Alaska Airlines Expands Its Operations from California
Alaska Airlines has announced plans to expand its operations in the State of California with a number of new routes to be operated on its behalf by affiliate carrier Horizon Air using Bombardier Dash 8-Q400 turboprops. Its new activity includes daily non-stop services from San Diego to Monterey and Santa Rosa, a twice daily link to Fresno and also a twice daily flight between San Jose and Reno. The new services will all commence during the first week of June. Alaska Airlines already provides domestic links from San Diego to Honolulu, Maui, Portland and Seattle-Tacoma alongside international connections to Puerto Vallarta and San Jose Del Cabo in Mexico. It is currently the fifth largest carrier at San Diego International Airport behind Southwest Airlines, United Airlines, Delta Air Lines and American Airlines with a 6.7 per cent share of the available weekly capacity. There is currently no competition on any of the three new routes from the airport, although Southwest Airlines does compete between San Jose and Reno, a market of an estimated 74,000 O&D passengers. To support the new Santa Rosa - San Diego route, Alaska Airlines is to modify its existing schedule from the city, famous for its vineyards and located approximately 55 miles north of San Francisco. It will discontinue its existing up to eleven times daily service from Santa Rosa to Las Vegas from June 3, 2012 although a third rotation will be introduced to Los Angeles, which will operate four times weekly through to August 25, 2012 and will increase the frequency from 13 to 17 flights per week.
InterJet to Offer Mexico City – Miami Link
Mexican low-cost carrier InterJet is to launch a new link between Mexico City and Miami, a route already served by Aeromexico and American Airlines. The budget operator will provide two flights every weekday and a single daily rotation at weekends from 23FEB12, giving it a 19.0 per cent share of the weekly flights on offer on the international route. American Airlines currently dominates the market with four flights per day. Miami is the fifth largest international destination from Mexico based on available seat capacity behind the US cities of Houston, Los Angeles, Dallas and Atlanta An estimated 915,000 O&D passengers travelled to or from Miami International Airport from Mexico in the past year with around 455,000 making the journey on the Mexico City – Miami – Mexico City route. The arrival of low-cost competition between the two destinations could certainly impact the dynamic of the route. Aeromexico and American Airlines have strengthened their own share of the market following the collapse of Mexicana and the arrival of InterJet could force average fares, which have already declined in the past year, down further. Although InterJet is the second largest carrier in the domestic market in Mexico with a 27.2 per cent share of the weekly seat capacity, it only has a very limited exposure in the international market with links from Mexico City to Guatemala City, Havana and San Antonio and from Toluca to San Antonio.
American Eagle Offers Iowa EAS Links from Chicago
American Eagle Airlines, the regional affiliate of US major American Airlines, has confirmed it will launch flights to two new destinations in Iowa from its Chicago O’Hare International Airport hub from April 3, 2012. The carrier will introduce twice daily services to both Sioux Gateway Airport in Sioux City and Waterloo Regional Airport in Waterloo using 44-seat Embraer ERJ-140 jets after being awarded a federal subsidy under the Essential Air Service (EAS) programme to operate the routes. "We're delighted that American Eagle was selected to provide service to Sioux City and Waterloo from our hub in Chicago," said Gary Foss, Managing Director – Network Planning for American's regional network. "This schedule will allow customers throughout Northern Iowa to make a day trip to Chicago for business or connect through this key international gateway to destinations throughout the American Airlines and oneworld global network." Meanwhile, also under the EAS programme, American Eagle will introduce double daily flights between Dallas/Fort Worth International and Garden City Regional Airport in Garden City, Kansas from April 3, 2012, again using ERJ-140 equipment. “We're excited for the regional economic boom that we anticipate as a result of jet service to Dallas/Fort Worth,” said John Doll, Garden City’s Mayor. “Service to Dallas/Fort Worth has been a goal for the community for several years and we're eager to welcome American Eagle to Garden City.”
