Taking off soon are Lufthansa’s new Airbus A380 planes, which have been lavishly decorated—in the first-class cabin, at least. Gone are the tiddly toilets and basins, and in their place are separate washing and changing rooms.

It all reeks of first-class cash, and interestingly Lufthansa chose to keep the open plan design for the seating area instead of opting for separate cabins, due to customer feedback.

Instead, there’s “sound-absorbing curtains” and “sound-absorbing carpeting” which blocks the hub-bub and noise of the economy-class from leaking into the first-class.

Here’s CO’s press release:

Continental Airlines Announces New Service From Houston Hub to Auckland, New Zealand

First route worldwide to be announced for the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner

HOUSTON, May 26

HOUSTON, May 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Continental Airlines (NYSE: CAL) today announced another major step in development of its Houston hub with plans to begin nonstop Boeing 787 flights to Auckland, New Zealand on Nov. 16, 2011 (subject to government approval).

Auckland will be added to the 63 international destinations that Continental
currently serves nonstop from Houston, and will become the 26th destination in Continental’s Pacific network. Continental serves more destinations in the Pacific region than any other U.S. carrier.

Continental will be one of just three airlines flying nonstop between North America and New Zealand. At approximately 7,400 miles, the new route will be the longest from Continental’s Houston hub. Continental plans to operate the route on a daily basis, with five-times-weekly service during certain periods in the first year of operation.

On May 3, Continental announced that it has agreed to merge with United Airlines in a merger of equals to create the world’s leading airline. The success of the Houston Auckland route will be enhanced by the additional traffic flows through Houston that are expected to result from the merger.

First 787 Route Announcement

Continental is the first airline in the world to formally announce specific, initial route plans for its Boeing 787 Dreamliner fleet. The airline has firm orders for 25 Dreamliners. The 787 is a new-technology composite aircraft with lower operating costs, better environmental performance and an improved cabin environment for customer comfort. Deliveries to Continental are expected to begin in August 2011. The aircraft will have 228 seats, including 36 of Continental’s new flat-bed BusinessFirst seats for the best rest on long-distance flights.

Today Continental also unveiled a modernized and expanded customer check-in facility in Terminal C at its Houston hub at Bush Intercontinental Airport.

“Our new route to Auckland and our new and upgraded facilities at IAH are tangible examples of the emphasis we place on continuing to expand Houston’s role in domestic and international aviation,” said Jeff Smisek, Continental’s chairman, president and CEO. “This hub has ongoing growth opportunities because it has a strategic location, space for expansion, support from the community and an excellent team of Continental co-workers who deliver our clean, safe and reliable service.”

“This new flight between Houston and Auckland shows how the Dreamliner will create new opportunities to connect global markets that currently are not being served,” said Mario Diaz, Houston Airport System director of aviation. “As the largest hub for Continental, George Bush Intercontinental Airport is honored to be selected as the launch pad for the Continental Boeing 787.”

Convenient Connecting Flights

The Houston-Auckland route will benefit from connecting traffic at both ends. Continental’s Houston hub will draw passengers from throughout North America. In addition, Houston will be a very competitive connecting hub for travelers on itineraries between Europe and Auckland.

Auckland is home to Air New Zealand, one of the 27 carriers including Continental which are members of Star Alliance. Air New Zealand and its regional airline partners offer service to 20 destinations in New Zealand and seven in Australia, including Adelaide, Brisbane, Cairns, Coolangatta (Gold Coast), Melbourne, Perth and Sydney.

Schedule

Following is the preliminary schedule for the new service, planned to take effect Nov. 16, 2011. Continental will begin taking reservations and selling tickets on the new route later this year.

Leave Houston Arrive Auckland Leave Auckland Arrive Houston
11:50 a.m. (same Summer 9:30 p.m. 5:10 a.m. (2 days later) 3:40 p.m. day)

11:55 a.m. (same Winter 9:10 p.m. 6:55 a.m. (2 days later) 5:55 p.m. day)

About Auckland and New Zealand

Auckland’s waterside location has fostered the locals’ love affair with the sea, earning this place the nickname “City of Sails.” The city sprawls over a narrow isthmus between the waters of the Waitemata and Manukau Harbours. A cloak of rainforest covers the surrounding hills, dozens of dormant volcanic cones dot the landscape and inviting islands are scattered throughout the vast Hauraki Gulf. Two of the best island getaways are Waiheke Island and Great Barrier Island.

Auckland’s heart beats to a Polynesian rhythm, its people a melting pot of European, South Pacific and Asian cultures and a strong indigenous Maori heritage. This diversity brings with it an abundance of unique dining and shopping experiences.

Auckland’s temperate climate, easy access to the coast and variety of activities earn the city consistent “top five” rankings in international lifestyle surveys.
New Zealand’s awesome landscapes, lush forests, amazing wildlife and pleasant climate make it a haven for many outdoor activities, and a great place to unwind. New Zealand society is diverse, sophisticated and multicultural and the Kiwi people are known for their honesty, friendliness and openness. A great advantage of New Zealand is that all of its diverse physical, cultural and artistic landscapes are so close to each other.

The airline plans to introduce the new seats on its first Boeing 777-300ER expected for delivery later this year.

