The Japanese airport, in operation since 1994, is in the midst of an exciting growth period. Last year, Kansai International Airport handled 23,214,756 passengers, a 20 percent increase. International passengers were up by 24 percent.
The bosses of Emirates Airline and International Consolidated Airlines Group (IAG), the parent of British Airways, Iberia, Aer Lingus and Vueling, have hit out at what they describe as the over-inflated cost to deliver a possible new Runway at London’s Heathrow Airport.
Condor, part of Thomas Cook Group Airlines, will inaugurate a twice weekly link between its home base at Frankfurt Airport and Pittsburgh International Airport from June 23, 2017, growing its long-haul. The new route will complement new flights to San Diego and New Orleans in an expanded summer 2017 schedule and will operate through to September 1, 2017, a total of 21 return rotations.
One of Ireland’s three primary airports, Shannon Airport, will see a new Lufthansa service that will give passengers a whole heap of connecting options. The German carrier will serve Shannon once a week next summer.
The Japanese carrier’s new route announcement is important in more ways than one. Not only does this mark their 42nd international destination, but they are the first Asian airline to operate directly between Japan and Mexico.
As part of a fleet renewal which has now seen the Gulf carrier retire the last of its A330 and A340 aircraft from commercial operation, Emirates Airline has confirmed it will receive seven of the newly configured 516-seat new-generation A380s this fiscal year, with 51 more on order.
Southwest Airlines will launch a daily flight between Kansas City and Austin from March 13, 2017 using a Boeing 737. Ranked by daily passengers, Austin is the largest destination from Kansas City without non-stop air service, with 98 passengers per day each way.
Ireland’s flag carrier has announced yet another American link. From September 2017, Miami will be served from the carrier’s Dublin hub three times a week.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has urged governments in Latin America and the Caribbean to work with industry to make infrastructure a priority in unlocking aviation’s economic and social benefits. Passenger demand in Latin America and the Caribbean is expected to more than double from 298 million in 2015 to 658 million in 2035.
The airport serving the British Overseas Territory has experienced an influx of passengers during the summer months, mainly due to increased services from existing carriers. A new record was set in August, with 60,360 passengers handled.
New flights from WOW air and Condor will boost connectivity between Europe and Pittsburgh next summer adding to Delta Air Lines seasonal flight to Paris which has operated each summer since 2009. The flights to Reykjavik and Frankfurt will commence in June 2017 and will allow Pittsburgh International Airport to continue its recent international growth.
The American carrier will serve a third city in Cuba, following the historic decision earlier this year to start commercial service between the two countries.
The Spanish carrier is due to start service to Ramón Villeda Morales International Airport in San Pedro Sula, Honduras in April 2017. This route will be the nineteenth link to the Americas served by the airline.
Speaking in Washington at the International Aviation Club on November 9 following the announcement of Donald Trump’s successful presidential campaign, IAG CEO Willie Walsh has urged the man who will be the 45th President of the United States to support a new UK-US Open Skies agreement.
Destinations around the world welcomed 956 million international tourists between January and September 2016, according to the latest UNWTO World Tourism Barometer. This is 34 million more than in the same period of 2015, a four percent increase.
IAG chief executive officer Willie Walsh has revealed that alongside the operations of the Airbus A380 within the fleet of British Airways (BA), he could also present a business case for the Super Jumbo to fly with both Iberia and Aer Lingus.
Icelandair will launch a new route to Philadelphia on May 30, 2017, initially as a summer-only route through to September 20, 2017, although it is planned to grow to a year-round operation. The twice weekly Tampa service, adding to an existing Florida link into Orlando, will launch from September 7, 2017, growing the airline’s Florida offer to a daily rotation.
Although flying relatively under the radar for 30 years, Germania actually carries more than 2.8 million passengers per year from 20 departure airports in Europe to over 40 destinations within the continent, North Africa and the Middle East on a mix of charter and scheduled routes.
Tianjin currently has limited connectivity outside of Asia from Binhai International Airport, but is increasingly being seen as an alternative access point into China’s capital city, Beijing, which is just 120km away and a journey of just 35 minutes by high-speed train.
Over the past year major global airline brands such as Ethiopian Airlines, Qatar Airways and Turkish Airlines, plus local southern African operators Air Namibia and Proflight Zambia, have already inaugurated flights from Durban, South Africa. These services have delivered important regional, continental and notably key intercontinental connectivity, complementing the existing transit options with Comair (British Airways franchise) and South African Airways via Johannesburg and Emirates Airline via Dubai.
Ghanaian start-up carrier Goldstar Air is confident that next year will mark the end of many years of planning and will finally see it launch short-and long-haul operations from Kotaka International Airport in Accra.
