Boston Aviation

Among recent announcements from Delta Air Lines, the airline has quietly announced that they will be upgauging the seasonal Boston to Dublin route. Currently, the route is flown daily on a Boeing 757-200, a single-aisle jet, while as of next year, the airline will use a Boeing 767-300ER, a wide-body jet, on the route. Clearly, the route has been doing well for the airline as the season has been extended this year compared to last year and the route will see a larger aircraft next year. I'm interested if we will eventually see the route go year-round on Delta. Delta is clearly putting up a fight to end Aer Lingus' domination on the route and strengthen its overall position in Boston. Source:  news.delta.com

Although recently Boston has seen a massive influx of new international flights, occasionally there are airlines for which service to Boston does not work out. Unfortunately Aeromexico is one such case and the airline has announced they are terminating their flight to Boston as of January 6, 2019, after the route was deemed unprofitable by the airline. The airline flies a Boeing 737 to Boston on a daily basis. This comes on the heels of JetBlue's entry into the market today. JetBlue launched daily flights from Boston to Mexico City and from the announcement of the flight I questioned whether or not the market was large enough for two airlines. Clearly, it isn't. I do wonder if Aeromexico could have fared better had the route been scheduled at a better time. It  leaves Boston past midnight and arrives in Mexico City at 04:00 AM, resulting in a very rough red-eye flight. JetBlue now offers a day flight to Mexico City, so hopefully the route has better results than Aeromexico,

Delta Air Lines has announced they are adding seasonal daily flights from Boston to Edinburgh, starting May 23, 2019, on a Boeing 757-200. This will be Delta's sixth trans-Atlantic destination from Boston. The flight is scheduled to depart Boston at 22:15 (local time) and arrive in Edinburgh at 09:25 (local time) +1 day. The return flight will depart Edinburgh at 10:55 (local time) and will arrive in Boston at 13:02 (local time). This will be Boston's first ever flight to Scotland. Huge congratulations to Delta and Boston Logan for this new service! Source:  news.delta.com

Delta has announced its first routes for the Airbus A220-100 that it is scheduled to receive soon and Boston has a spot on the list. Source:  news.delta.com

Hainan Airlines has filed some changes for their routes this upcoming winter to reflect decreased passenger count during the winter months. One of the changes is Boston's route to Beijing, which will be decreased from daily flights to 5 times weekly effective October 28, 2018. There are no indications of when or if this flight will return to daily. Source:  www.routesonline.com

Great news from British Airways. Beginning March 31, 2019, the airline will fly their Airbus A380-800 daily, as opposed to 3 times weekly like they do now. I look forward to seeing the giant plane in Boston more frequently. Source:  www.routesonline.com

Minor change, however noteworthy enough to write about it. Lufthansa has changed the aircraft that it will use on the Munich to Boston route from an Airbus A350-900XWB to an Airbus A340-600 effective March 31, 2019. This change means that the route will have first class available again because the A350 does not feature first class. Source:  www.routesonline.com

JetBlue has announced a route shake-up that will affect its operations at Boston. The airline will terminate its multiple daily flights between Boston and Washington-Dulles Airport effective January 7, 2019. This is an interesting move, as it is giving United a complete monopoly between Boston and Washington-Dulles. The airline is, however, going to continue flying between Boston and Washington-National, the secondary airport of Washington D.C. Additionally, JetBlue will add a new daily flight from Boston to Rochester, New York beginning January 8, 2019, on an Embraer E190. With the addition of this destination, JetBlue is ending the monopoly that American Airlines has held on the route. Finally, JetBlue will increase service on nine existing routes between Boston and Aruba; Nassau, The Bahamas; Orlando, Florida; Punta Cana, Dominican Republic; Santiago, Dominican Republic; Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; Sarasota, Florida; Tampa Bay, Florida; and West Palm Beach, Florida. Source

Qatar Airways are changing the aircraft they will be using this winter on their route from Doha to Boston from an Airbus A350-900 to a Boeing 777-300ER from December 1, 2018, to January 31, 2019. I do not know the reasoning for an aircraft change, but this is a large increase in capacity from 283 seats currently to 335. I am interested if this will become a regular visitor at Boston and the reasoning behind the switch. Source:  www.routesonline.com

Primera Air has gone bankrupt and ceased operations. Unfortunately, this means none of the announced routes will come to fruition. Primera Air blamed their bankruptcy on late deliveries of aircraft from Airbus and the associated costs of leasing aircraft to make up for the undelivered aircraft. It is a shame that the company didn't make it, I was really excited to see the new markets such as Brussels and Berlin that the company was going to open next summer. Hopefully some airline will decide to try to fill in the markets left open after the demise of Primera. I will miss seeing their gorgeous livery in Boston. Source:  www.routesonline.com

Delta has added daily seasonal flights from Boston to Lisbon. Starting May 23, 2019, the flight will operate daily on the Boeing 757-200. The flight is scheduled to depart Boston at 21:45 (local time) and arrive in Lisbon at 09:15 (local time) +1 day. The return flight is scheduled to depart Lisbon at 10:45 (local time) and arrive in Boston at 13:15 (local time). This will be Delta's fifth scheduled transatlantic route from Boston. Additionally, Delta is ending the monopoly held by TAP Air Portugal on the route. This is part of Delta's broader strategy of growing Boston into a mini-transatlantic hub by expanding its presence in Boston. Also, Delta is also going up against JetBlue, which has a large codeshare partnership with TAP Air Portugal, by competing on the route. They are attracting more customers in the Boston region, an essential part of the airline expanding its presence in Boston. Source:  www.routesonline.com

JetBlue has added seasonal Airbus A320-200 flights from Boston to Palm Springs, California. The flight will be operated twice weekly on Mondays and Thursdays with the plane departing Boston at 17:01 (local time) and arriving in Palm Springs at 20:31 (local time). The return flight will be a red-eye flight with the plane departing Palm Springs at 21:26 (local time) and arrive in Boston at 05:30 (local time) +1 day. The flights will operate from February 14, 2019, until April 30, 2019. Hopefully, this new route does well. Source:  thepointsguy.com