeles and Tokyo Narita.United competes with American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Japan Airlines, Korean Air and Malaysia Airlines between Los Angeles and Tokyo Narita, according to Innovata schedules. Its Star Alliance partners All Nippon Airways (ANA) and Singapore Airlines also offer flights on the route.The carrier anticipates that it will receive two 787s in 2013, according to an employee newsletter on 2 January. It received six from Boeing during the second half of 2012.

Southwest begin flights to Chicago, Dallas

Southwest Airlines Co. is going to Wichita, Kan., replacing the service currently operated by AirTran Airways.Starting June 2, Southwest will flights to Wichita from Chicago, Dallas and Las Vegas, a day after AirTran service on the route ends.Southwest will also begin flights between Houston's Hobby Airport and New York's LaGuardia; Chicago's Midway Airport and Tulsa, Okla.; and between San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Baltimore-Washington International Airport.

The Dallas company announced the additions Monday as its released flight schedules for Southwest and its AirTran subsidiary through next Aug. 9.AirTran, which Southwest expects to absorb in the next few years, will start flights between Tampa, Fla., and both Houston and Raleigh-Durham, N.C., on June 2.Southwest is the nation's fourth-biggest airline by passenger miles flown.Southwest shares rose 14 cents to $9.07 in afternoon trading.

Flights to Abu Dhabi begin March 31

Etihad Airways President James Hogan sat down with The Buzz last week at the Hay Adams Hotel to discuss the business rationale behind his airline’s launch of nonstop service between Dulles International Airport and Abu Dhabi, the capital city of the United Arab Emirates.The airline is building a new customer lounge for daily service that starts March 31, with flights leaving Dulles around 10 p.m. on a 240-passenger Airbus A340 for the 14 hours to the Gulf region.  Hogan said the growing trade and business relationship between the UAE and United States, which grew 43 percent in 2011 to $18.3 billion a year, justifies making Washington the fourth North American city served by Etihad. The other three are Chicago, New York and Toronto.The relationship between America and the UAE is very strong from a defense, from an investment, from cultural ... many aspects,” he said, including strong education links because many people from the Gulf region attend college and postgraduate work in the United States.We are also keen to bring in people for tourism,” Hogan said. “We see many ways in which we can make it work.

Until now, you would pretty much need to jump into a time machine and go back a century or so if you wanted to sip a Tom and Jerry, the hot and steamy holiday drink that was a favorite of the early 20th Century.This holiday season, for one month only, The Ritz-Carlton, Georgetown, is bringing back a taste of that cocktail heritage as it tries to brand itself as the go-to hospitality location for holiday revellers in search of tradition.Starting Dec. 1, the Georgetown Ritz run by Chevy Chase-based Ritz-Carlton is mixing up Tom and Jerrys (hot toddys with hot-buttered rum and hot chocolate) all day and night.

There really is a business reason behind it, as The Ritz faces competition from T he Capella, Georgetown, a new luxury hotel run by a former Ritz-Carlton executive Horst Schulze. The Ritz is next to Washington Harbor, with its shops and the ice skating rink open during the winter season.
We think a cocktail with a cult following like the Tom and Jerry will bring in cocktail connoisseurs, said Jeff Brower, general manager at The Georgetown Ritz. “We’re doing this because it’s a great opportunity to increase our business and exposure with the ice skating opening.”

The Downtown Business Improvement District prides itself on having a team of red-outfitted staff  called SAMs on the street to keep downtown clean and quickly answer questions from visitors.The newest SAM is not so responsive. Because he’s made of wax.Madame Tussauds wax museum crafted the cheerful SAM from wax to celebrate the BID’s 15-year anniversary last week, according to staff writer Jonathan O’Connell, who attended the event. Clad in the red uniform and hat that have become a fixture of downtown street corners, the SAM sports some sensible glasses and a cell phone on his ear. The statue can be seen at Madame Tussauds, but also will play a role in a social media marketing campaign around “finding the SAM” the BID plans following Thanksgiving, according to the BID’s Karyn LeBlanc.

In years past, the SAMs have made various attempts to unionize. When O’Connell asked for comment, the wax SAM just smiled.Venture capital veteran Gene Riechers is joining the board at EverFi, the Georgetown education technology company whose investors include New Enterprise Associates, Allen & Co., Jeff Bezos of Amazon, Google’s Eric Schmidt and Evan Williams of Twitter. Riechers will become an executive and a vice-chairman at EverFi, which was co-founded by chief executive Tom Davidson. Riechers, 57, spent the past 16 years in the venture capital industry, most recently as a co-founder and general partner at Vienna-based Valhalla Partners. Fast-growing EverFi helps students grasp key life skills, such as financial literacy.Alexa Raad of Architelos, a domain name industry consulting and managed services firm, is back from Costa Rica, where she was helping an old friend celebrate a birthday by ziplining, jungle hiking and diving from waterfalls in the Central American jungle. “I believe once in a while putting yourself out of your comfort zone is good for you, for your business, and for your emotional health,” Raad said. She was scheduled to speak at a Virginia women’s conference Million Dollar Panel, organized by Reston Limousine founder Christina Bouweiri.

Flights to Houston launched by United Airline

United Airlines to offer non-stop service to Houston at Rapid City Regional Airport.The seasonal flights to George Bush Intercontinental Airport will begin June 7 and end Aug. 27, with one flight a day into and out of Rapid City, airport director Cameron Humphres said.We expect this to be a popular market, Humphres said.Houston, of course, is the energy capital of the United States. With the oil and gas industry doing so well in the region, I think this is an opportunity for that sector, as well.In the Rapid City market, United also flies year round to Denver and Chicago, the latter of which started as seasonal service, as well, Humphres said.

