Transaero Confirms Expansion into Asia
Russian carrier Transaero Airlines has confirmed it will relaunch flights between Moscow and the Asian capitals of Kuala Lumpur and Singapore this winter, while a new connection to the Seychelles will also be added early next year; services on the three routes will be launched over a four day period at the end of December / start of January. The independent airline will resume a weekly rotation to Kuala Lumpur from Moscow Domodedovo on December 30 using a Boeing 767-300ER; while a weekly 777-200ER service to Singapore will be restarted on January 1, 2012. The latter route is already served by Singapore Airlines. The new Seychelles link will begin on January 2 and will be operated using a 777-200ER every ten days.
Safi Airways Set for Route Growth
Afghanistan carrier Safi Airways is expected to announce a new route into Asia in the coming days after recently welcoming another Airbus A320 into its fleet. The aircraft, configured with 12 Business Class and 132 Economy seats, will initially be used to boost capacity on flights between Kabul and Dubai, but the airline’s Chief Operating Officer, Michael McTighe, has confirmed the new arrival will “boost Safi Airways’ plans to develop new routes in the GCC and expand further into Asia”. It is understood that the airline will reveal its latest new route later this week. “We want to enhance the flying experience and make it as comfortable and enjoyable as possible for our valued customers”, said Ghulam Safi, Founder, Safi Airways. “This is just another step in our on-going efforts to constantly upgrade our service in our relentless pursuit to expand Afghanistan’s leading airline.”
Etihad Airways Increases Flights to Riyadh
Etihad Airways is to increase its flights between Abu Dhabi and the Saudi Arabian city of Riyadh during the Northern Winter schedules. The carrier currently operates the route eight times weekly, competing with Saudi Arabian Airlines and carrying an estimated 18,000 O&D passengers, a 41 per cent share of the market between the two destinations. Etihad plans to introduce an additional three weekly flights on the route from October 30, adding two further rotations from November 10, increasing to 13 flights per week.
Tripoli is Seeing Stars
Star Alliance’s European carriers have set a tentative schedule to resume flights to the Libyan capital Tripoli during the last two months of this year. bmi British Midland International is expected to resume a daily link from London Heathrow on November 21, while Lufthansa will relaunch daily flights from Frankfurt and Austrian Airlines a three times weekly service from Vienna from December 1. In the past year an estimated 544,000 O&D passengers travelled between Europe and Tripoli with the largest traffic flows being reported from Turkey (19.4 per cent), the United Kingdom (17.9 per cent), Italy (15.4 per cent), France (11.8 per cent) and Malta (6.7 per cent). bmi carried an estimated 3,000 O&D passengers on its flights prior to the closure of the route, with Austrian Airlines handling around 8,000 and Lufthansa 12,000 passengers.
El Al Drops Ukrainian Flights
El Al Israel Airlines is to close two of its three routes to Ukraine this winter as part of a network rationalisation that will see it focus on its more profitable services. The carrier will suspend its flights from Tel Aviv to Odessa and Dnepropetrovsk from December 6 and December 8, respectively, although it will retain its daily service to Kiev. El Al carried an estimated 98,000 O&D travellers between Israel and Ukraine in the past year, a 30.7 per cent share of the total market of 321,000. It had competed directly with Aerosvit Airlines on both routes, a market of around 29,000 travellers between Tel Aviv and Dnepropetrovsk and an estimated 31,000 between Tel Aviv and Odessa.
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