Porter Outlines Washington Route Plan
Canadian regional carrier Porter Airlines has confirmed its schedule for its new route between Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport and Washington Dulles International Airport. The airline will offer three roundtrips every weekday and three rotations across the weekend from April 16, 2012, expanding its US network to six destinations in the process. “Greater Washington is a region that our passengers have told us is their number one priority for new Porter service,” said Robert Deluce, President and Chief Executive Officer, Porter Airlines. “We expect great interest for both business and leisure trips and look forward to bringing competition to the route.” Although there is no direct competition on the route, there are multiple flights to Toronto Pearson International Airport from the Washington area. Air Canada flies to Washington National Reagan International and Baltimore/Washington International, while United Airlines provides links to Washington Dulles International through its regional affiliates. In the past year an estimated 45,000 O&D passengers travelled between Toronto and Baltimore/Washington International; 100,000 from/to Washington National and 54,000 from/to Washington Dulles.
EVAS Air Offers Additional Flight From Gander
Canadian carrier Exploits Valley Air Services (EVAS Air) is to launch a second route for flag carrier Air Canada from its base at Gander International Airport. The small regional operator is to launch a daily flight between Gander and Happy Valley –Goose Bay with continuing service to Wabush, a small town on the western tip of Labrador from February 1, 2012. The flight will be operated by an 18-seat Beech 1900D under the Air Canada Express banner using ‘AC’ flight codes. The new Labrador route will complement EVAS Air’s existing three times daily Beech 1900 link between Gander and St John’s, the capital and largest city in Newfoundland and Labrador as well as Air Canada’s own double daily flight to Halifax, operated by a Bombardier CRJ200, and seasonal flights to Toronto. There appears to be growing demand for air services in the region as Gander International Airport posted a 19 per cent growth in passengers during 2011, reaching its highest level since 1989. Alongside the domestic connections the airport also has a limited charter programme with seasonal links to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic; and Varadero, Cuba. According to Gander International Airport Authority President and CEO, Gary Vey, the new EVAS Sir flight will further facilitate economic activity between the two regions, especially for conventions, commuting workers and contactors employed by Labrador’s major industrial development projects.
WestJet Confirms Regional Airline Start-up Study
Canadian carrier WestJet has confirmed that it is considering the launch of a new short-haul, regional airline as early as 2013 using a fleet of approximately 40 smaller, turboprop aircraft. The new carrier is likely to operate a fleet of 70-seat aircraft like the ATR 72 or locally-produced Bombardier Dash 8-Q400 to serve smaller communities within Canada and will help WestJet enhance its position in the domestic Canadian market. The airline is now in discussions with its staff and has said it will make a decision of the new business over the course of the following months. “This is an exciting consideration for WestJetters,” said Gregg Saretsky, President and Chief Executive Officer, WestJet. “Once our employees have had the opportunity to share their input, we will be in a better position to make a sound decision rooted in employee feedback and engagement.” This is not the first occasion that WestJet has studied revising its business model and it has regularly evaluated this strategy in the past, but has never committed to this final stage in the start-up process and speaking to its employees. WestJet’s development strategy is currently limited by the fact it operates just a single aircraft family, the Next-Generation Boeing 737, offering between 119 and 166-seats in the airline’s configuration. The arrival of a sister carrier with a smaller aircraft will enable the company to serve many smaller Canadian communities; create new connections between existing WestJet markets; build additional feed to the carrier’s existing 71-city network and ultimately continue to profitably grow and add shareholder value. “A short-haul aircraft combined with WestJet's brand, balance sheet strength and low-cost structure will allow WestJet to profitably accomplish these four main goals,” added Gregg Saretsky. “This would be the natural evolution of our airline," concluded Gregg Saretsky. “We have built a powerful brand that has been embraced by the travelling public from the start. Our goal now is to provide more Canadians with more access to lower fares and our friendly and caring guest experience.”
American Eagle To Make Jet Transition at Dallas/Fort Worth
American Eagle Airlines, the regional affiliate of American Airlines, has confirmed that it will switch all of its flights currently operating from Dallas/Fort Worth International by ATR 72 turboprops to Embraer regional jet models from the end of this month. The airline currently uses 21 of the Franco-Italian turboprops on flights to 14 markets through Arkansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas, but will introduce Embraer ERJ-135, ERJ-140 and ERJ-145 models on these routes from January 31, 2012. "We are pleased to once again provide jet service to all Eagle destinations from our hub in Dallas/Fort Worth," said Gary Foss, Managing Director Network Planning for American's regional network. "We know our customers will enjoy the comfortable, quiet ride of these Embraer jets, enhancing their overall travel experience." The revised fleet and network strategy was revealed internally last month and is one of a number of actions the carrier is taken after parent AMR Corporation filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in late November 2011. The ATRs are operated by Executive Airlines, which also provides flights with the aircraft for American Airlines from San Juan and Miami.
