A number of airlines have taken delivery of new Airbus A320s in the past couple of weeks with sharklet wingtips fitted, including Lufthansa, Monarch, and Vueling. Today, airberlin took delivery of their first example.

OE-LER is painted in the colours of airberlin’s Niki brand, and will fly from Austria.

Sharklets are newly designed wing-tip devices, measuring 2,4 metres and replacing the A320’s current wing tip fence. They improve the aircraft’s aerodynamics and significantly cut the airline’s fuel burn and emissions by up to four per cent.

LOT Polish Airlines has announced a series of intra-European flights on their new Boeing 787 aircraft to aid in crew familiarity.

The first aircraft is due for delivery in November, making LOT the first European airline to take on the Dreamliner.

The European flights are bookable now, and include:

Warsaw – Brussels, 3rd, 5th, 6th, 9th, 10th January 2013
Warsaw – Budapest, 11th-14th January 2013
Warsaw – Frankfurt, 3rd-6th,  9th, 10th January 2013
Warsaw – Hanover, 23rd December 2012 & 4th January 2013
Warsaw – Kiev, 17th, 20th, 27th December 2012
Warsaw – London Heathrow, 22nd, 29th, 31st December 2012, 1st-2nd January 2013.
Warsaw – Munich, 14th-16th, 18th, 19th, 28th December 2012
Warsaw – Prague, 14th-16th, 18th-20th, 28th December 2012 & 2nd, 11th-14th January 2013.
Warsaw – Vienna, 17th, 21st-24th, 27th, 29th, 30th December 2012 & 13th January

If you manage to get on one of these flights, I’d love you to send in a report!

An alternative way to see the action at Vienna airport is to take an airside tour. This covers most parts of the airfield and gives you an opportunity to log (quickly!) what’s in and take some photos.

The tours are offered Monday-Saturday (including holidays) from 09:00-17:00.
There are no tours on Sundays.
The tour is about an hour long. Price for adults: EUR 7.

The tours start at the new Visitair center which is located northwest of the terminal, adjacent to the parking lot 4.