Airports & Networks

LOT TO TEMPORARILY CUT MIDDLE EAST FLIGHTS LOT Polish Airlines has confirmed that it will temporarily suspend services to three Middle Eastern

EUROPEAN AIRLINES DISCUSS MERITS OF SOCIAL MEDIA Delegates at this week’s European Regions Airline Association (ERA) Regional Airline Conference in

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

A carbon offsetting company used the recent ITB Berlin travel show to showcase its study into the world’s greenest airlines. Following its release

Swiss carrier Edelweiss Air has dropped its plans to inaugurate services to Tokyo Narita following last month’s earthquake. The airline was due to add

US major Delta Air Lines is to offer a daily seasonal link between Minneapolis and Reno this summer. The carrier will offer service between July 1 and

LOT Polish Airlines has confirmed that it will temporarily suspend services to three Middle Eastern destinations during May and June due to “lower

Argentine flag carrier Aerolineas Argentinas is to add a daily link between Mendoza and Santiago de Chile from July 1. The new service represents an

Turkish Airlines (THY) is to boost its network into the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) republic of Kazakhstan this summer. From April 14 it

Saudi Arabian Airlines has resumed flights from the southwestern city of Abha to Cairo, its fifth route to the Egyptian capital. The three times

Alaska Airlines will this year begin a "major renovation project" for its facilities at Los Angeles International, moving from Terminal 3 to Terminal 6 in late 2011, and integrating its "Airport of the Future" check-in process and "modernized" gate facilities. The new location will open for operations in spring 2012.

United Arab Emirates (UAE)-based Emirates Airline has announced it will expand its South American network from January 2012 with a new daily link from

Flydubai arrived in the Egyptian city of Sohag today, marking its presence in one of Egypt's emerging cultural hubs.

Qatar Airways is expanding its operations in Eastern Europe by increasing capacity on its recently-introduced Doha – Budapest route to daily non-stop scheduled services.

US carrier Continental Airlines has outlined plans to resurrect flights between Guam and Okinawa, a route last served over 15 years ago. The US major

LAN Argentina, part of the South American LAN Airlines group, is to add flights from Buenos Aires’ downtown airport Jorge Newbery to Bahia Blanca, an

Thai low-cost carrier Nok Air has improved domestic links from some smaller communities in Northern Thailand through the introduction of four new

Independent US carrier Direct Air has announced plans to inaugurate flights from Myrtle Beach International Airport to Hagerstown, Md., and Lakeland

LOT Polish Airlines and Continental Airlines launched a codeshare agreement April 2 under which CO will place its code on LOT Warsaw service to Newark, London Heathrow, Frankfurt and Amsterdam. Subject to government approval, CO will also place its code on WAW–Paris Charles de Gaulle. LOT will place its code on CO flights between EWR and Boston, Los Angeles, Miami, Orlando, San Francisco and Washington Dulles.

Virgin Atlantic Airways deployed its first Airbus A330-300 on a Manchester-Orlando flight, marking the first time the carrier has deployed a twin-engine jet on a transatlantic route. The A330 is part of an order of 10 placed in December 2009, and is the first to be delivered. "We are delighted to be welcoming the A330 to our fleet," said Virgin CCO Julie Southern. "We look forward to increasing services on existing routes as well as adding new long-haul routes with these new planes, whilst improving our fuel efficiency."

L-3 Security & Detection Systems said Hawaii Dept. of Transportation this month will award

Airports Council International reported that global international passenger traffic rose 7.8% year-over-year for the month of January, while domestic traffic at the world's airports heightened 6.5% for the month. Airfreight traffic grew 6.8%. In terms of total passengers (domestic and international), Asia/Pacific airports registered the strongest growth at 10.2%, followed by Latin America/Caribbean (up 8.7%), Middle East (up 8.6%), Europe (up 7.7%), Africa (up 7.3%) and North America (up 2%).

Amsterdam Airport Schiphol officially opened a 15,000-sq.-m. baggage hall as part of its effort to increase the handling capacity of AMS by 40% to 70 million bags annually. The South Baggage Hall is located on the south side of Departure Hall 1 and is able to facilitate handling for several airlines for both check-in and transfer baggage. In the future it will be a dedicated SkyTeam hall.

City of Chicago said it plans to issue more than $1 billion in revenue bonds this month "in order to finance runway and other enabling capital projects" at O'Hare International, a move that culminates a whirlwind couple of months that saw United Airlines and American Airlines--the airport's two largest tenants by far--file a lawsuit to stop expansion and US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood help broker a compromise to allow construction to move forward at the world's third-busiest passenger airport.

IATA DG and CEO Giovanni Bisignani warned last month that Brazil "will never reach its full potential without major changes in its aviation policies," pointing in particular to airport and ATC infrastructure.