JETBLUE BRINGS INTERNATIONAL LINK TO WESTCHESTER COUNTY AIRPORT
US low-cost carrier JetBlue Airways is to introduce the only current scheduled international flight from Westchester County Airport as it continues to expand its Caribbean network. The airline is planning to introduce a daily service to Nassau, Bahamas from November 15, subject to government approval, as part of its continued partnership with the Nassau Paradise Island Promotion Board to introduce new links to the US mainland. Westchester County Airport is approximately three nautical miles (5.56km) northeast of the central business district of White Plains and serves the New York Metropolitan area. It has developed as an alternative gateway to the city for passengers wishing to avoid the congestion at New York’s main airports and is about 33 miles (53km) north of Midtown Manhattan. Air Georgian had previously operated flights from the airport to Canada but suspended its services in June last year, leaving it temporarily without an international scheduled flight. JetBlue is the airport's largest carrier operating 12 daily flights to five destinations: Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Orlando, Tampa, and West Palm Beach. It introduced flights in 2007 as an alternative to its other New York services and alongside fellow low-cost carrier AirTran Airways has played an important role in the airport’s development: although all the US majors also serve the facility, their flights are sub-contracted to regional partners. "JetBlue is excited to provide our Westchester and Fairfield County customers a simpler and more convenient way to access the Caribbean from their easy-in, easy-out local airport," said Dave Barger, Chief Executive Officer, JetBlue Airways. "We're equally as proud to offer the only regularly scheduled non-stop service from Westchester to the Caribbean.” This addition of non-stop service from Westchester to Nassau represents the continuing growth of a most successful partnership between The Bahamas and JetBlue. The airline already offers three daily departures to Nassau from New York John F Kennedy International and also serves the Bahamas from Ft Lauderdale and Orlando International.
CONVIASA CONTINUES NETWORK GROWTH WITH ECUADOR LINK
South American carrier Conviasa is set to continue its network expansion and will follow the recent inauguration of flights between Caracas and Port of Spain with a new link from the Venezuelan capital to Guayaquil, the largest city in Ecuador. The airline is also looking at new connections to Lima, Quito and Santo Domingo but has not yet announced its schedules or proposed launch date for these flights. The new six times weekly Caracas – Guayaquil link will begin on August 15 and will be operated using a Boeing 737-200. The route is already served by LAN Airlines and Santa Barbara Airlines but each carrier only offers a weekly service using 767 variants. An estimated 37,000 O&D passengers travelled between the two cities in the past year, a figure that has more than doubled in the past 12 months. However, more than a third of these passengers currently connect via other hubs such as Bogota, Panama City and Lima, a market that could easily be attracted to the more frequent service being offered by Conviasa. Alongside the new route, Conviasa is also increasing flights between Caracas and Bogota, adding a second daily rotation. The airline has just a three per cent of the estimated 157,000 O&D passengers that travelled on the route in the past year, with the market dominated by Avianca (21 flights per week) and Copa Airlines (13 flights per week). It plans to use a mix of Boeing 737-200s and Bombardier CRJ200s on its flights.
SOUTHWEST AIRLINES AND AIRTRAN ADD FLIGHTS
Southwest Airlines and AirTran Airways have announced the addition of five additional non-stop routes to their network for the first quarter of 2012 as they continue to work towards coordinating their schedules to maximise the synergies of their merger. The new links include daily flights from January 7, 2012 between Denver and Providence and Ft Lauderdale Hollywood and Milwaukee and from February 12, 2012 between Long Island/Islip and Fort Myers. Seasonal services will also be resumed on the Nashville - Fort Myers and Ft Lauderdale Hollywood – Manchester routes from January 7. “The schedule coordination is a first effort by both airlines to maximise operations and prepare for full integration,” say the two airlines, highlighting that customers will also see some shifts in capacity due to the “typical slowing of demand” in the winter months and “continued pruning of unproductive flying” due to high fuel costs. “As we move toward full integration, we continue looking for ways to optimise operations and schedules at both Southwest and AirTran,” said Bob Jordan, Executive Vice President of Strategy and Planning, Southwest Airlines and President, AirTran Airways. “The airline industry is facing many challenges including significantly higher fuel costs. We must do everything we can to operate efficiently, continue to offer schedules that best match capacity to demand, and deliver the legendary Customer Service both airlines are known for." As Bob Jordan notes, the airlines are looking closely at its schedules and this will mean some route cancellations during the final quarter. Flights on the following routes are all due to stop from January 7: Birmingham – Louisville; Boise – Reno/Tahoe; Boise – Salt Lake City; Boise – Seattle/Tacoma; Jacksonville FL – Philadelphia; Kansas City – Seattle/Tacoma; Manchester NH – Las Vegas; Manchester NH – Philadelphia; Philadelphia – Pittsburgh; Philadelphia – Providence; Phoenix – Providence; Spokane – Seattle/Tacoma. Meanwhile, services on the Albuquerque – Portland, Hartford – Las Vegas and Kansas City – Oakland routes will stop on January 7 but are due to recommence from February 12. This is possible as Southwest covers this period with two separate schedule sections – January 8 – February 11 and February 12 – March 9. The airline says a number of factors have influenced the closure of these routes, most notably the volatility of the price of oil. “For that reason our Planners have shown a high degree of caution in the initial publication of this schedule because of the uncertainty of the price of fuel in 1Q12. If it looks like we need to add more flights, we can,” says the airline. Alongside the route additions and cancellations, this schedule period also marks the transition of some AirTran capacity over to the Southwest brand, such as Baltimore/Washington to Boston, Orlando and New Orleans; Columbus and St. Louis to Orlando, and Pittsburgh-Tampa Bay/St Petersburg. As one Southwest Airlines executive notes this marks the start of a long process with the ultimate goal of “bringing two airlines together to spread low fares further”.
EVA AIR TO MOVE NEW YORK LINK TO JFK
Taiwanese carrier EVA Air is to move its flights to New York from Newark Liberty International Airport back to JFK International, having ended services to the city’s main international gateway in the late 1990s. The airline will make the switch at the start of the Northern Winter schedules at the end of October, almost 15 years after it began serving the facility. The airline currently offers four flights every week using a Boeing 777-300ER, which makes a technical stop in Anchorage on its return to Asia. An estimated 73,000 O&D passengers travelled on the Taipei Taoyuan – Newark route in the past year. EVA Air witnessed a larger increase in passengers than the market average during this period with its non-stop flights appearing more attractive to customers than the one-stop offerings of others via Asian hubs. The move to New York JFK will place EVA Air in direct competition with fellow Taiwanese carrier China Airlines. The latter offers a three times weekly link to the US airport via Osaka Kansai International. It carried an estimated 52,000 O&D passengers on its flight with around a further 33,000 passengers flying on indirect services. EVA Air will be confident of securing some of this lost traffic on its non-stop connection as well as working with new partners to offer onward connections across North ad South America.
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