Airports & Networks

ALL NIPPON AIRWAYS AND LUFTHANSA PLAN JOINT VENTURE ON JAPAN-EUROPE ROUTES All Nippon Airways (ANA) and Lufthansa have filed an application with the

ETIHAD AIRWAYS ADDS FLIGHTS TO BEIJING United Arab Emirates (UAE)-based Etihad Airways is to increase its flights from Abu Dhabi to the Chinese

FIREFLY OPENS NEW BASES IN MALAYSIA Firefly, the regional low-cost subsidiary of Malaysia Airlines, has announced the opening of a new base at Senai

PORTER AIRLINES BOOSTS DOMESTIC SCHEDULES Canadian regional carrier Porter Airlines is to significantly expand its presence on three of its core

RYANAIR CUTS FLIGHTS FROM GIRONA BUT EXPANDS INTO VILNIUS Irish budget carrier Ryanair is to cut 18 of its routes and reduce frequencies on 17 more

UK budget carrier EASYJET is to expand its network in Scotland by utilising an additional aircraft at its Edinburgh base and replacing one of its

AIR NAMIBIA is to utilise its recently acquired Embraer ERJ 135 regional jets to expand its flights into neighbouring South Africa, as well as

SENEGAL AIRLINES is to revise its African network just a month after its launch. The carrier has added new flights from Dakar to Bissau and Niamey and

BA CITYFLYER is to increase frequencies on its London City - Nice route during the months of July and August. The airline offered seven flights per

Turkish carrier SUNEXPRESS is to inaugurate a weekly flight between Izmir and the German city of Bremen. The new link will be started from 30MAR11 and

Indian carrier KINGFISHER AIRLINES is to enhance its domestic schedules. From 01MAR11 it will introduce a daily Delhi – Ranchi – Patna – Delhi link

US carrier AIRTRAN AIRWAYS is to expand its activities at Branson, Missouri in late May with the launch of four-times weekly flights to Chicago Midway

Uruguayan carrier PLUNA is to add flights to Belo Horizonte and Brasilia, its sixth and seventh destinations in Brazil. The airline began a four-times

China’s HIANAN AIRLINES launched twice weekly Sanya – Nanchang – Lanzhou flights and a daily Sanya – Xi’an – Xining link on 22FEB11. Both flights are

British Airways launched five-times-weekly London Heathrow-Tokyo Haneda service. KLM will resume scheduled services between Amsterdam and Buenos Aires Ezeiza Oct. 31, operating thrice-weekly with a Boeing 777-200ER. Alaska Airlines will increase its Boeing 737-800 service to Maui from Oakland (four-times-weekly) and San Jose (thrice-weekly) June 5 to daily. It will discontinue its San Jose-Austin service May 6.

All Nippon Airways (ANA) and Lufthansa have filed an application with the Japanese and German Governments for antitrust immunity to launch a joint

SICHUAN AIRLINES is to expand its network into Vietnam from 06MAR11 with the launch of a twice weekly Chongqing – Hanoi route. Later the same month

FIREFLY, the low-cost subsidiary of Malaysia Airlines, is to open a new regional base at Senai International Airport in Johor Bahru this summer. It

CHINA EASTERN AIRLINES is to extend one of its three daily Shanghai Pu Dong - Nagoya flights to also serve Shenzhen in Southern China. The link will

Virgin America will launch service to Chicago O’Hare from Los Angeles (twice-daily) and San Francisco (thrice-daily) May 25. The carrier first announced its intent to serve ORD in 2008, but was delayed due to gate availability, it said. Spirit Airlines resumed seasonal thrice-weekly Ft. Lauderdale-Punta Cana service. WestJet will operate weekly seasonal Moncton-Orlando service until May 5.

Air New Zealand will run a special Boeing 747 flight on Wednesday from Auckland to Christchurch in the South Island of New Zealand, which was devastated by an earthquake Tuesday. The airline is charging just NZ$50 ($35) a seat and said that fare also applies to any service to and from Christchurch from any point in New Zealand to enable support staff and relatives to get in and people to be evacuated.

Qatar Airways is preparing for huge capacity increases to Germany next month with additional flights to Frankfurt and Munich, together with the introduction of services to Stuttgart, its fourth German gateway.

Qatar Airways is building up its presence in northern England with the addition of a second daily flight to Manchester, effective June 1.

Political uprisings across the MENA region are continuing to cause massive disruption to air transport.

Irish budget carrier RYANAIR is to begin flights from the Lithuanian capital Vilnius. The airline will offer daily flights to London Stansted; three