Qatar Airways has announced that it will introduce its Boeing 787s on services from Doha to Copenhagen, Oslo, and Stockholm Arlanda.

The flights commence on 1st August to Stockholm, and 1st September to both Copenhagen and Oslo.

Flights will operate daily.

Keep an eye on our 787 Routes Page for destinations you can see the Dreamliner.

Some good news for the Los Angeles spotters – Emirates is to upgrade its daily flight from Dubai to an Airbus A380 aircraft.

Currently operated by Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, the Dubai – Los Angeles route will see the larger super-jumbo start flying on 2nd December 2013.

Emirates recently announced Zurich would also receive A380 service from later this year.

Emirates will begin flying its Airbus A380 aircraft to Zurich from 1st January 2014.

The airline currently operates two daily flights from Dubai to Zurich; the A380 will operate on the afternoon flight.

The move will provide an additional 1,100 seats between the cities in each direction every week.

Etihad Cargo is to commence a round-the-world route taking in new destinations, and using a Boeing 747-8 freighter.

The aircraft will be leased from Atlas Air under an Aircraft, Crew, Maintenance and Insurance (ACMI) agreement, and it will be painted in the colours of Etihad Cargo.

The round-the-world route will originate in Abu Dhabi and see stops in Hong Kong, Chicago, Miami, Viracopos (Brazil), Quito, and Amsterdam, before returning to its point of origin.

Kevin Knight, Chief Strategy and Planning Officer at Etihad Airways, said, “Etihad Cargo is reinforcing its position as a global operator with the entry into service of this round-the-world routing, touching the Middle East, Asia Pacific, the Americas and Europe.

The Boeing 747-8 Freighter is the largest in Etihad Cargo’s current freighter fleet.  The airline also operates three Boeing B777F, one Boeing 747-400ERF, one Boeing 747-400F and two Airbus A330-200F.

Dubai International Airport has seen nine consecutive months of double-digit passenger growth.

The world’s second busiest airport for international passenger traffic, Dubai International recorded 5,418,946 passengers in April, an increase of 18.7 per cent compared to 4,566,673 during the corresponding month in 2012. April was the fifth consecutive month with more than five million passengers passing through Dubai International. The year to date traffic increased by 16.3 per cent to 21,905,363 compared to 18,828,279 recorded in the first four months of 2012.

Dubai is still definitely a top place for spotters, as aircraft movements increased by 6.9 per cent to 30,469 compared to 28,503 recorded in April 2012. Year to date aircraft movements totalled 121,599, an increase of 6.2 per cent compared to 114,517 during the same period in 2012.

Etihad Airways’ CEO James Hogan has revealed that Jet Airways may switch its European ‘scissor hub’ from Brussels Airport to Amsterdam Schiphol.

Currently, Jet Airways operates a number of routes from India to Brussels, and then onwards to North America. In a move that aims to provide more connectivity through codeshares, switching the hub to Amsterdam will allow the airline to work more closely with Skyteam airline partners.

Etihad currently owns 24% of Jet Airways, and has itself recently started a new route to Amsterdam from Abu Dhabi. James Hogan has not mentioned any timescale, but the announcement is likely to be a big blow for Brussels which has very few long haul links.

Qatar Airways has announced it will commence flights from its Doha base to Philadelphia, Addis Ababa, and Clark in the Philippines.

The link to Philadelphia will be flown by a Boeing 777-300 aircraft, and comes after previous rumours suggested Atlanta, Boston or Detroit would be the next US destination. The route is expected to start in summer 2014.

The route to Clark – an alternative to Manila Airport in the Philippines – is in competition with Emirates who operate a daily service from Dubai.

Etihad Airways, based at Abu Dhabi, have created this infographic showing details of their current fleet of aircraft.

In a fun twist, they’ve added comparisons to Formula 1 cars since Etihad are also one of the Yas Marina Racing Circuit’s key sponsors. The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix will take place on 3 November 2013.

Visit Etihad at www.etihad.com

Emirates has announced a surprise new route, linking Milan Malpensa Airport with New York JFK Airport.

The route will be flown daily using a Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, starting 1 October 2013.

The existing 3x daily Dubai-Milan Malpensa appears to remain unchanged.

Dubai World Central Airport has announced that it will open to passengers on 27 October, 2013.

Construction of Dubai World Central’s passenger terminal building was completed in 2012. Upon opening, the new facility will offer full retail amenities. It is serviced by one A380 capable runway, 64 remote aircraft stands and has capacity for up to 7 million passengers per year. The terminal will undergo a full testing and trial programme over the coming months to ensure a seamless opening.

The first carriers to operate to the airport have been announced as nasair and Wizz Air. These will link Dubai World Central to Saudi Arabia and Eastern Europe respectively, and will likely offer a much cheaper alternative to reach Dubai from Europe than existing options through Emirates and other full service airlines.

József Váradi, Chief Executive Officer of Wizz Air, said: “I am honoured to announce Wizz Air as a launch customer and first international low fares airline operating at Dubai World Central. For us this is a hugely significant milestone, with our 10 year European success story now crossing borders far beyond Europe.”

Dubai World Central first opened for cargo operations in June 2010 and has quickly established itself as an emerging cargo airport in the region with 36 airlines (scheduled and chartered) handling 219,092 tonnes of air freight on 16,317 aircraft movements during 2012.