News From The Americas

Richard Maslen February 24, 2011

PORTER AIRLINES BOOSTS DOMESTIC SCHEDULES

Canadian regional carrier Porter Airlines is to significantly expand its presence on three of its core routes in the country. With effect from April 13 the company will increase frequencies on the Montreal – Halifax route from four to 13 flights per week; up Ottawa – Toronto City services from 19 to 21 daily rotations and offer up to nine weekly flights on the Moncton – Ottawa route. “These service improvements fulfill one of our promises to support our four core destinations; Montreal, Ottawa, Halifax and Toronto,” explained Robert Deluce, Porter’s president and CEO. “It is important to build our presence in these markets with routes that operate every day and year-round to provide passengers with consistent choice.” All three of these routes are currently served by Air Canada with the Ottawa – Toronto market linked from Toronto Lester B. Pearson International rather than City Centre Airport. Air Canada dominates the traffic on Montreal – Halifax with over 40 weekly schedules providing almost 4,000 seats and it is similar between Ottawa and Toronto where it currently has over 65 weekly flights. However, the story is a little different on the Moncton – Ottawa route where Porter Airlines will become the market leader once it increases its schedules to nine flights per week in April. Currently Air Canada offers just six flights per week using a 50-seat Bombardier CRJ200.

CONVIASA LOOKS AT NEW MARKETS IN THE AMERICAS

Conviasa has announced plans to significantly expand its activities in South America and the Caribbean. The Venezuelan carrier says it will inaugurate flights to Puerto Espana and Bogota in March; Grenada, St. Vincent, Dominica and Santo Domingo in April and Lima and Quito in May. Meanwhile, the operator has adjusted its long-haul schedules and is splitting is weekly Caracas – Madrid – Damascus service. From immediate effect it is flying to Madrid twice weekly, and will now only serve Damascus on a bi-weekly basis, albeit with a direct service. The Airbus A340-300 used on these long-haul links will also serve Conviasa’s Caracas – Buenos Aires route.

TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS IN DEMAND WITH NEW YORK TRAVELLERS

Continental Airlines and JetBlue Airways have inaugurated flights from the New York area to Providenciales in the Turks and Caicos Islands. The Caribbean destination, part of the Bahamas chain of islands, is growing in popularity with US and international visitors thanks to its stunning white-sand Grace Bay Beach which has been awarded many prizes by renowned travel and tourism publications. Visitors can enjoy the island’s coral reef; water sports such as diving, snorkeling and fishing; golf; a marine park; the world’s first conch farm; and luxury hotels, villas and spas. Continental Airlines launched its four-times weekly connection from Newark’s Liberty International on February 18 and will boost frequencies to daily from March 6. JetBlue inaugurated daily flights from New York JFK on February 17 and is also offering a weekly schedule to Providenciales from February 19. American Airlines already offers a daily link between New York JFK and Providenciales, carrying just over 58,000 O&D passengers during 2010.

MORE MORNING DEPARTURES TO EDMONTON FOR YELLOWKNIFE RESIDENTS

Independent carrier Canadian North is to upgrade its morning Yellowknife – Edmonton rotation which is operated using a 112-seat ‘Combi’ configured Boeing 737-300. The flight already operates on Mondays but from March 8 a new Tuesday service will be added, followed by a Friday and Saturday rotation from April 1. The independent airline is already the principal carrier on the route with 23 weekly frequencies. Air Canada, WestJet Airlines and First Air all offer a daily service. Approximately 163,000 O&D passengers flew between the two airports in the year ending December 2010 with Canadian North holding a 47 per cent share of this traffic.

NATURE AIR BOOSTS LINKS BETWEEN COSTA RICA AND NICARAGUA

South American carrier Nature Air, which markets itself as the world’s first carbon-neutral airlines, has launched services between San Jose, Costa Rica and Managua, Nicaragua. The company is targeting leisure travellers and is working directly with Nicaragua’s Tourism Board INTUR to offer additional services to visitors including ground transportation and vacation packages to the popular cultural and historic centres of Granada and Leon, as well as destinations like Masaya, the islands of Ometepe, and the beach and surf town of San Juan del Sur. Costa Rica has become more popular with international holidaymakers over recent years and neighbouring countries like Nicaragua have also seen an upturn in visitor numbers as travellers cross the border to visit nearby attractions. The route is already served by Copa Airlines, which offers a daily schedule with a mix of Boeing 737s and Embraer 190s, and LACSA which has a daily ATR 42 rotation and four E190 flights per week.

TACA PERU ADDS MORE FLIGHTS TO CARACAS

TACA Peru is to add a further four weekly rotations on the Lima – Caracas route from April 16. The new flights will offer a night rotation from the Peruvian capital and an early morning return from Venezuela. The airline already offers a daily schedule on the route, as does rival LAN Peru, although the latter uses widebody Boeing 767-300s on five of its weekly schedules. Approximately 99,000 O&D passengers travelled between Lima and Caracas in 2010 with TACA Peru holding a 45 per cent share of the market.

ALASKA AIRLINES INCREASES ITS ACTIVITIES IN HAWAII

Alaska Airlines is expanding its service to Hawaii, with daily flights from both Oakland and San Jose to Kahului, Hawaii, on the island of Maui, starting June 5. The airline currently operates four weekly flights between Oakland and Maui and three weekly flights between San Jose and Maui. With the increase to daily service, Alaska Airlines will offer 35 flights a week from the Bay Area and Sacramento to Hawaii. "We wanted to align our San Jose and Bay Area service with our overall West Coast strategy," said Joe Sprague, Alaska Airlines' vice president of marketing. "We're very committed to the Bay Area and expanding our Maui service to daily flights is a great benefit for our customers." Approximately 45,000 and 31,000 O&D passengers travelled to Kahului from Oakland and San Jose respectively during 2010.

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