Monday's Route Development Briefs
S7 Airlines to Launch Italian Routes
Russian carrier S7 Airlines is to launch flights between Moscow and the Italian cities of Turin and Bergamo. The weekly rotations will be operated by a two-class, 128-seat Airbus A319 and will begin from December 30 (Turin) and January 2, 2012 (Bergamo). An estimated 1,395,818 O&D passengers travelled between Italy and the Russian Federation in the past year, up 25.8 per cent on the previous 12 month period. Both destinations are already served from the Russian capital with low-cost carrier WindJet offering four flights a week to Bergamo from Moscow Domedovo and Alitalia a three times weekly service to Turin from Moscow Sheremetyevo.
Iberia Boosts Madrid – Miami Capacity
At the start of this month Spanish national carrier Iberia, part of the expanding International Consolidated Airline Group (IAG), alongside British Airways, increased its flights between Madrid and Miami. Previously served on a daily basis, the airline is now offering ten flights per week on the route and has confirmed plans to introduce an eleventh weekly frequency from April 2012. The three extra flights add 100,000 seats per year, for a 2012 total offer of 345,000 seats on the route, a 37 per cent increase over the 2011 total. The addition flight will help consolidate Iberia's position in the US market, where it has grown steadily in recent years. The airline is now offering more than a million seats between Europe and the United States, up 13 per cent from the preceding year, with flights to Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and Miami.
Vim Airlines’ Aircraft Reportedly Banned from Europe
Russian safety officials have reportedly banned local carrier Vim Airlines from operating flights in and out of Europe, according to local media reports. The report follows a ramp inspection of one of the airline’s Boeing 757-200s in Paris earlier this year and alleged altercation between members of the airline and the safety inspectors. It is understood that the Russian state transport agency Rosaviatsia has amended the carrier’s AOC banning flights in and out of Europe, although it is still permitted to fly within Russia and other areas of the world.
Air Namibia Boosts European Flights
Air Namibia is to increase capacity to Europe to support an increase in demand for travel to the South African country. The airline currently offers six flights per week between Windhoek and Frankfurt, but will introduce a seventh frequency from March 25, 2012, enabling it to offer business and leisure passengers a daily schedule. Air Namibia is currently the only airline operating frequent links to Europe from the country and carried around 104,000 O&D passengers on its route to Frankfurt in the last year. The airline has previously also served London but decided to rationalise its operations and focus solely on its largest market, Germany. Although representatives of the airline would not be drawn on the matter when it was discussed at the World Travel Market (WTM), it is known that Air Namibia holds slots at London Gatwick for winter 2011/2012 and could resume flights to the UK in the future.
Bombardier Increases Middle East Focus
Bombardier Aerospace has announced it will establish a Bombardier Commercial Aircraft regional sales and marketing office in Dubai to serve the Middle East and Africa. The facility is to be located in the Dubai Free Zone near Dubai International Airport. The Canadian manufacturer revealed at the Dubai Air Show that the new facility will enable it to “further extend our global presence and provide closer proximity to current customers and prospects in the Middle East and Africa.” Including aircraft on firm order, the fleet in the region includes more than 180 Dash-8/Q-Series and CRJ aircraft and is forecast to play a key role in the transformation of the aviation industry, according to Bombardier’s 2011-2030 market forecast. This predicts that while starting from a small base, the Middle East and Africa will capture seven per cent, or 980 of the 13,100 worldwide deliveries expected in the 20- to 149-seat market segment.
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