IndiGo’s 71st domestic destination, Ryanair’s winter expansion from Naples, and Avianca’s new Mexican service from Costa Rica’s capital San Jose are among the latest route announcements and services resuming.
Ryanair expects “the majority” of its fleet will be grounded while Finnair and SAS are among the latest airlines to stop almost all flights. Air France is also grounding its entire Airbus A380 fleet and KLM its entire Boeing 747 fleet.
Routes Europe, the route development forum for Europe, will this April gather senior decision-makers in Bergen, Norway, to discuss some of the most pressing issues facing the aviation industry.
Routesonline's latest analysis of the European aviation industry, examining the top routes, airlines, airports and aircraft that are leading the market.
The aircraft based in London and Spain will have the same customer offering and appearance as other airline operations at SAS and with corresponding requirements in terms of safety and standards. The airline says the aim is for the new operations to be up and running from winter 2017/2018, providing a smaller number of departures as a complement to SAS’s existing production.
Growing from a fortified Viking settlement originally founded in the eighth century, to a small market town seven centuries later, Aarhus is now at the cultural and economic core of the region and the largest centre for trade, services and industry in mainland Denmark. The ‘Nordic Tiger’ is clearly roaring onto the international stage as European Capital of Culture and its airport hopes to gain from the destination's rise with improved international air connectivity.
Focusing on direct routes to popular destinations, SAS’s 2016/2017 Winter Programme will open up 470,000 more seats to travellers in Scandinavia than last year, and will see an increase in flight frequency on selected domestic and European routes.
The air service development team at Dublin Airport have identified a number of unserved markets in Asia that can sustain regular scheduled flights to the Republic of Ireland’s capital city and are attending Routes Asia in Manila, Philippines to fill these network gaps. It particularly sees a notable role for Asia’s Star Alliance members at Dublin Airport having grown the number of airline members using the airport from this summer.
As part of its profitability strategy, SAS is turning to regional partners to more efficiently feed its hub airports through the operation of smaller capacity aircraft into lower demand markets. It already has arrangements in place with Cimber Air and Flybe using a mix of Bombardier CRJ900 jets and ATR turboprop equipment.
The airline will add two weekly rotations to the five times weekly Copenhagen – Shanghai route and a single additional flight on the six times weekly Stockholm – Chicago link from the end of October this year boosting its winter flight schedule between Scandinavia and the USA to 108 weekly departures and between Scandinavia and Asia to 50 weekly departures.
According to SAS, currently the fifth largest holder of slots at London Heathow, the transaction will generate positive earnings of $60 million. Following the closure of this deal, SAS will now hold 20 daily slots at London Heathrow which it uses to offer non-stop flights to Copenhagen, Gothenburg, Oslo, Stockholm and Stavanger.
