Aer Lingus Announces the Addition of Two Routes

Aer Lingus is going back to Connecticut, reconnecting Dublin and Hartford’s Bradley International Airport for the first time since 2020. The daily service will resume from March 26, 2023 and will be a critical milestone for Bradley International Airport as they will operate the only direct service from there to Europe.

Their newest transatlantic route, Dublin to Cleveland, Ohio, launches summer 2023 and will operate four times weekly. Like Hartford, this will be the only direct European service from Cleveland. Travelers from Cleveland will not only benefit from a direct connection to Ireland but can also avail of the seamless onward connections to more than 20 key European cities – London, Paris, Manchester, Amsterdam and Edinburgh, among others.

Both the Dublin-Hartford and the Dublin-Cleveland service will be operated by AirbusA321neoLR, which is their most sustainable long-haul aircraft. The A321neo delivers up to 20% reduction in fuel burn and CO2 emissions and close to 50% reduction in noise footprint when compared to previous generation aircraft.

Air Tahiti Seattle to Paris Service

After the inauguration of its new Seattle-Tahiti service on October 5, Air Tahiti Nui announced the extension of this new biweekly Seattle service to Paris. 

Starting on June 12, 2023, Air Tahiti Nui will operate a new biweekly seasonal service to Paris from its Papeete base via the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

This new service to and from Paris will be combined with the five rotations programmed via Los Angeles, allowing Air Tahiti Nui to offer a total of 7 weekly flights between Paris and Papeete from June to August 2023.

Mathieu BECHONNET, Managing Director, says that “this extension to Paris for the next summer season is subject to approval. It will allow us to better optimize our resources and offer our customers new options to reach Tahiti or Paris. During the summer 2023, our Los Angeles and Seattle hubs will also propose a total of 13 flights per week between the US and Tahiti.”

Non-binary Gender Identifiers Now Available in Delta Travel Systems

As part of Delta’s ongoing efforts to reflect inclusivity and ensure an equitable travel experience for all customers, they are launching non-binary gender options for customers to select during the booking process. Delta customers will now be able to select X (Unspecified) or U (Undisclosed) in addition to M (Male) and F (Female) to identify their gender in Delta’s travel systems. Customers will also be able to select an “Mx” title.

Customers can self-update their gender identifiers on delta.com using the identity verification form found in the Personal Details tab under their SkyMiles account. The gender identifier in Delta’s systems must be the same as the identifier shown on the customer’s government-issued travel documentation. Therefore, a customer may only select X or U if that selection is shown on their passport, driver’s license, or government-issued identification in use for that trip.

For travelers and travel advisors booking via OBT/GDS, Delta can now send, receive, and store non-binary gender information. Non-binary gender options and support can vary based on your booking tool or other technology partners. Please check with your partners to see if they support non-binary gender options as part of airline bookings.

Currently, two countries, Egypt and Kuwait, are denying entry to passengers who identify their gender as X or U. While Delta does not fly directly to either of these countries, your travelers can connect with some of our travel partners. Please take this into consideration when booking your travelers. 

ITA Airways: 'A year of firsts'

You made us fly high. ITA Airways' maiden flight, number AZ1637 on the Milan Linate – Bari route, took off on October 15, 2021, at 6:20 am, five minutes ahead of schedule, like a baby in a hurry to be born or to tackle the many challenges ahead.

This first year has been very important and full of "firsts", despite the difficulties experienced by the industry as a whole, due to Covid first and then the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. However, in spite of everything, and thanks to the commitment and dedication of the Company's staff, ITA Airways has stuck to its plan, which is grounded in four core objectives – sustainability, digitization, innovation and customer focus – to be achieved under the banner of the Made in Italy.

Twelve months ago, ITA Airways was considered a “case study”, a model start-up that has managed to build its growth on the recovery of air transport. On its birthday cake there are no less than 9 million candles, one for every passenger flying with the new national airline in its first year.

Since October 15, 2021, and thanks to the passion, competence and professionalism of its people, ITA Airways has consistently earned top rankings globally, for both regularity recording an index of 99.9% and punctuality achieving record peaks, despite the critical issues caused by a troubled airport sector.