United Airlines has said that it expects to return its Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft to service on 31 May.

Initially the aircraft will operate domestically between Denver and Houston. However, international service is expected to resume with the Denver to Tokyo service on 10 June.

This announcement shows the confidence airlines have in the certification process currently underway to allow the aircraft to fly commercially again.

Japan Airlines will fly its last McDonnell Douglas MD-90 flight on 30 March.

The type has been operating with the airline, and the former JAS subsidiary, for 17 years mainly on domestic routes.

The final flight will be from Hiroshima to Tokyo Haneda.

David Eaves at Private Jet Charter has compiled this great selection of some of the most bizarre airport runways around the world.

How many of them have you travelled to? Are they as crazy in an aircraft as they look from the outside?

1. Funchal Airport’s Extended Runway

Above: When engineers were looking for a viable way to extend Funchal Airport’s dangerously brief runway, they cleverly opted to ‘rest’ the enormous structure on 180 pillars, each measuring 230ft, rather than using landfill to support the strip. – more info.

2. Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport runway

Image Source

Above: This is the only airport on the Caribbean island of Saba and because it is so short it is extremely difficult for even very experienced pilots to land on. – more info.

3. Princess Juliana International Airport runway

Above: The beach pictured can be found on the island of Saint Martin in the Caribbean and is unfortunately located directly underneath the landing path of planes approaching the airport runway.

4. Gibraltar Airport’s Runway

Image source

Above: This airport runway located in Gibraltar is one of the only airport runways to intersect a public road. The runway operates similarly to a train crossing so traffic is put on hold whilst planes take off.

5. Don Mueang International Airport Runway

Above: The bizarre thing about the runways at this Bangkok airport is that there is about this an 18 hole golf course situated between the two different runways.

6. Courchevel Airport Runway

Above: Courchevel Airport is a French airport that serves Courchevel, which is located in a ski area in the French Alps mountain. The airport has a very short runway of only 525 m (1,722 ft) with gradient of 18.5%. – more info.

7. Kobe Airport Runway

Above: The picture above is of one of Japan’s custom made runways on an artificial island just off the coast of Kobe which can be seen on Google maps. More info can be found on Wikipedia.

It’s standard practice for a new airliner to ‘wave goodbye’ when it leaves its place of birth. In this week’s video, we’ve got a fantastic ringside seat as a Japan Airlines (JAL) Boeing 787 departs Seattle / Everett Paine Field on delivery. Its crew rocks the aircraft’s wings in spectacular fashion immediately after take-off to say goodbye.

 A good friend of mine, Andrew Solum, and British Airways‘ Head of UK & Ireland Sales, Richard Tams, are about to embark upon a fantastic journey in the hope of raising money for charity.

Their target is to raise £20,000 for the Comic Relief Flying Start charity, supported by British Airways and aimed at improving the lives of countless children every year.

Their challenge? Well, they’ve got to get around the world in seven days, starting in New York on 15th September, and using every Oneworld airline partner.

The journey will start with American Airlines from New York to Chicago then on to the Tokyo Narita international hub of Japan Airlines.

The following day they will fly with Japan Airlines from Tokyo to the Hong Kong home of Cathay Pacific and on September 17 undertake a three-flight schedule from Hong Kong to Kuala Lumpur with Cathay Pacific, Kuala Lumpur to Singapore with Malaysia Airlines, which is on track to join oneworld at the turn of the year. They will then travel on from Singapore to London Heathrow with Qantas arriving early on September 18.

British Airways will carry them on to Amman, base of Royal Jordanian.

On September 19 they will fly from Amman to Frankfurt with Royal Jordanian, then with airberlin to Germany’s capital city.

On September 20, they will take to the air again with airberlin to Frankfurt, then off with LAN to Madrid. From its base at the Spanish capital, Iberia will then carry them to the Moscow hub of S7, landing early on September 21, before a swift transfer to S7 for a flight to St. Petersburg.

The following day (September 22) they will begin the last leg of their journey heading with Finnair from St Petersburg to its own Helsinki home then on to Heathrow to connect on to their final flight, a British Airways jet from London to New York arriving at 8.55pm local time.

In total they will cover just over 30,000 miles, flying along the way on every oneworld member airline and via 11 of the alliance’s major hubs.

Tams said: “I’ve done a lot of flying in my time at British Airways, but never so many destinations in such a short period. We’ll be going through 16 airports, flying on ten different aircraft types and visiting 11 countries on 12 airlines. We won’t even have time to stop and enjoy the views!

Mr Solum, a management consultant and oneworld Emerald top tier frequent flyer, said “it will be tough going on standby staff tickets with no guarantee where we’ll be seated, but at the end of the day, every penny we raise will make a difference to a child – and that is really our driving force for this challenge.”

Tams added “We’re enormously grateful to our oneworld partners for supporting our challenge – it’s a great reflection of the reach the alliance has. I’d also like to thank our hotel partners in this, the Global Hotel Alliance, Starwood and Marriott.”

“The travel trade have also already been really supportive and we’ve already hit £8,000+ of our target but we really want to reach at least £20,000 so we’re asking everyone to dig deep and help us out. Anyone can pledge money at:

http://donate.ba-flyingstart.com/funraiser/roundtheoneworld.”

The money raised will all go directly to Flying Start, the global charity partnership between British Airways and Comic Relief UK. It will help to improve the lives of hundreds of thousands of children living in the UK and in some of the poorest countries across the world. The aim of the charity is to help create lasting change by giving children and their families the chance to start supporting themselves.

