Star Alliance Newsletter Switzerland --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- January 2017 - English Version --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Star Alliance opens own Lounge at Rio Galeão - Airport On 9th December 2016 Star Alliance opened its new exclusive Alliance Lounge at Rio de Janeiro’s Galeão – Tom Jobim International Airport (GIG). The 600 plus square metre facility offers seating for more than 150 guests and provides beautiful views across the airport and beyond, with key Rio de Janeiro landmarks – Sugar Loaf and Christ the Redeemer - visible in the distance. In line with the design concept of Star Alliance lounges, local touches and flavours have been combined with global branding elements, such as Brazilian natural woods. But the highlight of the new Rio lounge is the fully serviced bar where customers can enjoy premium barista coffee and drinks including a signature cocktail made to order as well as light refreshments. The Star Alliance Lounge in Rio de Janeiro welcomes passengers travelling on a member carrier flight in either First or Business Class or Star Alliance Gold status as well as Air Canada Maple Leaf worldwide card holders and United Club members travelling in Economy Class. The lounge is also open to TAP Corporate customers, Edelweiss Business Class customers and Star Alliance Gold members travelling on Edelweiss operated flights. There is no guest entitlement for these additional customer groups. For further information, please visit our global website www.staralliance.com/lounges. Air Canada adds new cities to its growing network Air Canada adds several new routes to its network as of 2017. Route details: Toronto-Berlin: seasonal service begins June 1, 2017 and operates four times weekly Toronto-Mumbai: year-round service begins July 1, 2017 and operates three times weekly Montreal-Shanghai: year-round service begins February 16, 2017 and operates daily Montreal-Marseille: seasonal service begins June 9, 2017 and operates three times weekly Montreal-Algiers: seasonal service begins June 29, 2017 and operates four times weekly Vancouver-Frankfurt: seasonal service begins June 1, 2017 and operates daily Vancouver-Nagoya: seasonal service begins June 1, 2017 and operates up to four times weekly Vancouver-Taipei: year-round service begins June 8, 2017 and operates daily Vancouver-London Gatwick: seasonal service begins June 8, 2017 and operates three times weekly Air Canada Express will also add three new destinations to its US network and introduce new routes to three cities already served by Air Canada, starting in May 2017: San Antonio, Texas May 1 Toronto Memphis, Tennessee May 1 Savannah, Georgia (summer seasonal) May 1 – Oct. 15 Montreal Dallas – Fort Worth, Texas May 26 Denver, Colorado May 18 Vancouver Phoenix, Arizona (increasing to year-round) May 1 Air New Zealand’s latest safety video takes viewers on a trip through Northland’s most spectacular sights Air New Zealand has cast an all-star lineup of homegrown talent in its latest safety video, which highlights the tourism jewels in the Northland region of New Zealand. Inspired by the classic Kiwi road trip, Summer of Safety follows the adventures of Shortland Street’s Jayden Daniels as he travels around Northland’s Bay of Islands and Hokianga encountering a host of friendly locals, famous faces and iconic attractions along the way. Joining Jayden’s getaway is supermodel Rachel Hunter and actor Joe Naufahu – straight from a fiery stint on Game of Thrones. Stuntwoman Zoe Bell and canine sidekick Blossom the British Bulldog, IndyCar legend Scott Dixon and Olympic bronze-medalist Eliza McCartney also jump on board the light-hearted road trip, which was filmed at ten locations across Northland. Air New Zealand’s new safety video can be viewed here and will be rolled out across its fleet from today. Austrian Airlines - Massive increase of Europe-flights planned Austrian Airlines and Air Berlin have concluded a wet lease agreement stipulating the lease of five aircraft operated by the Air Berlin Group. The airplanes will be successively integrated into the Austrian Airlines fleet in the months of March and April 2017. With 46 additional flights per week to Hamburg, Paris, Milan, Stockholm and Zurich, this enables Austrian Airlines a massive increase in European flights as of summer schedule 2017. At present, the entire Austrian Airlines fleet consists of 80 aircraft. Austrian Airlines already has 31 aircraft of the A320 family in its fleet i.e. seven Airbus A319, 18 A320 jets and six A321 planes. With the five additional A320 the number of Airbus jets in the Austrian fleet will raise to 36 in total. Brussels Airlines and Lufthansa : Shaping the future together Deutsche Lufthansa AG takes over 100 percent of SN Airholding. As of 2018, Brussels Airlines will be fully integrated into the Lufthansa Group and join the Eurowings Group. The unique characteristics of Brussels Airlines, including