News From Around The EuroZone

Richard Maslen March 17, 2011

FLYBE ADDS SECOND DOMESTIC LINK FROM MANSTON

UK low-fare carrier Flybe has announced that it will open a third domestic route from Manston Airport with a seasonal summer link to Belfast City in Northern Ireland. The three-times weekly service will be launched from May 26 but Charles Buchanan, Chief Executive Officer, Manston Airport is eager for frequency growth. “Initially this will be three times a week but will hopefully increase as demand grows and aircraft become available,” he said. Flybe already operates from Manston to Edinburgh and Manchester although the latter flight will be stopped from April 4 due to low passenger numbers. “The service to Manchester has unfortunately proved unsustainable,” said Mike Rutter, Chief Commercial Officer, Flybe. According to official UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) statistics, Flybe carried 17,555 passengers on the Edinburgh service last year and just 3,782 on its flight to Manchester.

NORWEGIAN TO OPEN SEVEN NEW ROUTES FROM GOTHENBURG

Nordic and Scandinavian low-cost operator Norwegian is to inaugurate international flights from Gothenburg Landvetter following the success of its initial route to the Swedish capital Stockholm. “After the successful launch of the Gothenburg-Stockholm route it has simply been a question of time before Norwegian would go international from Gothenburg,” said Bjørn Kjos, Chief Executive Officer, Norwegian. The airline will open seven new routes from June, beginning on June 20 with a link to Malaga. Chania, Nice, Palma and Pristina will follow later the same month with connections to Barcelona and Rome being added in August. Norwegian is currently the fourth largest operator at Gothenburg with 22 flights and 41,236 available seats per week on its single route to Stockholm Arlanda, accounting for seven per cent of the total capacity. SAS Scandinavian Airlines dominates the market with a 19 per cent share of capacity with flights to four domestic and international destinations, but following Norwegian’s expansion it will close the gap on its rival. Norwegian is the second largest airline in Scandinavia, and has a route network that stretches across Europe into North Africa and the Middle East. With competitive prices and customer friendly service, the company has experienced significant growth over the past couple of years. It carried more than 13 million passengers in 2010 and currently operates 54 aircraft on 238 routes to 95 destinations.

ADRIA TO OPEN LJUBLJANA – TOULON LINK

Slovenian flag carrier Adria Airways is to inaugurate a four-times weekly connection between Ljubljana and the southern French town of Toulon, located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur region. The company will offer two flights on a Wednesday using a Bombardier CRJ900 and two flights on a Sunday using larger Airbus A319 equipment. This will be the only link into Eastern Europe from the small town, an important centre for naval construction, fishing, wine making, and the manufacture of aeronautical equipment, armaments, maps, paper, tobacco, printing, shoes, and electronic equipment.

FINNAIR TO FLY TO ARCTIC RUSSIA

Finnair is to add a Helsinki – Murmansk route this summer. The three-times weekly service will operate between June 15 and September 15 using Embraer 170 equipment. The Nordic carrier will be the only carrier outside of Russia to serve the northern conurbation, the largest city north of the Arctic Circle, although Norwegian carrier Widerøe has in the past also offered links from Tromsø. Finnair is set to further modify its schedules as negotiations with the owners of regional carrier Finncomm Airlines continue. In a formal notice to the Stock Exchange it acknowledges that talks are taking more time than expected and an agreement will not now be concluded until the second quarter of the year.

AIRBERLIN ADDS NEW ROUTES FROM DÜSSELDORF

airberlin is to inaugurate flights from Düsseldorf to Cagliari, Florence and Rijeka this summer as part of an expanded network from the German city. The carrier will add a daily service to Florence from May 27, a three-times weekly link to Cagliari from May 28 and a three-times weekly rotation to Rijeka from May 29. None of these routes are currently served on a scheduled basis although there is strong leisure demand to all three destinations. The German carrier will also increase frequencies to Barcelona from 14 to 19 a week from May 2 with an additional weekday afternoon connection. It competes with national carrier Lufthansa on the route, holding a 55 per cent share of a 208,000 O&D passenger market. Ryanair also advertises low-cost flights between the two cities although its flights to both El Prat and Girona, to the north of the Spanish city, operate from Weeze Airport (also known as Niederrhein) around 43 miles (70km) from Düsseldorf.

AIR FRANCE BOOSTS PRAGUE FLIGHTS AS CZECH AIRLINES EXPANDS IN FRANCE

Air France is to increase frequencies on its flights from Paris CDG to Prague from three- to five-times daily. The two additional rotations will be flown by partner carrier Regional using Embraer 190s. The expansion follows a recent decision to terminate an existing codeshare partnership with Czech Airlines on the route, although a marketing arrangement covering onward domestic connections within each country will continue. Together the two SkyTeam members dominated the 472,000 O&D passenger market with a combined 45 per cent share of the market in 2010, but now, operating separately, Travel Service Airlines’ low-cost subsidiary SmartWings will hold the greatest share of traffic with 37 per cent. easyJet, which also offers direct services on the route, holds a 16 per cent share. Meanwhile, Czech Airlines has confirmed that it will launch a five-times weekly Prague - Bordeaux service from May 29, a route not currently operated. It will also expand in Ukraine with a three-times weekly link to Donetsk from April 24, a four-times weekly connection to Lviv from April 27, and a five-times weekly Krarkov flight from June 3. The airline has for a long time been SkyTeam’s strongest operator into Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and this development will reinforce this position.

EASTERN AIRWAYS EXPANDS IN FRANCE

UK regional carrier Eastern Airways is to add a third domestic French route this summer from its base at Dijon, introducing a daily except Saturday rotation to Nantes from May 16. The airline launched flights from Dijon Bourgogne last September initially serving Bordeaux and Toulouse and carried more than 10,000 passengers in its first six months of operation. “Our express service will support important and potential business traffic between the two regional capitals,” said Chris Holliday, Chief Operating Officer, Eastern Airways. “We also offer a very convenient alternative for leisure customers, relatives and families and international tourists.” The economy of Nantes and the Loire-Atlantique region is dominated by the services segment (banking, insurance, high-tech and real estate), but food, agriculture and tourism also play a role in a diversified industry sector. The city of Dijon is the capital city of Burgundy, and its industries include automobile, high-tech, manufacturing and pharmaceutical industry. The region is also famous for its wines, regularly ranked among the most best in the world. Eastern Airways is currently the only airline offering flights from Dijon Bourgogne. In fact it is the first scheduled airline to serve the airport for more than seven years.

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