The intrepid travellers will be blogging their adventures and experiences, so stay tuned for further details!

Thai Airways is to received its first Airbus A380 in September, with entry to service due in October.

The aircraft recently appeared in full colours at the Hamburg Finkenwerder facility in Germany, where it had recently flown to for painting.

Thai will use their Airbus A380s on routes from Bangkok to European destinations such as Frankfurt and Paris CDG. Initially they will operate to Hong Kong and Singapore from 28 October, and from Januray also to Tokyo Narita.

THAI will become the ninth operator of the A380 when it takes delivery of first the aircraft in the third quarter this year. The airline has firm orders for six A380s.

United Airlines has announced more routes that its new Boeing 787 Dreamliners will fly on.

Their first aircraft made a test flight looking resplendent in full United colours earlier this week. They should take delivery of this aircraft in September, with many more to follow.

The initial route, previously announced was between Denver and Tokyo Narita (5x weekly, starting 31 March 2013). However, United has announced that its Dreamliners will also be flying on the following routes:

- Houston to Amsterdam Schiphol. Temporary service, starting 4 December 2012.
- Houston to London Heathrow. Temporary service, starting 4 February 2013.
- Houston to Lagos, Nigeria. 5x weekly, starting 7 January 2013.
- Los Angeles to Tokyo Narita, Japan. Daily, starting 3 January 2013.
- Los Angeles to Shanghai, China. Daily, starting 30 March 2013.
If you want to be lucky enough to travel on these services, the 787 aircraft will display for sale for these routes on united.com and other distribution channels beginning Aug. 25, while Denver to Narita service is available for sale now.

Fukuoka is Japan’s fourth busiest airport, located on the island of Kyushu in southern Japan.

The airport is busy with domestic flights from elsewhere in Japan, and due to its enclosed location in amongst the city, it is quite cramped.

Fukuoka Airport has three domestic terminals on one side of the single runway, and international terminal and cargo terminal on the opposite side.

Almost all airlines using Fukuoka are from elsewhere in the Far East, with many Japanese airlines also serving the airport. There are no direct flights from Europe.

Where to Spot

Domestic Terminal 1 Observation Deck
A free, outdoor observation deck accessed from floor 2F. Open 7am to 8pm. Good all-round views, but fences can hinder photography.

There is also an indoor observation area in Domestic Terminal 1, with good views and shelter from the weather.

Domestic Terminal 2 Observation Deck
This observation deck is accessed from floor 3F, and is open 7am to 9.30pm. It has better views over the runway towards the international terminal, and of the southern end of the runway. Photography is through glass, so not ideal.

International Terminal Observation Decks
There are two observation decks on top of the international terminal – one at either end. Free of charge and open from 7am to 8.30pm, with views across the international gates, runway, and across to the domestic terminals.

Spotting Hotels?
Sadly there are no hotels at Fukuoka that are good for spotting from. But there are plenty of nearby hotels to use nevertheless.

Fukuoka is just one of the 42 airports covered in my book, Airport Spotting Guides Europe. Get your copy today!

CDI Cargo has launched operations after a lengthy startup process. It is backed by significant investment and a strong, experienced, management team.

The airline, which operates a single Boeing 737-300 freighter, is based in Huangzhou, China. It is expected to take delivery of two more 737s by the end of the year.

It is currently flying between Huangzhou, Qingdao, and Changchun. However, with widebody aircraft planned for the near future, it is anticipated that the airline will begin cargo flights to Japan and South Korea, and expand its domestic network.

Boeing’s latest incarnation of the queen of the skies – the 747 – is now in operation with eight carriers and a number of private operators worldwide.

Featuring extended length, capacity, range, and a variety of technological advances both inside and out, the type is the height of aviation design.

It is available in passenger, cargo and VIP configurations; however, the cargo variant has proved far more popular, and more airlines are currently flying this option.

So where can you see the Boeing 747-8 in operation? Here are are the main airports:

Everett Paine Field
Boeing’s airfield to the north of Seattle where the Boeing 747-8 is built. You’ll see all aircraft flight testing here, and sitting on the flight line as they are fitted out. You can head to the Future of Flight center for its observation deck and watch the 747′s flying close by you.

London Stansted
Global Supply Systems flies three 747-8′s on behalf of British Airways Cargo to destinations worldwide. However, their home base is London Stansted airport in the UK.

Hong Kong Chek Lap Kok
Cathay Pacific ordered ten Boeing 747-8′s for its cargo network, and was one of the launch customers for the type. Their Hong Kong base is one of the busiest hubs for the type, as it also sees examples from other cargo airlines visit.

Frankfurt Main
Lufthansa is the only airline to operate the passenger version of the 747-8 so far (other airlines have the type on order), and their Frankfurt base is where it flies from. It operates to destinations such as Washington Dulles on a daily basis. In total, 20 747-8′s will join Lufthansa as they replace their older 747-400′s.

Luxembourg
Cargolux was the first airline to take delivery of a Boeing 747-8. The airline ordered seven of the type, which are based at Luxembourg. However, they can be seen on their round-the-world network to many far flung airports.

Tokyo Narita
Nippon Cargo Airlines are based at Tokyo Narita Airport in Japan. They ordered 14 Boeing 747-8′s, and the type has already entered service on long haul cargo operations.

Abu Dhabi
The first VIP configured Boeing 747-8 was delivered to the Abu Dhabi Amiri Flight as a royal transport aircraft. It flies from Abu Dhabi on official business.