As that market grew, they started expanding the time period they were offering the service and they started to upgrade the equipment to larger equipment. Last year, they finally started nonstop flights to Chicago year round,Humphres said.We would hope and expect the same thing into the Houston market.The service to Houston marks the eighth non-stop destination for Rapid City and the first new market since American Airlines began year-round service to Dallas-Fort Worth in early 2010.Houston is the fourth biggest city in the U.S. and is home to the seventh busiest airport in terms of passenger traffic. The airport is also one of the largest hubs of the combined United-Continental airlines, which merged in 2010.

Humphres said from an air service perspective, the direct flight should provide local travelers with stronger connections to the southeastern U.S., as well as Mexico and Central and South America. Tickets should be available for purchase today.If you want to go into New Orleans, you usually have to fly here to Denver, Denver to Houston and Houston to New Orleans, Humphres said. "This will give you the ability to fly here to Houston and then onto New Orleans.Ben Snow, president of the Rapid City Economic Development Partnership, said direct service into Houston should also have benefits from an economic development standpoint.Houston is home to the headquarters of a number of companies, including Conoco Phillips and Marathon Oil.

Houston will give us another top six market, Snow said.You look at population centers and direct connections Rapid City can take advantage of - it will put three of the top six markets in the country with direct access to Rapid City.The other top markets that already have direct air service are Chicago and Dallas.The timing is also good, because the economic development group just finished a year of gathering information on industries where the Black Hills has strengths, Snow said. Possible crossover with Houston could include energy, finance and information technology.Air service and the ability to get in and out is key,Snow said.It may be the difference between a company having you in consideration or being eliminated from contention.

Mokulele Airlines to begin flights to Chicago, London in April

Mokulele Airlines will begin flying weekly charter flights to the Chicago area in April, and will expand the flights to London the following month.The Honolulu-based airline recently received approval from the U.S. Department of Transportation to flights to Chicago Rockford International Airport in Rockford, Ill., from Honolulu, and to fly from Rockford to London Stanstead Airport, airline spokesman Sean Alvarez said.

The flights will be conducted by Charter World Solutions, doing business as Mokulele Tours, he said.Mokulele Airlines, which currently flies Hawaii interisland flights using four nine-passenger Cessna Caravan turboprop aircraft, was acquired from go!Mokulele parent Mesa Airlines in November by Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Transpac Aviation, which is owned by CEO Ron Hansen.Hansen plans to lease a Boeing 767-200ER aircraft from Air Transportation International in Little Rock, Ark., for the flights to Rockford, which is about 100 miles outside of Chicago, and to Stanstead, which is about 38 miles north of London.The Honolulu-Rockford flights are tentatively set to start on April 13, with the return flight on April 15. The Rockford-London flights are scheduled to start on May 4, with the return on May 6, Alvarez said.

Some flights to Toronto cancelled due to fog

Tuesday’s heavy fog has led to over 80 flight cancellations at Pearson Airport.Poor visibility has also caused Porter Airlines to cancel several of their flights departing from Toronto Island’s Billy Bishop airport.A travel advisory statement on the airline’s website urges all passengers to check their flight status as delays and cancellations could occur.

Porter flights have been cancelled to New York, Chicago, Boston, Montreal, Ottawa, and Quebec City.Air Canada has issued a similar advisory, urging passengers to check if their flights have been delayed or cancelled.Heavy fog is hanging over the city as a deepening low-pressure system moves across southern Ontario before shifting across the Ottawa area and into southern Quebec on Tuesday night, according to Environment Canada.A wind warning was also issued for the GTA Tuesday night as a cold front is expected to sweep the region with winds gusting up to 90 km/h.

Daily non-stop flights to Chicago launched by Cathay Pacific

Cathay Pacific Airways celebrated the launch of its daily non-stop flights to Chicago with a gala event held at The Peninsula Chicago on 8 September. Around 200 guests, including business partners and government officials, attended the celebration hosted by the airline’s Chief Executive, John Slosar.Officiating at the event was guest of honour The Hon Leong Che-hung, Member of the Executive Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government.

Cathay Pacific’s first flight from Hong Kong to Chicago took off on 1 September and the new service will play a pivotal role in connecting two of the world’s greatest cities. The daily non-stop service is being operated by recently arrived Boeing 777-300ER aircraft and features the airline’s new Business Class seat.Chicago is the 50th passenger destination launched by Cathay Pacific as part of its ongoing commitment to enhance connectivity for passengers around the world. With Chicago added to the airline’s expanding network, passengers from the US now have easy access to Mainland China and other parts of Asia through the airline’s hub in Hong Kong. At the same time, passengers flying to the US can enjoy the convenience of connecting to the Midwest through the Chicago gateway at O’Hare International Airport .

Speaking at the event, Cathay Pacific Chief Executive John Slosar said:I am very glad to be here in Chicago, among good friends, to celebrate the launch of our daily passenger flights to and from this fantastic city. Our new service will offer to Chicago businessmen and women access to great markets within the Cathay Pacific network, and access to the people who know them, especially China.Guest of honour The Hon Leong Che-hung, Member of the Executive Council, said:The American Chamber of Commerce expects an increase of some 60 per cent in US business investment in Hong Kong in the next 12 months. A direct flight to and from Chicago will undoubtedly increase this 60 per cent further by facilitating connections from the Midwest and Central US to Hong Kong.Highlights of the celebration included energetic performances by a Chinese percussion group and local percussion legends the Chicago Bucket Boys. Cathay Pacific’s signature Walking on Air show was also a big hit with the audience, showcasing the airline’s history through its uniform developments.