AMERICAN AIRLINES TO DROP LOS ANGELES – SAN SALVADOR LINK
US major American Airlines is to suspend flights between Los Angeles and the El Salvadorian carrier San Salvador from August 22. Excluding the busy Mexican market, this decision marks the cancellation of the carrier’s last remaining link into Central America from Los Angeles. American Airlines currently provides a daily Boeing 757-200 rotation on the route and carried around 68,000 O&D passengers in the past year, a 28 per cent share of the total market. TACA also provides a twice daily service between the cities and dominates the market with a 38 per cent share; LACSA also has a daily rotation and a 27 per cent share of the market. American Airlines has actually seen its traffic numbers fall in the past year due to the tough competition and yields have also considerably weakened and may be the driven force behind the route closure.
AEROGAL DESCENDS INTO PERUVIAN MARKET
Ecuadorian carrier Aerolíneas Galápagos (AeroGal) has introduced flights to Peru with new links to its capital Lima from Quito and Guayaquil. The airline launched the flights last week and now serves three international destinations adding to existing links to Bogota and Medellin in Colombia. AeroGal is offering a three times weekly service from Guayaquil and eleven flights per week from Quito. It will face tough competition from TACA and LAN Airlines in both these markets. TACA offers ten and 13 weekly frequencies to Guayaquil and Quito, respectively, while LAN has seven and ten flights per week. An estimated 121,000 O&D passengers travelled to the Peruvian capital from Guayaquil in the past year with around 88,000 making the journey from Quito.
FRONTIER AIRLINES CONFIRMS SEASONAL LINKS FROM BRANSON
US carrier Frontier Airlines is to introduce seasonal links from Branson, Missouri to Austin, Texas and Phoenix, Arizona for a three month period this winter. The company, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Republic Airways, will be the only carrier to offer non-stop flights between these destinations. It will offer three flights per week to Austin between September 16 and December 14 using an Embraer ERJ 145 and a weekly service to Phoenix between September 17 and December 10 using an Airbus A319. Frontier Airlines already offers daily links to Denver and three flights per week to Milwaukee from Branson. It is the second largest carrier there after AirTran Airways, which offers 24 flights per week to five different destinations. “Branson is a great family-friendly entertainment destination that our customers have really responded to,” said Daniel Shurz, Vice President of Strategy and Planning, Frontier Airlines. “We’re delighted to have found the opportunity to add more routes into Branson and deliver our high-quality, affordable service.”
TRADEWIND AVIATION BOOSTS CARIBBEAN CONNECTIVITY
US carrier Tradewind Aviation is to expand its capacity from the Caribbean island of Saint Barthélemy (St Barts). From October this year the carrier will open a new link from St Thomas in the US Virgin Islands as well as adding additional services between San Juan and St Barts, increasing to a total of ten daily scheduled flights. “I am honored that the Island has welcomed us so warmly.” said David Zara, Vice President, Tradewind Aviation. “We are proud to be afforded the opportunity to serve the people of St Barts and I look forward to continued contributions to the island’s stability and prosperity.” The revised network is based around boosting connectivity to St Barts through San Juan and St Thomas, developing alternative transfer points to St Maarten and opening St Barts to a larger tourist market. An estimated 484,000 O&D passengers flew from the island in the past year with 69.1 per cent beginning or ending their journey in St Maarten. “St Barts residents can also easily access shopping, leisure and multiple airline connections throughout the world,” added David Zara. Tradewind Aviation, based in Oxford, CT is this year celebrating the tenth anniversary of its formation. It currently operates a mixed fleet of Pilatus PC-12 and Ceesna Grand Caravan propliners which operate private charters to St Barts, Anguilla, Tortola, Nevis, Antigua, Mustique, the Dominican Republic and locations in Puerto Rico from San Juan and the US Virgin Islands.
UNITED LAUNCHES SERVICE TO HILO
United Continental Holdings launched a daily non-stop service between Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and Hilo, Hawaii (ITO) earlier this month as well as once-weekly non-stop services to Hilo from its San Francisco hub. The flights, operated by Continental Airlines, are the only non-stop service to Hilo from the US mainland and complement the airline's existing service to four other cities in Hawaii: Honolulu, Kahului, Kona and Lihue. "Together, United and Continental have served Hawaii for more than six decades, and this new non-stop service provides our customers with more extensive access to the islands," said Jim Compton, Executive Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer of United Continental Holdings. "We are excited to strengthen our presence in the Hawaiian community and are proud to be the only carrier to offer non-stop service to Hilo from the mainland." United has served Hawaii since 1947 and – from its hubs at Los Angeles, San Francisco, Denver, Houston, Chicago and New York/Newark – provides more mainline service to the islands than any other US carrier. Continental is utilising a Boeing 737-800 aircraft on the new routes, with 16 seats in first class and 144 seats in economy.
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