Japan Airlines and China Eastern Airlines expanded their codeshare agreement to include daily CEA-operated flights from Shanghai Pudong to Xi'an, Wuhan and Shenzhen as of June 3. They also will increase the frequency of existing Shanghai codeshare routes to Chengdu and Chongqing from four-times-daily to nine-times-daily. Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentessaid its Varig subsidiary will launch weekly Sao Paulo Guarulhos-Bridgetown, Barbados, service June 26.
EgyptAir is to add to its claim to be the preferred hub linking Europe with Africa as a Star Alliance partnerby operning a new route between Cairo and Copenhagen
China Southern Airlines is accelerating its market exploration at Xinjiang with plans to launch a regional airline to serve the Autonomous Region in northwest China. This week CAAC announced a series of measures to encourage air transport development in Xinjiang, including boosting the number of airports from 14 to 21 by 2015, providing financial aid to carriers and increasing regional flight frequencies to domestic hub airports.
Ryanair is increasing its footprint in Spain further and will open its 42nd base at Barcelona El Prat in September with five 737-800s and 20 new routes, a mix of domestic and international destinations. It already has five bases in Spain, at Alicante, Girona, Madrid, Malaga and Reus. The new BCN base represents an investment of more than $350 million, the LCC said.
Continental Airlines yesterday announced plans to serve Auckland from its Houston Intercontinental hub beginning Nov. 16, 2011, using a 787 to operate the 7,400-mi route. CO said it is the first airline to "formally announce specific route plans for its 787 fleet." The carrier, which has agreed to merge with United Airlines, has 25 Dreamliners on order with deliveries beginning in August 2011. Subject to government approval, service will be operated daily, with five-times-weekly service during certain periods in the first year of operation, CO said.