Southwest to Compete on Atlanta – Los Angeles
US low-cost carrier Southwest Airlines has confirmed it will inaugurate a daily service between Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport and Los Angeles International Airport from June 10, 2012, a route that is already flown by its sister carrier AirTran Airways on a three times daily basis. The route is popular with both business and leisure travellers and is also served by Delta Air Lines. An estimated 834,000 O&D passengers travelled on the route in the past year, up 5.5 per cent on the previous 12 month period. Delta Air Lines dominates the market with a 68 per cent share of the traffic, thanks in part to the use of widebodied equipment on its 60 plus flights a week. There is a major price difference between the two operators on the route too with AirTran’s average one-way fares around 60 per cent cheaper than its rival. Southwest Airlines will launch its first flights to the Atlanta market next month when it inaugurates 15 daily flights to five destinations - Baltimore/Washington, Chicago Midway, Denver, Houston Hobby, and Austin, Texas from February 12, 2012. It will also add daily links to Las Vegas and Phoenix from March 10, 2012. AirTran Airways already serves 52 cities from Atlanta including international routes to Mexico and the Caribbean.
Hawaiian Creates Maui Hub to Ease Statewide Connections
Hawaiian Airlines is expanding its operations to create a Maui hub that will offer improved connections between The Valley Isle and other points within the Hawaiian Islands as well as flights to and from the West Coast, the airline announced last week. Hawaiian is increasing its daily neighbor island schedule by an additional 23 to 25 flights over the next several weeks. More than half of the added flights will serve the new Maui hub with one-third providing additional non-stop service between Maui and both Hawaii Island and Kauai. Hawaiian is supporting the expanded flight schedule with the three Boeing 717-200 jets that it recently acquired. In addition, Hawaiian is reintroducing non-stop service to Maui from Los Angeles in June 2012, which will bring to five the number of US mainland gateway cities that Hawaiian is providing non-stop service to Maui, along with Seattle, Las Vegas, Oakland, and San José. “This investment in our core business here in Hawaii will increase service between Maui and other neighbor islands by 25 per cent, and answer a need identified by our kama‘aina travelers,” said Mark Dunkerley, President and Chief Executive Officer, Hawaiian Airlines. “We appreciate the support of our state lawmakers, the Department of Transportation, and Maui County in helping us to move this project forward to the benefit of Hawaii’s air travellers.” The new Maui hub recognises Maui’s growth as a visitor destination and its development as a transit point for travel to neighbouring islands and to the mainland. Maui state lawmakers expressed their appreciation for the initiatives being taken by Hawaiian to boost its neighbor island service and the associated benefits to the community. “Hawaiian’s expansion plan for Kahului Airport is good news for neighbour island residents and will make air travel between our islands easier while also increasing opportunities to showcase Maui as a visitor destination,” said State Senator J. Kalani English, Chair of the Senate Committee on Transportation and International Affairs. Under the revised strategy Hawaiian is increasing its neighbour island service statewide to 180 flights daily from 157 flights on peak travel days, and to 168 flights from 143 flights on off-peak travel days giving residents and visitors more schedule options for flying between the islands. Daily services to Maui will increase to 36 flights from 29 on peak travel days and to 34 from 27 flights on off-peak travel days. Hawaiian is also adding daily flights between Honolulu and Kauai, Hilo and Kona to boost its service during busy periods of the day. The new daily Maui – Los Angeles flight will operate between June 21, 2012 and August 18, 2012, giving travelers from southern California more schedule choices for visiting Maui and making flight connections to other islands. The service will operate the link using its wide-body, twin-aisle Boeing 767-300 aircraft seating up to 264 passengers, with 18 seats in First Class and 246 in Economy. An estimated 443,000 O&D passengers already travel between Maui and Los Angeles every year, with US carriers American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines currently offering six daily rotations on the route.
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