Aviation This Week – September Edition 1

Highlights for this week’s edition of ‘Aviation This Week’ are some topical industry stories between August 30, 2021 and September 4, 2021 relevant to Ghana’s aviation space. The summaries are as follows:

Ethiopian Allowing Customers to Book Extra Seat for Comfort

Ethiopian Airlines says customers seeking to have extra comfort can now book an extra seat in addition to their already booked seat in economy class. Customers must visit My Sheba Space on Ethiopian’s website to make the request starting from 72 hours to 2 hours before their flight.

AWA Records an Increase in Passenger Numbers for August 2021

Africa World Airlines (AWA) has improved on its 2021 monthly performance by flying 56, 355 passengers for the month of August. Comparatively, the figure represents over 2000 more passengers flown in August than 54, 252 in July.

Flight delays beyond 2hours were 21 compared to 35 in July. Additionally, total flights decreased from 1,200 in July to 1,180 in August.

EgyptAir Advises Customers to Save Time with Online Check-ins

EgyptAir says passengers can save time by checking in online via its website. The Web Check-ins for flights will be made available 48hours up until 90 minutes before a scheduled flight.

Delta Operates Two Flights between New York and Accra

Delta Air Lines operated two flights – DL 156 and DL9907 from New York to Accra yesterday, September 3, 2021. DL9907 was a replacement for the canceled flight on September 1, 2021, bound for arrival in Accra on September 2, 2021, but was canceled due to extreme weather events caused by Hurricane Ida.

Emirates Rolls Out Special Free Baggage Allowance

Emirates’ extra free 23kg baggage allowance for passengers travelling between Ghana and Lebanon via Dubai commenced on September 1, 2021. The humanitarian gesture which will run until September 30, 2021, is to help customers pack essential medicines and basic items to support friends and family, particularly in Lebanon.

British Airways Opens Concord Room at Heathrow

British Airways has reopened its First Class Concord Room at Heathrow Airport Terminal 5 after its closure in March 2020. The reopening of the lounge comes with enhancement to menu offerings and access to sleeping pods.

KLM Received 50,000 Messages Following Introduction of COVID-19 Restrictions in 2020

KLM says it received upwards of 50,000 messages a day on social media when COVID-19 restrictions took effect in March 2020. The figure which is 5x the initial record of messages received in a day by the airline came at a time where demand for repatriation fights soared.

KLM Cancels Flight Due to Bird Strike

KLM flight 590 from Accra bound for Amsterdam on midnight of September 3, 2021, was canceled due to a bird strike incident at the Kotoka International Airport just when the aircraft was about to take off.

United Calls for Support for Afghan Evacuees

United has called on its customers on its Loyalty Program, MileagePlus to donate miles to help support evacuees from Afghanistan into the US. Interested donors can visit either www.miles4migrants.org or www.worldcentralkitchen.org or www.americares.org to donate their earned miles.

Delta Partners Spotify to Enhance In-flight Entertainment

Delta Air Lines has teamed up with Spotify to enhance In-flight Entertainment by providing a specially curated selection of audios. The new feature can be found within the Delta Studio on the seatback screens.

Authored

Mark Ofosu || Twitter: M__ofosu