Airports & Networks

Air France last week launched twice-weekly service from Paris Charles de Gaulle to Freetown and commenced twice-weekly CDG-Monrovia flights. Both new routes are via Conakry. AF last week increased CDG-CKY service to daily, of which four weekly flights are nonstop and three are via Nouakchott. Flights to CKY, NKC, FNA and MLW are being operated by an Airbus A330-200 with 208 seats in a three-class configuration, including 40 seats in business, 21 in premium economy and 147 in economy.

A powerful F4-strength tornado hit Lambert-St. Louis International Airport around 8:15 p.m. on Friday, causing extensive damage that closed STL for about 24 hr. and, according to airport officials, will leave it operating at 70% capacity for some time.

Visitors to the London 2012 Olympics flying in from the Middle East and North Africa can now make use of the business aviation facilities of London Oxford Airport, thanks to a newly extended runway.

Air Caraibes and Corsairfly are offering a reciprocal codeshare arrangement on selected flights between Paris and St Maarten. This covers Corsairfly’s

United Arab Emirates (UAE) carrier Etihad Airways now has traffic rights between Beijing and Nagoya, an extension of its five times weekly flight into

SAS Scandinavian Airlines is to add a twice weekly service to the Spanish Balearic island of Mallorca from its Copenhagen base. The flight to Palma

German flag carrier and Star Alliance member Lufthansa is to resume flights between its Munich hub and the Turkish city of Bursa. The route will be

Belavia will launch twice-weekly Brest-Kaliningrad service using a Bombardier CRJ100/200 June 10. Flydubai will launch service from Doha to Riyadh (daily) and Jeddah (four-times-weekly) May 1. JetBlue Airways will launch daily San Juan-St. Maarten service using an Embraer E-190 Nov. 17. TAP Portugal will launch thrice-weekly Lisbon-Bamako A320 service June 5.

Virgin Blue is set to announce another significant partnership, this time with Hawaiian Airlines. Addressing the Australian-British Chamber of Commerce in Sydney on Wednesday, Virgin Blue CEO John Borghetti said the airline was in the "process of having advanced discussions with Hawaiian Airlines" on codeshare flights to Hawaii.

Flydubai is planning to increase its reach into the Russian territories by launching two new routes and increasing frequency on others.

UK low-cost carrier easyJet is to relaunch flights between Glasgow and Amsterdam, six years after it suspended operations on the route. The new daily

Spain’s flag carrier Iberia is to offer almost a quarter more seats between Madrid and Tel Aviv this summer, highlighting the Israeli city as its most

Japanese carrier All Nippon Airways (ANA) has revealed the first three routes for its new Osaka Kansai International-based low-cost unit. The unnamed

Low-cost carrier flydubai is to launch flights to Jeddah and Riyadh from the start of May, increasing the number of destinations it serves in Saudi

The rise of Riga International Airport (IATA: RIX, ICAO:EVRA) has been rapid. In 2000 it handled just 500,000 passengers but just ten years later over

US start-up carrier LV Air will this week finalise leasing and crewing arrangements for its first aircraft as it prepares to inaugurate flights. The

This new section of your weekly update will keep you up to date on all the key aircraft orders and deliveries and what they could mean for the route

SAS DROPS WINTER LINK TO DUBAI SAS Scandinavian Airlines is reported to have dropped its three times weekly Copenhagen – Dubai link from its

VIETNAM AIRLINES TO LAUNCH HANOI – KAOHSIUNG Vietnam Airlines, part of the SkyTeam global alliance, is to introduce flights to Kaohsiung from Hanoi

AZAL SET TO LAUNCH US FLIGHTS WITH DREAMLINERS Azerbaijan Airlines hopes to launch its first flights to the United States in 2014 when it takes

AMERICAN AIRLINES TO SAVE MEXICANA? American Airlines has emerged as a possible saviour for Mexicana, according to a local Mexican television station

RYANAIR TO TRIAL RESERVED SEATING Irish budget carrier Ryanair has announced that it will trial a reserved seating service on its Dublin - Malaga and

Airline Route Update is a comprehensive summary of route announcements, capacity increases and codeshare details from this past week. For further

Hong Kong Airlines is preparing its cabin staff for any eventuality onboard its aircraft by training them in the martial art of wing chun. This, says

UK low-fare carrier Flybe has today (April 19) inaugurated flights between Ireland West Airport Knock and Edinburgh. The new service will operate