Wednesday's Route Development Briefs
SATA to Offer Links to Portugal and Azores for Danish Market
Portuguese carrier SATA Internacional is to open a new year-round service between Porto, the second largest city in Portugal, and the Danish capital Copenhagen. The weekly flight will be launched from April 12, 2012 and will offer onward connections from Porto to Ponta Delgada on the Azores, which is a popular destination for many people in Denmark. “The new service marks the first time Porto will be served directly from the Nordic Region, which gives not only Danish passengers, but travellers from the entire Nordic Region, better access to the Portuguese mainland,” said Ole Wieth Christensen, Director of Airline Sales & Route Development for Copenhagen Airport. The route will be served with a 161-seat Airbus A320.
Petroleum Air Services Adds Regional Jet
Cairo-based regional carrier Petroleum Air Services has signed a contract to become the launch customer for the Bombardier CRJ series in Egypt with a firm order for one CRJ900 NextGen and an option for a second aircraft. The airline mainly operates helicopter and fixed wing charter and air-taxi services for the petroleum industry, as its name suggests, but surplus hours are used by tour operators within Egypt and to international destinations within the region. It currently operates four de Havilland Dash 7 and five Dash 8-Q300 turboprops, but the arrival of the jet aircraft will enable it to enhance its offering. “We require a proven jet aircraft to enhance services to our oil company customers and for our touristic destinations,” said General Gamil Morad Ismail, Chairman and Managing Director, Petroleum Air Services. “The Bombardier CRJ900 NextGen aircraft has the performance we require in our harsh Middle Eastern operating environment; it has a comparatively low fuel burn; and based on our experience with our de Havilland and Bombardier turboprops, it will have the technical reliability we require.”
London City Airport Appoints New CEO
London City Airport (LCY) has announced that Declan Collier, currently CEO of the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA), will replace Richard Gooding OBE as Chief Executive Officer from early next year. Mr Gooding, who has served the executive position for the past 15 years will join the airport’ Board as a non-executive director. “We are delighted to have secured as our new CEO somebody of Declan Collier’s calibre and experience,” said Roy Griffins, Chairman of LCY. “Declan has led DAA through a transformational period in terms of its infrastructure and business culture. He is a respected voice within the aviation industry through his involvement with Airports Council International (ACI), where he is currently President, ACI Europe.” Declan Collier became Chief Executive of DAA in 2005, following a career with ExxonMobil, during which he held various senior managerial and executive positions in Ireland and abroad. Under his stewardship, DAA delivered a €1.2 billion capital investment programme at Dublin Airport including the flagship new Terminal 2, which opened successfully in late 2010 and which moved Dublin airport into the top five airports within its peer group of 5-25 million passenger airports.
easyJet Trails Allocated Seating
The dividing line between the traditional low-cost and legacy airlines has become even more blurred after easyJet revealed this week that it will trial allocated seating onboard its flights. This is seen as a further tool from the airline to attract further business travellers and to enhance its average yield per passenger. easyJet currently operates an unreserved system whereby passengers simply choose which seats to occupy when they board the aircraft with the option of purchasing speedy boarding at a cost of between £5 and £13 per sector to be among the first to board the aircraft. The trial flights, which will commence in spring 2012 will see all passengers allocated a specific seat, although as there is expected demand for certain seats such as the front row seats and seats with extra leg room like those on the over wing exit rows passengers who wish to guarantee one of these seats will be able to purchase them in advance. “We will roll it out further only if it works operationally, from a revenue perspective and increases passenger satisfaction,” said Carolyn McCall, Chief Executive Officer, easyJet. “If it doesn’t, we won’t.”
Airnorth to Add New Domestic Link
Australian regional carrier Airnorth is to launch a new service between Darwin and Townsville, the only direct scheduled link between the two cities. The twice weekly flight will operate every Monday and Friday from February next year using one of its Embraer or Fairchild commuter turboprops. The new route represents a continued expansion by the airline into the North Territory, following the announcement of additional services to Mount Isa and will help boost international connections from Townsville. “This service will also benefit the Townsville Convention Bureau in marketing Townsville to Professional Conference Organisers (PCOs) as ‘easily accessible’ and will help attract events and conferences from the Darwin region to the Townsville region,” added Matt Morris, Manager of Economic Development, Townsville Enterprise.
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