News From The Americas

DUTCH ANTILLES HEADS TO PANAMA

Regional operator, Dutch Antilles Express will commence scheduled services from Curacao to Panama City, beginning later this month. It will operate a twice-weekly service to be operated with Fokker 100 aircraft. According to November Flightbase schedules, it is the only carrier operating the route.


BRAZILIAN BOOST FOR MIAMI

Star Alliance member, TAM will launch new services to Miami with the addition of a four-times weekly service from Brasilia and a thrice-weekly from Belo Horizonte. Both routes will begin December 1st and will be operated with B767-300ER equipment. TAM already operates Miami from three source markets, Rio de Janeiro on a daily basis, Sao Paulo, twice daily and Manaus also on a daily.


JETBLUE ADDS NEWARK FROM BOSTON BASE

JetBlue Airways will add a new four-times daily service from its Boston base to Newark. The route will begin on May 4th, 2011. JetBlue already operates Newark from five markets in the US. The new service will be operated with E190 equipment and will compete with Continental Airlines which operates multiple daily flights. IATA BSP data shows that over 230,000 O+D passengers flew the route between July 2009 and 2010.


ALAKSA AIRLINES RAMPS UP MEXICAN SERVICES

Alaska Airlines will ramp up its existing daily service from Los Angeles to Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta from February 5th 2011. Both routes are currently operated with B737-800 aircraft and will go double daily. It will compete on the Guadalajara sector with Aeromexico which offers a double daily service and low-cost Mexican operator, Volaris, offering a thrice-daily service. On Puerto Vallarta, United Airlines and Delta Air Lines both operate a weekly service according to November scheduled data.


AVIANCA BRAZIL HEADS TO BOGOTA

The carrier formerly known as Ocean Air, Avianca Brazil, has announced that its first international route will be to Bogota, Colombia, home of its parent company Avianca. The route originating in Sao Paulo will debut in November and will be operated with A319 equipment. The route is currently served daily by Avianca and six-times weekly by GOL, with nearly 90,000 O+D passengers having flown the route between July 2009 and July 2010, according to IATA BSP data.

Richard Maslen

Richard Maslen has travelled across the globe to report on developments in the aviation sector as airlines and airports have continued to evolve and…