Airports & Networks

UK carrier bmi British Midland International is to significantly reduce capacity on its flights from London Heathrow to Bergen and Stavanger during

Low-cost carrier Tiger Airways is to compete with SilkAir on flights between Singapore and the Filipino city of Davao, the largest city on the island

Etihad Airways began operating daily Abu Dhabi-Chicago O'Hare service with a Boeing 777-300ER. It had previously operated three-class Airbus A340-500 and A340-600 aircraft on the route, with 240 and 292 seats, respectively. The new aircraft seats 412. Tiger Airways will launch thrice-weekly Singapore-Davao Airbus A320 service Nov. 1. American Eagle plans to launch daily Chicago-Watertown, NY ERJ 140 service Nov. 17.

Independent Russian carrier RusLine will next week inaugurate flights between Moscow and Ljubljana, a route currently served by Slovenian national

American Eagle Airlines has finalised negotiations with officials in Jefferson County to launch a twice daily service between Chicago O'Hare

Australian regional carrier and Qantas affiliate Brindabella Airlines is making final preparations ahead of next week’s launch of direct flights

Vision Airlines has revealed its new Northern Winter schedule and will make immediate changes to its network to support variations in autumn and

Qatar Airways will increase its Doha-Dubai flights from eight to 11 daily Aug. 25. Swiss International Air Lines will relaunch its daily Zurich-Beijing route Feb. 11, 2012. Etihad Airways will launch four-times-weekly Airbus A330 Abu Dhabi-Dusseldorf service Dec. 16.

Korean Air will operate its first long-haul Airbus A380 flight Tuesday from Seoul Incheon to New York JFK, and believes the aircraft can help it attract new business passengers.

United Arab Emirates (UAE) low-cost carrier Flydubai is to launch flights to Ahmedabad from its Dubai International Airport base, its third

Ukrainian carrier Aerosvit Airlines is to boost frequencies on its routes between Kiev and the Scandinavian capitals of Copenhagen and Stockholm

Earlier this month Finnish regional carrier Finncomm Airlines inaugurated a three times weekly service between Helsinki and the city of Skellefteå in

Kenyan cargo carrier Astral Aviation is planning to expand its intra-African network following the arrival of six new aircraft next year. The Nairobi

Delta Air Lines and Aerolineas Argentinas have confirmed a codesharing agreement for flights connecting Miami and Atlanta to Buenos Aires as well as

Allegiant Air is to introduce a twice weekly flight to Las Vegas from Owensboro Daviess County Airport adding to its existing link to Orlando Sanford

Alaska Airlines will launch daily San Diego-Honolulu service Nov. 17. Air Pacific will retire one 767-300ER and add one 737-800 in mid-January 2012, enabling it to increase its seven-times-weekly Nadi-Sydney service to 13-times-weekly. JetBlue Airways will launch daily Westchester County (N.Y.)-Nassau service Nov. 15, subject to government approval.

News from ATW's Airports Today: Munich Airport received planning approval in late July from the regional Bavarian government for the construction of a third runway, which will allow it to handle up to 120 movements per hour, up from the current 90.

Airline operators providing air charter and scheduled services for pilgrims to the Holy Cities in Saudi Arabia could be seeing record movements this year as the government's Ministry of Haj has announced a 45 percent increase in the number of Umrah pilgrims following the issue of more than 5.18 million visas.

RAK Airways - the fourth of the UAE's national airlines - has begun a push to create more links with India from its home base in Ras Al Khaimah.

BAA appointed Airports Council International named Swissport International appointed

Jervis B. Webb Company, a subsidiary of Daifuku Webb Holding Company, inked a contract Lockheed Martin was awarded Baltic Ground Services won a contract

UK Civil Aviation Authority last month instructed Gatwick Airport Ltd. to implement a more transparent and non-discriminatory pricing structure for check-in and baggage processing by April 2012 and consult its users when revising the pricing system.

The revamped New York LaGuardia/Washington National slot swap proposal submitted by Delta Air Lines and US Airways in May was tentatively approved last month by the US Dept. of Transportation on terms the airlines said they're willing to abide by.

The European Commission is upping the number of investigations into possible improper state aid at regional airports in the 27 member states, and last month confirmed it launched in-depth investigations at Marseille and Frankfurt Hahn. The EC currently is investigating aid to Wizz Air at Timisoara airport in Romania, aid to infrastructure at the Leipzig-Halle airport in Germany and aid to Dortmund airport and the airlines using it.

Airports Council International's World Annual Traffic Report released this month details a "strong rebound from the two-year industry slump," the organization noted, pointing out that worldwide airport passengers increased 6.6% in 2010 compared to 2009 to reach 5.04 billion for the full year. That marked the most passengers ever in a single year. "Cargo volumes also hit a record, surging past 91 million tonnes with 15.3% growth," ACI stated. "Once again, our industry has shown its resiliency in recovering from a downturn."