its attractive Brussels market, its well established Africa network and its advantageous cost structure which has allowed the leading Belgian airline to successfully compete with the tough low- cost competition in the Belgian market, will further strengthen the Lufthansa Group and Eurowings Group market position. The first Lufthansa A350 flights can now be booked Fly the future: welcome on board the world’s most modern long-haul aircraft. The first flights on the Lufthansa A350 are ready for booking. From 10 February 2017 the A350 will fly daily between Munich and Delhi. The new Lufthansa A350 shows the way to the digital future. Passengers in all travel classes will experience the most modern Lufthansa on-board product. With the companion app, which will be used on the Lufthansa A350 for the first time, passengers will be able to create their playlist for the wide-ranging in-flight entertainment offer before the flight. The app also functions as a second screen, e.g. for accessing flight information. Passengers in all travel classes will be able to enjoy larger screens. The wide cabin creates a sense of spaciousness on board. New, comfortable seats provide even more comfort. An innovative lighting concept adjusts the lighting to passengers’ biorhythms and ensures additional well-being on board. Especially quiet engines and a pleasant cabin pressure enable passengers to enjoy a relaxed arrival at their destination. The A350 is the world’s most modern and environmentally friendly long-haul aircraft. With its state-of-the-art engines, ultramodern materials and aerodynamic design, it uses 25% less fuel and produces a noise footprint that is up to 50% smaller than that of comparable aircraft types. SAS is refining its offerings at airports In the past, we've expanded our lounges in Stockholm, Oslo and Gothenburg and opened a SAS City Lounge and Café Lounges. We've also improved Fast Track at several airports. This year, we will terminate contracts with lounges run by third parties and several Fast Track services and focus on refining our offering at our most popular lounges (Paris, Chicago, New York and our domestic lounges in Oslo and Stockholm). Read more: http://www.flysas.com/de/de/travel-info/at-the-airport/lounges/ Singapore Airlines boosts Australia, Europe, Southeast Asia and West Asia services Singapore Airlines will be increasing flight frequency to points in Australia, Europe, Southeast Asia and West Asia in the Northern Summer operating season (26 March 2017 to 28 October 2017) to meet growing travel demand. In Australia, Melbourne will be served with 31 weekly flights, up from 28, with effect from 17 July 2017, while flight frequency to Brisbane will increase to 28 per week, up from 24, starting on 22 August 2017. From 4 June 2017, Sydney will be served 33 times per week, up from 31 times per week. To cater to peak period demand, flight frequency to Sydney will be further increased to 35 weekly flights from 18 June to 30 September 2017. In Europe, Rome will be served four times per week from July 2017, up from the current two weekly flights. As previously announced, Moscow will be served five times per week, up from four times, with effect from 30 May 2017, when services beyond Moscow to the new destination of Stockholm are introduced. In Southeast Asia, Bangkok flight frequency will increase to six per day from five with effect from 26 March 2017. Ho Chi Minh City will be served 19 times per week from the same day, up from the current 17 per week. In West Asia, the Indian city of Ahmedabad will be served four times per week, up from the current three, with effect from 26 March 2017, while Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka will be served 10 times per week with effect from 19 July 2017, up from the current seven flights per week. The additional services are subject to regulatory approvals. Tickets will be made available for sale progressively through the various distribution channels. SWISS introduces new advance-purchase vouchers for airport lounge access and internet on board SWISS Economy customers wishing to work in peace, relax and/or enjoy the culinary attractions offered by SWISS’s airport lounges can now obtain a Lounge Voucher for CHF 39 exclusively via swiss.com. The new option is available to travellers holding a SWISS, Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines or Edelweiss ticket, and grants access to any SWISS Business Departure Lounge in Zurich or Geneva on the date of their departure. The offer also extends to the new SWISS Business Class Lounge in Zurich Airport’s Terminal E with its open spaces, relaxation areas with specially-developed loungers and front cooking facilities. In a further innovation, SWISS now also enables its customers to purchase a voucher prior to their flight for a SWISS Connect data package, with which they can make quick and convenient use of the wireless internet facilities aboard the SWISS Boeing 777 fleet.