I was out of town over the weekend, so I didn’t have time to write. Here are a few random bits of info:
- Looks like it only took Oasis Hong Kong one extra day to get approval to fly in Russian airspace. The airline is now operating regularly. We’ll see how long it takes for them to burn through their cash.
- Ryanair is again looking to Poland for expansion. The latest route, Shannon (Ireland) to Lodz begins December 4. Many of Europe’s low cost carriers have looked toward eastern Europe for expansion, and Poland has benefited tremendously.
- In news of the weird, Air Astana, one of Kazakhstan’s main airlines, changed it’s two letter airline code from KC to 4L. The old one apparently stood for “Kazakhstan Carrier” and the new one clearly stands for nothing. When asked why they made the change, they said it was “the latest development in Air Astana’s rapid growth road to becoming a world class airline.” Uh, ok. Updated 8/5/08 @ 11p – I’ve been informed (two years late) that they actually switched from 4L to KC. Makes much more sense, no?
- Skybus appears to be getting closer to launch. The airline ordered 65 new Airbus narrowbodies to be delivered beginning in late 2008. They plan to start operations next year with aircraft on short term lease until the new planes arrive.
- Mesa will begin flights between Las Vegas and both Visalia and Merced (California) on November 19. The flights will be operated as US Airways Express.
- On November 14, Aeromexico will begin nonstop flights between Chicago/O’Hare and Guadalajara. The lack of extensive air service between Chicago and Mexico has always surprised me. Chicago has the United States’ second largest Mexican population.
- Cyprus’ AJet will mercifully be shut down. You might remember the airline under its previous name, Helios, when it had a 737 crash after sitting on autopilot with nobody at the controls for two hours. The airline has had multiple safety issues since then.
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Sorry to correct you, but from the Air astana website:
“30 Oct 2006
Air Astana to change flight code to KC
On the 29th of October Air Astana will officially change its 2 character IATA (International Air Transport Association) code from 4L to KC. This will result in the names of all flight being changed with immediate effect at midnight between the 28th and 29th Kazakhstan time. (Example: Flight 4L886 becomes Flight KC886)
KC stands for Kazakhstan Carrier.
This change is the latest development in Air Astana’s rapid growth road to becoming a world class airline.”
Basically 4L and other similar codes are released for new airlines, once you are a consolidated carrier (here i donno if is about number of flights you operate, routes or years or what criteria exactly apply) you are granted the right to change your code dropping the numbers and assuming a code more suitable for a internationally reknown world class airline.. of course changing your code or name doesn’t make you any better, but only looks better.
so they moved 4L > KC, not the other way round..
How do I add your RSS feed to my reader? I could do with a little beginners help :)
Sophia – I’m assuming this is a serious request and not spam, but I could be wrong. Click here and follow the instructions.