Delta to Open Haiti Link from Atlanta
US major Delta Air Lines is to introduce the first direct service to Haiti from Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta in more than two decades from this spring when it launches a weekly connection to Port au Prince. The flight, which remains subject to Government approval, will be operated by an Airbus A320 every Saturday from April 7, 2012. The details of the new route were released this week as the Caribbean nation prepares to mark the second anniversary of the January 12, 2010, earthquake that killed tens of thousands of people and crippled its infrastructure. Delta Air Lines already offers flights to Port au Prince from New York John F Kennedy International, a route that has a strong point-to-point demand. This flight was launched on a daily basis in June 2009 and represented the airline’s first services to Haiti since the 1950s when it offered flights from New Orleans. The route was suspended in January 2010 following the earthquake that caused devastation across the country, but resumed in April 2010 initially on a three times weekly basis and increasing to five times weekly from June 2010. Around 852,000 O&D passengers travelled between Port au Prince and the US last year, with American Airlines also offering connections Fort Lauderdale, New York and Miami; Continental Airlines to Newark; Spirit Airlines to Fort Lauderdale; Insel Air to Miami and Air France to Miami, as a regional connection to its long-haul flights from Paris. Around 9,000 of these passengers began or ending their journeys in Atlanta and Delta Air Lines will use this established market as well as its wider domestic network at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport to stimulate traffic. According to consulate data, an estimated 50,000 people of Haitian descent are thought to inhabit the wider Georgia market with around 200,000 thought to live in the area spanning from Jacksonville, Fla., to Texas.
AeroSvit and THY Cooperate Between Ukraine and Turkey
AeroSvit – Ukrainian Airlines and Turkish Airlines (THY) are to cooperate on flights between Ukraine and Turkey after introducing a codeshare partnership on services between the two countries. The two airlines will coordinate their schedules on links between Istanbul and five Ukrainian cities – Kiev, Odessa, Simferopol, Dnepropetrovsk and Donetsk. In the past year an estimated 482,000 O&D passengers travelled between Ukraine and Turkey, up 7.4 per cent on the previous 12 months and up 58.8 per cent on the traffic from five years ago. AeroSvit and THY are the market leaders with 40.0 and 45.0 per cent shares of the traffic, respectively. The main competition comes from Pegasus Airlines (15.4 per cent). There are currently over 75 weekly flights between the two countries offering more than 11,000 seats in each direction. AeroSvit offers 23 flights a week to Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport from Dnepropetrovsk, Dontesk, Kiev, Odessa and Simferopol, while THY offers 38 flights per week on the same routes, as well as a connection to Lviv. Together, AeroSvit and THY account for 80.6 per cent of the available seat capacity between the two countries. Alongside AeroSvit and THY, only two other carriers offer flights between Ukraine and Turkey. Pegasus Airlines currently has services between Istanbul and Dontesk and Kharkov, although its uses Sibiha Gokcen Airport in the Turkish city; while Onur Air provides a three times weekly scheduled link between Odessa and Istanbul Ataturk.
Frontier Airlines’ New Route Launches
US carrier Frontier Airlines will this week launch a new seasonal link between Kansas City and Orlando International and year-round flights from Grand Rapids and Madison to Washington Reagan National as it further expands its domestic offering. The new three times weekly Grand Rapids – Washington Reagan link commenced on January 4, 2012 while the Madison – Washington Reagan service, also three times weekly, followed from January 5, 2012 and both will be operated using a 138-seat Airbus A319. “Our new non-stop service to convenient Washington Reagan provides Grand Rapids and Madison travellers lower fares on a more comfortable large jet for their travels to our nation’s capital,” said Daniel Shurz, Vice President of Strategy and Planning, Frontier Airlines. The two routes are currently served by Delta Air Lines’ regional partners Comair and Pinaccle Airlines under the Delta Connection brand. A seasonal weekday Embraer ERJ-145 service is offered from Grand Rapids while a weekday Bombardier CRJ700 link is provided from Madison. An estimated 29,000 O&D passengers travelled between Grand Rapids and Washington Reagan last year, with 47,000 flying between Madison and National Airport. Frontier’s new seasonal service between Kansas City and Orlando also began on January. 5, 2012, and will operate through to April 15, 2012. This will initially be operated on a four times weekly basis but will increase to six flights per week from February 23, 2012. The airline will use a mix of 99-seat Embraer 190s and 138-seat A319s on the route. The addition of this seasonal flight brings Frontier’s network from Kansas City to 20 destinations. The airline is currently the third largest carrier at Kansas City International Airport, accounting for 12.9 per cent of this month’s available weekly seats. Southwest Airlines is the dominant carrier in this market offering 370 weekly flights across a network encompassing 18 destinations.
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