IBERIA INCREASES SCHEDULE TO EQUATORIAL GUINEA
Spanish national carrier Iberia has today added a sixth weekly flight on the Madrid – Malabo route, less than a year after it launched flights between the two destinations. The airline utilises an Airbus A319 on the route, using an aircraft that is specially configured with wider Business Class seats like some of its other longer distance medium-haul routes to destinations including Cairo, Lagos, Moscow and Tel Aviv. The new aircraft was introduced in October last year and the airline says premium demand has risen by around ten per cent since then. Iberia says it carried some 41,200 passengers on this route in 2010, a 7.7 per cent increase for the year. Nearly 50 per cent of these passengers flew on to other destinations, the most popular being São Paulo, followed by Barcelona, Cairo, Lisbon, and Valencia. The O&D demand between the two cities was an estimated 34,000 passengers for the year ending June 2011, with Iberia carrying around 68 per cent of these passengers – the remainder using the flights of Air Europa. The Spanish carrier has been expanding its activity in Africa and alongside Malabo flies to ten destinations in the continent - Algiers, Oran, Cairo, Casablanca, Marrakech, Rabat, Tangier Lagos, Dakar and Johannesburg. It will introduce a twice weekly service to Luanda, Angola from October 28, while it serves nine further cities through codeshare partners.
JETISFACTION TO OFFER LONDON SOUTHEND LINK
German regional carrier Jetisfaction has confirmed that it will retain links between Münster/Osnabrück and London when airberlin suspends its route to London Stansted at the end of October. The small regional carrier, which started life as an aircraft brokerage and consulting company, will introduce its own flight from the German city, serving the fast-growing London Southend Airport in the UK capital. The daily flights will commence on October 30 and will be flown using a Saab 340 using the FlexFlight ‘W2’ code but there are already plans to introduce a second daily rotation. airberlin currently serves the Münster/Osnabrück – London Stansted route on a nine times weekly basis using a Bombardier Dash 8-Q400 turboprop. An estimated 55,000 O&D passengers travelled on the route in the past year, down from 63,000 in the previous 12 month period. “We are delighted to confirm German airline Jetisfaction will operate daily services between London Southend Airport and Münster/Osnabrück Airport in northern Germany from October 31 this year,” Jonathan Rayner, Head of Business Development, Stobart Air confirmed to The HUB. “It's great to see foreign airlines identifying the potential of London Southend Airport as a favourable access point to the Essex and London markets.” This year Aer Arann launched services to the airport and more recently easyJet announced the initial operational plans for a new base at the airport that will open in spring 2012, with at least two more routes expected to be added in the coming months. “We continue to work with Aer Arann on growth plans and easyJet on their portfolio of new routes from Southend; this new service from Jetisfaction is a complementary addition to both, giving our customers further choice of destination and airline,” added Rayner. Ahead of the introduction of the London link, Jetisfaction will also introduce scheduled flights from Münster/Osnabrück to Poznan and Zürich from September 6. These will be served on a twice and three times weekly basis, respectively, with an onward service to Wroclaw to be provided from Poznan.
DARWIN AIRLINES CUTS FOGGIA FLIGHTS
Independent Swiss regional carrier Darwin Airlines is to suspend its three routes from Foggia this winter leaving the Italian city’s small Gion Lisa Airport with no fixed-wing scheduled air services. The airline currently operates more than 20 weekly flights from the facility comprising two weekday and single daily weekend rotations to Milan Malpensa, five flights per week to Palermo and four to Turin. However, from October 30 it will suspend all three routes and will redeploy its based Saab 2000 elsewhere in its network. In the past year Darwin Airlines handled around 75,000 O&D passengers on the three domestic routes which are operated under a codeshare arrangement with its sister venture Baboo and Italian national carrier Alitalia. Around 41,000 travellers flew between Foggia and Milan, 19,000 between Foggia and Palermo and 15,000 between Foggia and Turin.
LOGANAIR TO SAFEGUARD GLASGOW – CORNWALL LINK
UK regional carrier Loganair has announced that it will introduce a non-stop link between Glasgow and Newquay Cornwall Airport from April 5, 2012 retaining the domestic connection for the summer months. The route is currently flown by Plymouth-based Air Southwest but the airline is set to close later this year - it will terminate its own flights on the route at the end of September. Loganair, which operates as a franchise partner of UK low-fare carrier Flybe, will offer up to five weekly non-stop flights on the route. The link has proved popular with travellers as the only alternative to flying is an eleven-hour train or nine-hour road journey. “The demand for convenient, frequent air services between Glasgow and Newquay clearly exists, serving both leisure travellers and those visiting friends and relatives,” said Jonathan Hinkles, Chief Operating Officer, Loganair. “We’re delighted to be announcing our new route and sincerely believe that air travel represents a cost-effective and hugely convenient alternative to arduous road or rail journeys between the two points.” In the past year an estimated 12,000 O&D passengers travelled between Newquay and Glasgow, with tickets averaging $172 a sector. This is a slight fall in traffic when compared with the previous 12 month period (year to June 2010) when an estimated 13,000 passengers travelled on the route, although the yield has strengthened as one-way fares have grown from $157. This increase, in part, has been due to Eastern Airways’ acquisition of the Air Southwest brand and the adoption of its own business model on the route. “Scotland has proved to be an increasingly desired destination from Newquay for its many events and festivals, city breaks, arts and culture as well as business travel and visiting friends and relatives; the air link secures its swift connectivity,” said Al Titterington, Managing Director, Newquay Cornwall Airport.
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