The Skycouch is a specially designed row of three seats engineered to create a lie-flat experience by the extension of a padded foot rest that rotates from a perpendicular position to parallel expanding the seat cushion width to accommodate a sleeping position.

For two adults travelling, the airline hopes to sell both seats and a third vacant seat at roughly half the price. Air New Zealand will detail its pricing plan when the seats go on sale starting in April.

The 777-300ER, intended to start replacing the carrier’s 747-400s, will be configured with 340 seats in three classes, including 246 in economy, 50 in premium economy and 44 in Business Premier. Of the 246 seats in economy class, the nine-abreast configuration will create 22 Skycouches in the first 11 window rows.

Along with the Skycouch, Air New Zealand will introduce a new Premium Economy “Spaceseat”, which the airline says Boeing is considering as a first class offering on the narrow-body 737.

Both the Skycouch and Spaceseat, which were designed by Air New Zealand, “have been licensed to manufacturers Recaro and Contour respectively and have the potential to generate significant license fees for Air New Zealand in the future,” says Ed Sims, Air New Zealand Group general manager international airline.

Air New Zealand will equip each of its 777-300ER aircraft with the Panasonic eX2 in-flight entertainment system and will introduce in-seat ordering of meals and drinks.

The airline will introduce the Skycouch 777-300ER starting with selected Auckland to Los Angeles flights beginning in the fourth quarter, followed by dedicated return service on its Auckland to London via Los Angeles route beginning in April 2011.

Air New Zealand also plans to refit its fleet of eight 777-200ER aircraft starting in mid-2011 with all Asian, North American and UK services to have the new product by 2012.

Air New Zealand Skycouch

McNamara commented, “one toilet will discourage over-dependence. There is nothing in the rule book to say that an aircraft has to have any toilets at all, which might sound strange, but we believe three toilets are excessive.”

The airline, in its in-flight magazine, stated the introduction of coin-operated toilets would reduce fares by at least 5%, and is part of efforts by Ryanair to reduce the number of toilets on its aircraft, to make room for an additional six seats.

This is truly cutting edge stuff MOL is playing with. Of course it means airport toilets will be the last place every Ryanair passengers will stop at prior to boarding and be the first place they will go after deplaning. Cartoons of how to identify (dare we say profile?) a Ryanair customer will be to see if their eyes are afloat. On the one hand this is so ludicrous and funny while on the other hand it is downright obnoxious.

With the switch ANA now holds 55 firm orders for the first 787 model.

“As a result there are no longer any 787-3 orders in the backlog. Going forward, we’ll continue to assess the market viability of the 787-3,” says Boeing vice president of marketing, Randy Tinseth, on the company’s blog.

“ANA’s primary business reason for adjusting their 787 model selection is focused around aircraft availability to support their fleet plan – the 787-8 is available sooner for delivery than the 787-3 would be,” says Boeing.

However, the airline will likely maintain its operations as it seeks protection from creditors.

Japan’s transport Seiji Maehara announced last Friday that the government will decide on a restructuring plan for JAL today, say media reports in Japan.

The airline is also expected to cut its workforce by a third over the next three years, bringing the total staff strength to 36,000, the reports add.

A JAL spokeswoman declines to comment.

The carrier is expected to file for protection from its creditors, under the Japanese equivalent of Chapter 11 in the USA.

Japan’s Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corporation of Japan (ETIC) is working on a restructuring plan for JAL, and is likely to offer ¥300 billion ($3.3 billion) in government funds.

Banks are also expected to forgive several hundred billion yen in loans.

In the meantime, JAL has secured approval from its current and former employees to make cuts to pension schemes in a bid to cut costs.

The carrier posted a fiscal second quarter net loss of ¥32.1 billion and reportedly owes creditors $15 billion.

The aircraft – which was meant to be in operation in time for the Beijing Olympics – would start flying from Seoul to London in time for the Games, chairman and CEO Yang Ho Cho confirmed.

Speaking today at the launch of a sponsorship of a multi-media guide at the British Museum, Cho said: “The UK market is important for Korean Air as London [Heathrow] is one of the most important hubs for Europe.

“We ordered 10 [A380] planes and we wanted to launch in time for the Beijing Olympics.

“We will operate them in the bigger markets and London is a big market.

“They will be on the London route in time for the 2012 London Olympics.”

Flight 737, operated by 737-300 N331UA, took off from Washington Dulles and made what amounted to a farewell tour with stops at all the carrier’s hubs – Chicago, Denver and Los Angeles, with the final touchdown at its San Francisco maintenance base.

United – which alongside Lufthansa was a launch customer for Boeing’s narrowbody workhorse – introduced the 737-200 into revenue service on 28 April 1968, and added the -300 model in 1986 and the -500s in 1990.

At its high point United’s 737 fleet totalled 220 aircraft. The aircraft’s squat appearance compared with contemporary aircraft at the time resulted in many of United’s pilots nicknaming the airplane “guppy”.

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The aircraft has the highest-density seating arrangement so far selected with 538 seats in three classes.

Registered F-HPJA, the aircraft will make the short delivery flight to Air France’s base at Paris Charles de Gaulle today before entering commercial service, on the route to New York JFK, on 23 November.