Five For Friday

Richard Maslen August 26, 2010

OMAN AIR TO SERVE DAMMAN

Oman Air is to begin scheduled services from its Muscat base to Damman, Saudi Arabia. The route will be inaugurated from September 1^st and will be operated on a daily rotation with B737 equipment according to flightbase schedules data. Oman Air already serves Jeddah on a ten times weekly rotation and Riyadh on a daily basis.

LUFTHANSA ADDS NEW LUXEMBOURG ROUTE

From October 31st, Star Alliance member Lufthansa will begin operating a new twice daily service from its Munich hub to Luxembourg to be operated with CRJ 700 equipment. Luxair currently operates the route with a thrice-weekly Embraer service. IATA BSP data shows that Luxair currently has a 87% share of the O+D market. Lufthansa does not serve Luxembourg from Frankfurt, which is also served by Luxair.

SWISS ROLLS OUT NEW LONG HAUL CAPACITY

Swiss International Airlines has announced capacity increases for its long haul programme for Summer 2011. The Star Alliance member will operate a daily service to Bangkok competing directly with Thai Airways International on a route that has seen over 184,000 O+D passengers fly between June 2009 and 2010 according to IATA BSP data. Thai currently has a 42% share of this market.

For its westbound services, it will add a daily service to San Francisco also from Zurich where it operates an A340-600. It is the only scheduled carrier to operate the route non-stop.

STAR1 AIRLINES TO BEGIN MUNICH SERVICES

Lithuania's new flag carrier Star1 Airlines will begin scheduled services from its Vilnius base to Munich effective November 15^th with E-175 equipment. There is no carrier currently operating this route on a non-stop basis. Air Baltic is currently the market leader with a 60% share of the O+D market.

TURKISH DELIGHT AS WIZZ LANDS

Geneva based low cost operator Wizz Air has announced it will inaugurate its first scheduled services to Turkey with the announcement of two new services. It will be begin a new service from December 17^th with a four times weekly service from Budapest to Istanbul Sabiha Gocken Airport. Malev Airlines and Turkish Airlines both operate a daily service from Budapest to Istanbul Ataturk.

Effective June 11^th 2011,it will also begin a twice weekly service from its Budapest base to Antalya.