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New General Manager named for The Nautical Beachfront Resort

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Benchmark has named Frank Casarez, Jr., general manager for The Nautical Beachfront Resort, a Benchmark Resorts & Hotels property located in Lake Havasu City, Arizona. Greg Champion, Benchmark’s chief operating officer, made the announcement.

“It is with great pleasure that I formally welcome Frank to our company,” said Mr. Champion. “he has brought vast and successful leadership experience to our resort, and understands the property’s market well, having previously served in resort areas within Arizona.”

Frank Casarez, Jr., brings extensive senior property leadership experience to his new position with The Nautical Beachfront Resort. He was previously general manager and managing director of sales for the Sheraton Crescent Hotel of Phoenix, Arizona. Prior to this he served as area manager and general manager for the Resort at the Mountain in Welches, Oregon. Earlier Mr. Casarez held general manager, assistant general manager, and other leadership positions for hotels and resorts in markets across the country, including Portland, Houston, Los Angeles and Tucson.

Mr. Casarez attended Santa Monica Junior College and San Diego University where he focused in Graphic Arts management. He has relocated to Lake Havasu City, Arizona.

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American Airlines: New cabin, larger overhead luggage bins

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American Airlines is starting scheduled flights with the first of its 100 new Airbus A321neo aircraft on order. These aircraft come equipped with an all-new cabin interior designed for enhanced passenger comfort and convenience, including larger Airspace XL overhead luggage bins that increase carry-on bag capacity.

American is the launch customer for the Airspace XL bins, which provide approximately 40 percent more overhead storage space for passengers on board the 196-seat aircraft. In addition to equipping its new A321neos with the XL bins, American also plans to retrofit its entire in-service fleet of earlier A321 models – more than 200 aircraft – with the cabin features included on the new A321neos.

Ingo Wuggetzer, Airbus’ Vice President of Cabin Marketing said: “We are very pleased that American Airlines’ first A321neos with the Airspace XL bins are now entering service. We constantly work with airline customers to improve our aircraft cabins, and American in particular played an instrumental role with us in developing our biggest and best overhead bins to date.”

The Airspace XL bins accommodate larger luggage – up 24” x 16” x 10” – allowing standard roll-on bags to be loaded on their sides instead of being inserted flat. This creates room for up to four bags in each bin instead of the current three. The larger bins will significantly reduce the number of passenger bags checked at the gate, and sent to the cargo hold.

American‘s selected cabin layout allows the airline greater flexibility in seating arrangements and use of cabin space. The two class cabin will gain an additional row of first-class seats, bringing the total to 20. Outfitting the A321neo with a free wireless inflight-entertainment (IFE) system allows passengers to select a wide-range of options from their own devices. LED mood lighting will enhance the cabin environment.

Powered by CFM LEAP-1A engines and ETOPS certified for lengthy over water flights, the A321neo will allow American to carry larger loads on its longer, more densely travelled routes such as Los Angeles and Phoenix to Orlando, or West Coast hubs to Hawaii.

 

The A321neo is the largest member of the A320 Family, seating up to 240 passengers, depending on cabin configuration. Incorporating the latest engines, aerodynamic advances, and cabin innovations, the A321neo offers a reduction in fuel consumption of at least 15 percent per seat from day

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Summer Schedule 2019: Frankfurt Airport puts spring in its step

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New flight schedule to take effect on March 31 – Total flights expanding moderately

Frankfurt Airport (FRA) continues to strengthen its status as Germany’s leading international aviation hub. Starting on March 31, travelers will be able to fly from Frankfurt to a total of 306 destinations in 98 countries.

In this year’s summer season, the number of flights will increase moderately (by more than one percent) compared to last year. Seat capacity will also grow by between one and two percent.

European, domestic German and especially intercontinental flight offerings will all expand. A rise of between 1.5 and two percent of aircraft movements is expected in the intercontinental category, with seat capacity increasing by 1.5 to 2.5 percent.

 New long-haul destinations

United Airlines will introduce daily services to Denver (DEN) in early May. Lufthansa will also offer a once-daily flight to DEN, while adding Austin (AUS), Texas as a new destination in North America. Cathay Pacific is increasing the frequency on its Frankfurt-Hong Kong (HKG) route, thus bringing the total to three services a week. Qatar Airways will offer more seats on one of its two daily flights to Doha (DOH), which will now be operated by an Airbus A380.

The intercontinental connections available from Frankfurt are marked by an impressive diversity, serving a total of 137 destinations. Lufthansa is continuing the new services introduced last winter to Cancún (CUN) in Mexico and Agadir (AGA) in Morocco. Condor will retain its flights to Kuala Lumpur (KUL) in Malaysia while stepping up the frequency to Phoenix (PHX) in the U.S., Calgary (YYC) in Canada, and Mombasa (MBA) in Kenya. Air India will also maintain its Frankfurt-Mumbai (BOM) route.

More connections to Turkey from FRA

Holidaymakers who wish to spend their vacation in Turkey have quite a few options to choose from: 11 airlines will now fly from FRA to a total of 15 destinations in that country, 15 percent more than before. They include a new service to Bodrum (BJV) by Lufthansa, which is also adding two other European holiday destinations: Heraklion (HER) in Greece and Tivat (TIV) in Montenegro.

Lufthansa will also continue flying to the new destinations it inaugurated last winter. Among them are Thessaloniki (SKG) in Greece, Trieste (TRS) in Italy, and Tromsø (TOS) in Norway. The airline is also adding more frequencies to Tirana (TIA) in Albania and Sofia (SOF) in Bulgaria, as well as Palma de Majorca (PMI) and Pamplona (PNA) in Spain. German leisure carrier TUIfly is strengthening its services from Frankfurt to Lamezia Terme (SUF) in Italy, Larnaca (LCA) in Cyprus, and Djerba-Zarzis (DJE) in Tunisia. In late March, Ryanair will add more services to Dublin (DUB), the Irish capital, bringing the total to 12 a week. Altogether, the total number of European destinations served from FRA will climb to 154, and within Germany to 15.

The impact on Frankfurt Airport of recent airline insolvencies is negligible. Flybmi will no longer be serving Bristol (BRS) in the United Kingdom and Jönköping (JKG) and Karlstad (KSD) in Sweden but because the aircraft used on those routes had only limited passenger seating their cancellation is only minimally affecting FRA’s total capacity. Nor are the failures of two other airlines, Germania and Small Planet Germany, having more than a very slight effect on total traffic. 

Good preparation for a positive travel experience

The moderate growth in flight movements is fully in line with the expectations of Fraport, the operator of Frankfurt Airport. To handle the increase, Fraport has been hiring more staff and allotting more space for additional security checks during the summer season. Nevertheless, passengers may still experience processing delays on peak days. They are therefore advised to check in online before leaving home, arrive at the airport at least two and a half hours before departure, and then head immediately for the security checkpoint. Travelers intending to drive to the airport and leave their vehicles there can book parking spaces online in advance. Passengers are also advised to observe the airlines’ rules on cabin luggage. Fraport recommends taking as few carry-on items as possible. Information and pointers on travel and carry-on luggage can be found at www.frankfurt-airport.com.

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