News From Around The EuroZone

Richard Maslen May 25, 2011

WIZZ AIR ADDS VILNIUS – DORTMUND LINK

Central and Eastern European low-cost carrier Wizz Air is to inaugurate a three times weekly link between Dortmund and its new Vilnius base in Lithuania from July 26. The budget operator launched its activities at the Baltic facility in April, deploying a single Airbus A320 to operate on eight routes to Barcelona, Bergamo, Cork, Doncaster Sheffield, Eindhoven, London Luton, Rome Fiumicino, and Stockholm Skavsta. This is its first route between Lithuania and the German city, although Lufthansa already provides links from Vilnius to Frankfurt and Estonian Air has recently added a link from the capital to Berlin Tegel, a route Swedish regional carrier Skyways will also launch in June. Ryanair also offers flights between Kuanus and Frankfurt Hahn. An estimated 296,000 O&D passengers travelled between the two countries in the past year. Wizz Air recently (May 19) celebrated the seventh anniversary of its launch, a period during which it has established itself as one of the leading low-cost carriers in Europe, particularly in Central and Eastern markets. It now has 15 bases across Bulgaria, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Ukraine and the Czech Republic and carried more than 10 million passengers for the first time in 2010, up 22 per cent on the previous year.

Click here to watch an EXCLUSIVE interview with Wizz Air's Head of Network Development & Scheduling, Stijn Vandermoere, from the recent Routes Europe event in Cagliari, Italy.

ALITALIA BOOSTS FLIGHTS TO LOS ANGELES

Alitalia is to offer a daily schedule on its Rome – Los Angeles route during the peak summer months, but will revert to a four times weekly schedule from the start of October. The SkyTeam alliance member has already confirmed the introduction of a sixth weekly frequency from June 3, but will now offer a daily schedule between July 5 and October 2. An estimated 127,000 O&D passengers travelled between Rome Fiumicino and Los Angeles in the past year, with Alitalia holding a29 per cent share of the traffic ahead of US Airways (12 per cent via Charlotte Douglas and Philadelphia), British Airways (8 per cent via London Heathrow), Continental Airlines (7 per cent) and United Airlines (6 per cent).

TRANSAVIA BOOSTS FREQUENCY IN PORTUGAL

Dutch carrier Transavia is to boost frequencies on its domestic Portuguese route between Porto and Funchal in Madeira to meet additional peak summer demand. The airline launched the route last summer on a four times weekly basis supported by the Fund for Investment in Tourism Promotion and co-funded by ANAM, the Regional Secretariat of Tourism and Transport and other private sector partners in the Autonomous Region of Madeira. It increased its frequency to six flights per week from April this year. However, it now plans to introduce a seventh rotation between July 2 and August 27, with an additional Saturday flight. The route is also operated by TAP Portugal on an up to three times daily basis, but Transavia still carried more than 35,000 passengers during 2010, according to ANAM statistics, securing a 16 per cent share of the market. ANAM says Transavia is a key “strategic partner” for Madeira Airport. "We welcome the introduction of an additional frequency on the route Porto-Madeira and we expect to increase the network of destinations with Transavia very soon," it confirmed to The HUB.

Click here to watch an EXCLUSIVE interview with Transavia's Vice President International Sales, Norbert Zoet, from the recent Routes Europe event in Cagliari, Italy.

AÉROPORT DE DEAUVILLE REBRANDS

The French regional airport facility Aéroport de Deauville St Gatien has changed its name to Aéroport de Deauville-Normandie. “This name change reinforces the identity of Deauville Airport as the inter-regional for all of Normandy. It consolidates its role not only within Normandy for the years to come but also in France and in the wider context of European aviation,” said Alain Le Vern, Président of Syndicat Mixte de l’Aéroport de Deauville Normandie, the Deauville Airport Public Authority, when questioned on the rebranding. This official name change was approved by the Conseil Supérieur pour l’Infrastructure Aérienne (CSINA), a committee under the aegis of the French Civil Aviation Authority, following consultation with many interest groups within the catchment of Deauville Airport, the local governments in the region, as well as the two regional governments of Upper and Lower Normandy. The airport has undergone some major investments over the past 18 months, including the resurfacing of its runway, the installation of new runway lighting and strengthening and widening of the main apron. The airport currently has just two scheduled air links, a four times weekly service to London City by Air France (operated by CityJet) and a weekly leisure route to Palma de Mallorca by Luxair. The flight to the UK, launched last year, helped boost passenger traffic by almost a half to 125,460 in 2010.