Austrian Airlines Group will rethink its network as it restructures and will focus on high-volume routes rather than connectivity between Western and Eastern Europe, CEO Peter Malanik told ATWOnline at last week's Star Alliance event in Brussels.
Worldwide Flight Services signed new cargo handling contracts with 12 airlines at Paris Charles de Gaulle: Korean Air, TAM, Air Caraibes, Air Madagascar, Air Algerie, SAS Cargo, Air Transat, Vietnam Airlines, Oman Air, Air Mali, Syrian Arab Airlines and Air Ivoire.
Iceland Express will launch four-times-weekly Keflavik-Newark service on June 1 and weekly KEF-Birmingham, UK and Akureyri-London Gatwick flights later that month. Transaero Airlines launched flights from Moscow Domodedovo to Novy Urengoi (thrice-weekly aboard 737s), Ulan Ude (twice-weekly aboard a Tu-214) and Magnitogorsk (five-times-weekly using 737s). Half of Transaero's 24 domestic routes were launched in 2009. Hainan Airlines will increase its thrice-weekly Beijing-Brussels A330-200 service to daily on April 27.
Delta Air Lines and Virgin Blue/V Australia will commence codeshare flights next month as part of the partnership that gained approval from Australian competition authorities last week ( ATWOnline, Dec. 11). Blue will place its code on Delta flights from Los Angeles to Cincinnati, New York JFK, Orlando International and Salt Lake City beginning Jan. 18, and DL will codeshare on Blue service from Sydney to Brisbane and Melbourne from Feb. 15.
Flybe announced the following new routes scheduled to launch March 28: From Birmingham to Avignon, Limoges, Rennes (each thrice-weekly) and Bordeaux (four-times-weekly); from Guernsey to Edinburgh (thrice-weekly) and Belfast City (twice-weekly); from Jersey to Glasgow Prestwick and Durham Tees Valley (each weekly); from Manchester to Bergerac, Limoges (each thrice-weekly) and Avignon (twice-weekly); thrice-weekly London Gatwick-Limoges; weekly Southampton-Verona. Forty seasonal routes will be restarted. The airline plans to operate 3,738 flights per week during its summer schedule.
flydubai took delivery of its sixth aircraft in a little over six months today and thge aircraft is being readied for Sunday's inaugural flight to Bahrain
Air India Chairman and MD Arvind Jadhav expects the carrier will become a Star Alliance member sometime between June and October 2010, he told ATWOnline in Brussels, although an alliance executive told this website that questions remain concerning AI's readiness. "Making fleet updates, a merger and preparing the carrier for the alliance all at the same time is a difficult task. We will see if AI is able to make it," the Star source said.
EasyJet will launch service at Doncaster Sheffield in April and will base a fifth aircraft in Manchester in the spring. It plans to cease operating at Nottingham East Midlands on Jan. 5 ( ATWOnline, Sept. 4).
Bmi CEO Wolfgang Prock-Schauer said this week that he believes the "potential" exists to turn around the loss-making UK carrier and confirmed it recently sold several London Heathrow slots to address the group's liquidity shortage.
