AIR CANADA UPS WINTER FREQUENCY OF OTTAWA – FRANKFURT LINK
Air Canada is set to operate a daily schedule on its Ottawa – Frankfurt route during the 2011/2012 Northern Winter, according to the latest information in the GDS. The airline currently offers a daily rotation through the summer but had provided just five flights per week during the last winter timetable. It plans to keep the capacity adjustment to meet an upturn in demand between the two cities, according to source close to the carrier. An estimated 13,000 O&D passengers flew between Ottawa and Frankfurt in the past year, a route that is operated under a codeshare agreement with fellow Star Alliance member Lufthansa. However, there is a notable leakage on the route with just 76 per cent of the traffic taking advantage of the direct service; the rest are flying via Montreal, Philadelphia, Toronto and Washington.
VIRGIN ATLANTIC TO OFFER CANCUN SERVICE FROM JUNE 2012
Virgin Atlantic Airways will inaugurate flights between London Gatwick and Cancun on June 12, 2012; the airline’s 33rd destination. The UK carrier will operate a twice weekly service operated by a Boeing 747-400 with three-classes of service that will feature 14 Upper Class Suites, 58 Premium Economy seats and 379 Economy seats. “Many customers have asked us to fly direct to this exciting destination over the years. With its superb beaches, great hotels and cultural sites, tourism in Cancun is thriving, we believe that we can drive demand ever higher by providing great competition to our rivals with our award winning product and service,” said Sir Richard Branson, President, Virgin Atlantic Airways. “Cancun is one of the top five long-haul leisure destinations for UK travellers, so we are delighted to be able to add this route to network. This route launch further cements our position as the UK's leading long haul leisure airline." The new route strengthens Virgin Atlantic's leisure network from London Gatwick, which already features nine long-haul destinations in the Caribbean and the US. The airline expects to carry 94,000 passengers in its first year of operation and estimates that the new route will deliver approximately $25 million of tourism revenue to the Cancun market each year. British Airways (BA) already operates the route three times every week and carried an estimated 19,000 O&D passengers in the past year.
AVIANCA BOOSTS BOGOTA – PUNTA CANA SCHEDULE
Colombian national carrier Avianca is to introduce a second weekly rotation on the Bogota – Punta Cana route from July 20. The timetable amendment is to support growing demand for traffic into the Dominican Republic, a market it also serves via Santo Domingo, where it flies four times weekly from the Colombian capital. Avianca currently utilises an Airbus A319 on its weekly rotation to Punta Cana, a route it carried an estimated 4,500 O&D passengers in the past year, but will upgrade the route to a larger A320 when the second rotation commences. The airline is the only company offering direct links between Bogota and Punta Cana, a total market of around 10,000 O&D passengers. Copa Airlines dominates the traffic between the two cities via Panama City.
JETBLUE TO ADD SEASONAL BOSTON – ST THOMAS LINK
US low-cost carrier JetBlue Airways is to further expand its activities in the Caribbean with a five times weekly seasonal winter service between Boston and St Thomas and new links from San Juan to St Croix and St Thomas. The new Boston – St Thomas flight will be introduced on December 15 and will operate inbound via San Juan. This will be JetBlue’s first link to Cyril E King Airport on the island of St Thomas in the US Virgin Islands. The same day JetBlue will also introduce a new twice daily rotation to St Thomas from San Juan, a route already served by American Eagle Airlines, Cape Air, Seaborne Airlines and United Airlines, with Sun Country Airlines also offering charter links. An estimated 73,000 O&D passengers travelled on the route in the past year. Further expanding its presence at San Juan, JetBlue will also introduce a daily flight to St Croix, also in the US Virgin islands from December 16. This route is also served by American Airlines, Cape Air and Seaborne Airlines, which together offer around 1,500 weekly seats on over 65 weekly flights. An estimated 58,000 O&D passengers flew between the two destinations in the past year. JetBlue is already the second largest operator at San Juan behind American Airlines and this latest expansion will help it expand its activities in the Puerto Rican market. It currently offers flights to seven destinations in the mainland US from San Juan as well as services to New York JFK and Orlando International from Aguadilla and Ponce. Over the past year, JetBlue has grown 38 per cent in Puerto Rico and now offers more than 30 daily departures. The carrier has started new services from San Juan to Tampa and Jacksonville, announced a link to St Maarten, and increased Boston flights from two daily to four daily, bringing 35 daily flights to the island this summer. Later in the year the airline will increase service on the popular route between San Juan and Santo Domingo from three to five daily flights. "It is only thanks to the tremendous support we've received from the Puerto Rican community that we have been able to grow at this pace, by adding more options and more destinations for visitors and residents of the Puerto Rico alike," said Dave Barger, President and CEO, JetBlue.
LAN ECUADOR TO OFFER SECOND LINK TO GALAPAGOS
LAN Ecuador is to introduce a second link to the Galapagos Islands this year with the introduction of a twice weekly service to San Cristobal. The airline will launch flights from Quito, via Guayaquil, on October 9, complementing its daily schedule to Baltra, which will begin in September. The company, an affiliate of LAN Airlines, becomes the third local carrier to offer regular scheduled links to the Galapagos market, currently already served by Aerogal and TAME. Its two rivals already provide services from Quito and Guayaquil to San Cristobal. An estimated 35,000 O&D passengers travelled between San Cristobal and Guayaquil in the past year, with 23,000 making the journey to or from Quito. The Galapagos Islands are a popular tourist destination for international visitors to Ecuador but the government caps the number of flights for environment reasons and no direct links are allowed from outside the country. The arrival of LAN Ecuador in this market will help aid travel, with the airline able to offer good connections via its partner carriers across Latin America and into North America and Europe.
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