Lufthansa's third A380 launched its first scheduled service from Frankfurt to Beijing Wednesday. The A380 will operate once-weekly service to Beijing and twice-weekly flights from FRA to Johannesburg beginning Sept. 12.
Emirates' expanding A380 fleet is generating interest from airports across the world as Manchester becomes the latest city to be served by the superjumbo.
Six years of traffic growth came to an end in 2009. Growth resumed this year, but it is uneven. Arthur D. Little and ATW present the fourth annual World Airport Report.
Air New Zealand is adding more than 9,500 seats per week across its regional network and main jet routes, significantly increasing capacity on its domestic operations. Key increases will include: Tauranga to Christchurch, up 120%; Invercargill to Wellington, up 63%; New Plymouth to Christchurch, up 20%; Palmerston North to Christchurch, up 11.3%; and Napier to Auckland, up 4.5%. According to ANZ Group GM Australasia Bruce Parton, the additional capacity is being introduced as signs emerge of the anticipated recovery in demand for domestic travel within New Zealand.
Ryanair said it will close its Belfast City base at the end of the current summer schedule on Oct. 31, citing the airport's confirmation that a public inquiry into a planned runway extension will be further delayed. The runway extension was originally scheduled to be delivered in 2008. Runway 04/22 is just 1,829 m. long.
Flydubai is set to expand its network into the foothills of the Ural Mountains on October 16, when the airline begins flights to the Russian city of Yekaterinburg.
Qatar Airways said it will increase service from Doha to Amritsar (four-times-weekly to daily on Sept. 1), Cochin (daily to 11-times-weekly on Nov. 5) and Delhi (daily to twice-daily on Oct. 31). The increases will boost Qatar's Indian capacity from 74 weekly services to 88. Royal Jordanian will add a third weekly frequency to its Amman–Brussels service from March 28, 2011.
CSA Czech Airlines released its 2010-11 winter flight schedule, signaling a change in its network philosophy to focus on offering passengers an East-West air bridge rather than operating to the highest number of destinations throughout Europe. The airline said the new network will take shape gradually, reaching a final form in 2012.Significantly, from Oct. 31 Brno, Munich, Cologne/Bonn, London Heathrow and Manchester will all be dropped from CSA's network.
The Fire Department at the Rafik Hariri International Airport has received two fire-fighting boats after a contract was signed between the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, the International Civil Organization Aviation (ICAO) and Metal Craft Marine Canadian Company.
The US Dept. of Justice on Friday said it had closed its investigation into the proposed merger between United Airlines and Continental Airlines after the carriers agreed to address competition concerns in the New York market by leasing 18 slot pairs at Newark International to Southwest Airlines.
