Narita and Abu Dhabi become 'Sister Airports'
Tokyo Narita and Abu Dhabi Airports Company (ADAC) have inked an agreement to become sister airports. It will create joint marketing strategies for new routes between the city pairs. Etihad is currently the only carrier operating non-stop services between the city pairs.
Transavia Makes First Portuguese Link
Air France-KLM owned Transavia has just opened a four-times weekly between Porto and Funchal on the Portuguese Island of Madeira.
It's the first time that the carrier has linked two Portuguese cities and the route will go head-to-head with TAP Portugal, which operates 23 weekly flights.
Avianova Adds Domestic Route
Avianova, the Moscow-based low-cost carrier will begin a new trunk route from Moscow Sheremetyevo to St Petersburg from April 23. It will compete directly with Rossiya and Aeroflot. The route attracted over 1 million passengers between January 2009 and 2010, according to IATA BSP data (Airport IS)
TAM to join Star Alliance in May
TAM Airlines is set to become a full member of the Star Alliance on 13 May. TAM operates an extensive network of nearly 100 destinations and will give its Star Alliance partners access to the key hub markets of Sao Paulo Guarulhos and Sao Paulo Congonhas as well as its third largest hub in the Brazilian capital of Brasilia.
Alexandria: Wataniya's 10th destination
Kuwait-based Wataniya Airways will launch non-stop service to Alexandria in Egypt on June 1 - with four flights a week. The service will operate into the new Borg El Arab Airport and will compete directly with low-cost carrier Jazeera Airways, which operates the route 10 times weekly.