Routes

The arrival of four new Airbus A350-900 airliners during 2017 will enable Finnair to grow its long-haul winter 2017/2018 schedule and alongside growth in its existing markets, it will also introduce four popular leisure destinations to its network. These new routes to Goa, Havana, Puerto Plata and Puerto Vallarta will be launched in the final quarter of the year and will initially operate on a seasonal basis through to the end of March 2018.

We’ve compiled a guide to Japanese etiquette for Routes Asia delegates travelling to Okinawa.

Hainan Airlines, Etihad Airways, Spring Airlines and Finnair are the latest to confirm their attendance

After restructuring its operations Gulf Air has been able to better control its future growth after successfully eradicating legacy debts reducing annual losses from BHD62.7 million in 2014 to BHD24.1 million in 2015. Ahead of this, its annual debts were as high as BHD196 million in 2012.

In the first of a new series of personal interviews with some of the leading figures in aviation, we spoke to Aeromar CEO Andres Fabre. He shared with us the group's future plans and some of the highlights of his career so far.

A new four times weekly Delhi – Copenhagen route will commence from May 2017, according to Air India, and will be flown using a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner. A Delhi – Washington flight will operate on a three times weekly basis and will be flown using a Boeing 777 from July 2017. These will be the only non-stop operation on the two routes

Irish regional carrier CityJet has secured a two-year wet-lease deal with Brussels Airlines to operate three Sukhoi SSJ100 Superjets for the Belgian flag carrier on routes from Brussels Airport from April 2017. The deal follows a formal tender from Brussels Airlines to support its network needs as it completes the retirement of its Avro RJ100 fleet from commercial operation.

According to reports, Croatia Airlines is selling its London Heathrow Airport mid-morning slots on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, retaining afternoon and evening slots on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. The sold slots will pass to Delta Air Lines from April 1, 2017 and will enable the US major to grow its joint transatlantic network with Virgin Atlantic from London’s largest airport.

After five decades and over 45 years flying variants of the Boeing 747 since the type’s debut in United Airlines operation on flights between California and Hawaii in 1970, the carrier says new technology, and notably the arrival of the 777-300ER into its fleet means now is the right time to retire the iconic airliner.

Egypt has suffered a decline in tourism for the last few years. But a network planning expert is predicting a resurgence in 2017.

Peter Cerdá, the regional vice president in the Americas for IATA, discusses the future of Latin America, infrastructure concerns and trends throughout the region.

Cathay Pacific will offer a four times weekly service between its Hong Kong International Airport hub and Barcelona from July 2, 2017, subject to final government approval, continuing through the peak travel months until October 27, 2017. This will be the first ever non-stop offering between Hong Kong and Barcelona.

Over 1,500 meeting requests have now been submitted for Routes Americas.

In the first of our new number cruncher features, we take a look at the facts and figures behind the city hosting Routes Americas 2017 - Las Vegas.

ASM (Airport Strategy & Marketing) is hosting route development training in Singapore for the first time in February 2017.

As it celebrates the tenth anniversary of its debut in the US market, Qatar Airways has said the new four times weekly link between Hamad International Airport and McCarran International Airport will commence from January 8, 2018. It will be flown using a Boeing 777-200LR.

A strong mix of the world’s fastest growing airlines have signed up for Routes Europe 2017 in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Dubbed the new ‘Silicon Valley’ owing to its reputation for being an incubator for tech start-ups thanks to a growing population of highly-educated young professionals, Zagreb is central to industry in this region of Europe. In addition to new technology and telecoms, many of the largest Croatian and Central European companies and conglomerates have their headquarters or regional offices in the city centre.

Wataniya Airways was a legacy of a liberalisation of Kuwait’s air service market during the 2000s and launched operations from Kuwait International Airport in January 2009, operating a fleet of seven leased Airbus A320s to destinations across the Persian Gulf, the wider Middle East and Europe. However, overcapacity in the local market from new entrants led the carrier to scale back operations in late 2010 ahead of its closure in March 2011.

Analysis of schedule data from intelligence provider OAG shows that Aeromexico and Delta Air Lines had a combined 27.8 per cent share of seat capacity out of New York's John F Kennedy International Airport last summer and a 42.2 per cent share at Mexico City's Aeropuerto Internacional Benito Juárez. The two airlines are the largest individual operators at the airports in their home markets.

In the last year an estimated 240,000 bi-directional O&D passengers flew between Canada and Israel, approximately 325 PPDEW (Passengers Per-Day Each-Way). This is dominated by the direct Toronto – Tel Aviv operations which account for over half of the traffic (135,000 passengers), but there is already sizeable indirect flows from Montreal and Vancouver.

Commercial air service is a significant enabler of economic growth, and this is particularly true in small rural communities where hub links and the access they afford to connect to other markets, both domestically and internationally, are essential. Airline consolidation, pilot shortages and competition from neighbouring airports are currently limiting air service options in many of these markets.

Not content with a 40+ per cent growth in passenger traffic in 2016, one week into the New Year Cornwall Airport Newquay has already confirmed the launch of a new summer link to the Republic of Ireland from Stobart Air and the return of Flybe services to London Stansted as part of an expanded summer 2017 programme that will also see increased frequencies on five existing domestic routes.

Voting has opened for the Asia edition of the Routes Marketing Awards 2017.

Southwest Airlines will launch daily flights into Northern Kentucky International Airport from Chicago Midway and Baltimore Washington International from June 4, 2017. The no-frills operator has been keeping a close eye on the Cincinnati market since Delta Air Lines started to downsize its own operations from the city.