Rzeszow-Jasionka Airport (RZE) is the gateway to the Podkarpackie region in South Eastern Poland – home to the expanding 'Aviation Valley'. The airport serves a catchment area of over 2.1 million people and its location attracts passengers from neighbouring Ukraine and Slovakia. 2009 was the airport's most successful year to date, posting traffic increases of 18.5%.
Overwhelmed with high staff costs, an expensive Madrid hub, intense pressure on its short-haul network from budget carriers, and announcing record (net) operating losses last year of €273 million, Iberia has decided that a new regional start-up with a lower-cost base would make sense to reduce the cost of its short-haul operations, which in turn feeds its long-haul network. Can it work? Iberia’s international spokesperson, Consuelo Arias, shares the company’s vision with Routes News.
Latvian national carrier airBaltic is the largest airline at its main base at Riga International Airport and at its secondary hub in Vilnius, while it is steadily increasing capacity from its Tallinn base.
Ryanair is making its first foray into Greece with six new seasonal summer routes. The Greek Government is, meanwhile, struggling to contain its €30 billion budget deficit. So why is the time ripe for the Irish LCC to move into the Mediterranean country? Ryanair’s Stephen McNamara speaks to Routes News.
Ghana’s capital Accra gained two new international services this week from Virgin Atlantic and United Airlines. Virgin’s thrice-weekly service will be competing on the route with British Airways’ daily flights. Routes News takes a look at the West Africa market and in particular Virgin’s role there.
Airline alliance activity is at an all-time high, with barely a week passing with out an announcement of a carrier joining, exiting or switching alliances. A man at the centre of much of this alliance activity is Star Alliance’s vice president for business development, Horst Findeisen. He shared his thoughts on what alliance membership offers airlines and what carrier bankruptcy means for the alliance with Routes News.
