Middle East

By Richard Maslen
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.
Airports & Networks

By Richard Maslen
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.
Airports & Networks

By Richard Maslen
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.
Airports & Networks

By Richard Maslen
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.
Airports & Networks

By Wesley Charnock
14 years after the final flight of the iconic Concorde, Boom is working to bring supersonic travel back to commercial networks. We spoke to founder and CEO Blake Scholl to hear what impact he believes his business’ aircraft can have on global route development.
Airports & Networks

By Richard Maslen
For a consecutive year, more than a third of airline industry profits in 2016 are expected to come from the carriers of North America, says ICAO. Last year the
Airports & Networks

By Richard Maslen
Airbus launched the A380 a decade ago with high hopes for the rise of the super jumbo, but demand is dwindling. So what now for the future of the ultra-size market?
Airports & Networks

By Edward Robertson
The open skies philosophy is waning, warn the CEOs of two major airlines amid calls for greater cooperation between airlines.
Airports & Networks

By Richard Maslen
Melbourne was the original home for Qatar Airways in Australia, with the airline subsequently adding services to Perth, Sydney and Adelaide. With the growth from the original 777-200LR to the A380, the airline has actually doubled its daily capacity since the start of the route while retaining just the single flight rotation.
Airports & Networks

By Richard Maslen
The eight ‘new’ markets comprise Canberra, the airline’s fifth destination in Australia; Dublin, Ireland; Las Vegas, the airline’s eleventh destination in the United States; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Santiago, Chile; Medan’s Kualanamu International Airport, the airline’s third destination in Indonesia; and Tabuk and Yanbu, its ninth and tenth destinations in Saudi Arabia.
Airports & Networks

By Richard Maslen
As Airbus celebrates the milestone inaugural test flight of the new A350-1000, the largest variant of the A350XWB family, Routesonline looks at approaching two years of commercial operations with the smaller A350-900.
Airports & Networks

By Richard Maslen
The airline's first aircraft, an Airbus A320, arrived in Muscat on November 18, 2016 to coincide with the country’s National Day, which celebrates independence from Portuguese control in 1650. It will be followed by two additional aircraft to support its initial launch plans.
Airports & Networks

By Richard Maslen
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.
Airports & Networks

By Richard Maslen
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.
Airports & Networks

By Richard Maslen
Iraq's Ministry of Transport has now signed a comprehensive agreement for a long-term strategic advisory and implementation project from Lufthansa Consulting that will focus on restructuring the national carrier Iraqi Airways and the civil aviation authority (ICAA) and on optimising Iraq’s airports.
Airports & Networks

By Laura Hamill
Japanese carrier All Nippon Airways (ANA) began operations of the Dreamliner on October 26, 2011. The airline currently has the largest 787 fleet with 52 aircraft, receiving their 50th in mid-August.
Airports & Networks

By Richard Maslen
The latest update to the association’s 20-Year Air Passenger Forecast suggests that the developing Asia-Pacific region will be the source of more than half the new passengers over the next 20 years. China will displace the US as the world’s largest aviation market (defined by traffic to, from and within the country) around 2029, while rapid growth in India will see it displace the UK for third place in 2026, while Indonesia will enter the top ten at the expense of Italy.
Airports & Networks

By Richard Maslen
With the handover last week of an A350-900 to Singapore Airlines it underscored the company’s growth that has transformed a European upstart in the 1970s to a global performer now offering a modern and comprehensive product line ranging from 100 to more than 600 seats.
Airports & Networks

By Richard Maslen
United Arab Emirates (UAE) carrier Etihad Airways is to reduce the frequency of its flights between Abu Dhabi and San Francisco from early next year in a move that will help facilitate the growth of its flights into Dallas.
Airports & Networks

By Richard Maslen
Emirates Airline's new daily link between Dubai International Airport and Fort Lauderdale Hollywood International Airport will commence from December 15, 2016 and will primarily serve the South Florida area, including Fort Lauderdale, Miami and West Palm Beach. It will be the airline’s eleventh direct route into the US.
Airports & Networks

By Richard Maslen
Fleet renewal projects at major operators across Europe mean that numerous BAe 146 and Avro RJ regional jetliners are now starting to come out of mainland European airline service, but manufacturer BAE Systems says these aircraft are steadily finding new operators, markets and applications.
Airports & Networks

By Richard Maslen
Singapore's Changi Airport was also named as the winner in the over 50m passengers category, while Shannon Airport was honoured in the Under 4m passengers category; Athens International Airport in the 4m-20m Passengers category; Dublin Airport in the 20m-50m passengers category and Tourism and Events Queensland in the destination Marketing category.
Airports & Networks

By Richard Maslen
A mix of existing and new airline partners officially signed-up to serve the fast-expanding Chinese gateway during a behind closed doors meeting on the opening day of business at World Routes and it is our understanding that there is more news to follow, with at least one other airline set to announce its expansion into Chengdu in the coming days.
Airports & Networks

By Richard Maslen
Ras Al Khaimah may have not followed the same journey as some of its sister emirates in the UAE, but it has been on a growth trajectory. Not being a producer of oil, it has already developed a diversified economy focused on its industrial sector and is emerging as a new destination on tourism maps with new investment and developments along its coast line.
Airports & Networks

By Richard Maslen
The year started optimistically with record low fuel prices and strong consumer demand, however a number of terrorist attacks, the UK Brexit referendum shock, an impending Chinese economy slowdown and the US election marathon, all appear to be taking their toll on the global aviation market.
Airports & Networks