AVIANCA TO PROVIDE LA PAZ AND RIO LINKS FROM BOGOTÁ
Colombian national carrier Avianca is to introduce flights from its primary base at El Dorado International Airport in the country’s capital Bogotá to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and La Paz, the administrative capital of Bolivia. The latter route remains subject to government approval and will be the carrier’s first link to Bolivia – it already serves Brazil with a twice daily flight to São Paulo. The airline plans to offer a three times weekly service to Rio de Janeiro from November 4 using an Airbus A330-200 and a five times weekly link to La Paz from November 16 using an A319. It currently uses an A330-200 on one of its daily flights to São Paulo with the second rotation operated by an A319. An estimated 26,000 O&D passengers travelled between Colombia and Brazil in the last year, a market that has almost doubled during the last 12 months. Alongside Avianca, TAM Airlines and Gol Transportes Aereos and Oceanair offer flights between Bogotá and São Paulo, although the carrier will be the first to offer direct flights to Rio de Janeiro.
CHINA CARGO AIRLINES LANDS AT LAMBERT
Lambert St Louis International Airport celebrated the inaugural arrival of China Cargo Airlines last Friday (September 23) as the Asian freight carrier inaugurated a new scheduled air link from China, the facility’s first cargo service from the country. The aircraft arrived from Shanghai with a cargo of high value Chinese manufactured goods, returning to the Chinese city with a load of cargo from the Midwest US. China Cargo Airlines is initially offering a weekly flight, although frequency may increase in the future subject to demand. “Instead of being connected to the rest of country, we’re here connected to rest of the world,” said St Louis, Missouri Mayor Francis Slay at a special event to mark the inaugural flight. “We’re starting small, but together we can build something big.” The new service is the culmination of several years of negotiations between China, China Cargo Airlines and the Midwest China Hub Commission, a coalition of private business associations and governmental groups in Missouri.
OLT MOVES FOCUS FROM GERMANY TO POLAND
A major restructuring of German carrier OLT has seen it move its focus into the Polish market as new owners have developed a revised business model. After losing its contracts to fly shuttle services for Airbus on routes within Europe, the airline will shutdown the majority of its scheduled operations In Germany, although some domestic flights will still being offered using general aviation aircraft, including island shuttle links between Bokrum, Emden and Helgoland. The company is now under common ownership with regional carrier Jetair and a combined venture, to be dubbed OLT Jetair, will offer flights from Gdansk to Hamburg (five times weekly) and Prague (twice weekly) from November 15, using an ATR 42-300. The venture will also offer domestic links between Rzeszow and Warsaw, to be flown using an 18-seat BAe Jetstream 32, twice daily services from Gdansk and Wroclaw to Warsaw and weekday-only flights from Gdansk and Wroclaw to Berlin. Looking forward, OLT Jetair is already formulating new routes for 2012 and hopes to offer a link from Gdansk to Brussels, via Bremen and to Rzeszow, with a stopover in Katowice. An estimated 1.5 million O&D passengers travelled between Poland and destinations across Europe, with the largest markets being United Kingdom (27.8 per cent), Germany (11.5 per cent), Italy (8.4 per cent), Norway (5.9 per cent) and Spain (5.9 per cent). The Polish domestic market is still in its infancy although 65,000 O&D passengers are estimated to have flown internally in the last 12 months, the majority flying to the capital Warsaw from Gdansk and Wroclaw.
TURKISH CARGO ADDS ADDIS ABABA AND JEDDAH FLIGHTS
Turkish Cargo, the freight business of Turkish Airlines (THY), will inaugurate cargo links to the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa via the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah from tomorrow (September 27). The network expansion follows the launch last month of cargo flights to Riyadh and capacity to Saudi Arabia was boosted earlier this month through belly-hold space on THY’s new passenger flight to Dammam. The new route will be operated on a weekly basis and will be flown using an Airbus A330-200F. Turkish Cargo already provides dedicated freighter links to four markets in Africa with weekly flights from Istanbul to Algiers; twice weekly services to Casablanca; a three times weekly link to Cairo and regular flights to Tripoli, although the latter route is currently suspended.
JAL AND CHINA EASTERN DEEPEN CODESHARE PARTNERSHIP
Japan Airlines (JAL) and China Eastern Airlines have reached an agreement to greatly expand their codeshare partnership to include their entire Sino-Japan networks. With effect from October 8, the airlines will place their respective flight designators ‘JL’ and ‘MU’ on every flight operated by the other, between cities in China and Japan. The deeper relationship will add Yantai to JAL’s network of 15 Chinese cities, and Shizuoka, Okayama and Nagasaki to China Eastern’s existing network of 12 Japanese cities. The extension of the codeshare scheme to cover the entire China-Japan network will make it easier for customers to understand and more conveniently select from the combined operations of both carriers’ 386 weekly flights on 42 routes between the two countries. Aside from the codeshare arrangement between JAL and Shanghai-based China Eastern since September 2002, both airlines have also been offering a reciprocal frequent flyer program since February 1, 2008. Members of JAL’s frequent flyer program, JAL Mileage Bank (JMB) have been able to earn and redeem award tickets even when flying domestically in China on China Eastern. Together with its extensive codeshare ties with fellow oneworld alliance partner Cathay Pacific based in Hong Kong, JAL aims to widen its network coverage to provide business and leisure customers alike, with greater convenience and support.
SAUDI AIRLINES CARGO BOOSTS TRANSATLANTIC LINKS
Saudi Airlines Cargo, the freight operation of Saudi Arabian Airlines, is expanding its long-haul links between Europe and the US, offering three Boeing 747 flights per week to New York and Houston from its European hub at Brussels Airport in Belgium. These flights also provide cargo options to destinations beyond these cities with onward domestic transfers available to such destinations at Atlanta, Detroit, Los Angeles and Seattle. "By adding the USA to our network, we do not only respond to the developments in the cargo market but also to the increasing demand of freighter capacity out of Europe to the USA, especially to Houston," said Sander van Woesik, Regional Sales Director Europe of Saudi Airlines Cargo. "We consider our transatlantic connection a valuable addition to our network and with our global coverage, we are convinced that we can serve the freight forwarders and their customers even better." Saudi Airlines Cargo currently operates 12 dedicated freighter aircraft, but also and sells the belly-capacity on 125 passenger aircraft flown by Saudi Arabian Airlines across a network of 225 destinations.
ALLEGIANT AIR EXPANDS OFFERING FROM FLORIDA
US carrier Allegiant Air is to introduce a twice weekly service to Niagara Falls International Airport, its first scheduled flight to the facility in New York State. The new link will further expand its offering from St Petersburg Clearwater International Airport in the Tampa Bay area of Florida and will be operated by a 150-seat McDonnell Douglas MD-80 from December 15. “We are very excited about the addition of non-stop service to the Niagara Falls International Airport,” said Noah Lagos, Airport Director, St Petersburg Clearwater International Airport. “The Niagara Falls and Buffalo airports are gateways for many Canadians to fly to the US and for Americans to visit the scenic Niagara Falls region.” With the addition of this route, Allegiant Air will now offer non-stop services to 23 destinations from St Petersburg Clearwater International Airport and its parent company Allegiant Travel Company partners with 20 local Tampa Bay hotels to offer wider ‘fly-and-stay’ packages alongside seat-only offerings. Allegiant Air is by far the largest user of St Petersburg Clearwater International Airport; the only other scheduled operations being provided by Vision Air to Gulfport-Biloxi International and Northwest Florida Regional Airport at Ft Walton Beach, Destin.
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