Vueling and clickair integrated their operations at 1 min. past midnight on July 9 as planned. The merged airline ( ATWOnline, July 7) is flying under one AOC and holds a 6.8% share of the Spanish market, based on AENA figures for the first five months of this year, making it the second-largest Spanish carrier after Iberia, which has a 15.8% market share and owns a 45.85% stake in the new Vueling. Ryanair and easyJet hold 10.9% and 7.2% market shares in Spain respectively.
WestJet will add 11 new destinations in its seasonal winter schedule; Varadero (thrice-weekly from Toronto on Nov. 1), Holguin (twice-weekly from YYZ on Nov. 2), Cayo Coco (twice-weekly from YYZ on Nov. 4), Ixtapa (twice-weekly from Calgary on Nov. 3), Cozumel (twice-weekly from YYZ on Dec. 10), St. Martin (thrice-weekly from YYZ on Nov. 1), Providenciales (twice-weekly from YYZ on Nov. 4), Freeport (twice-weekly from YYZ on Nov. 2), Lihue (twice-weekly from Vancouver on Dec. 16), Miami (daily from YYZ on Oct. 21) and Atlantic City (daily from YYZ on Oct. 22).
British Airways will launch daily London City-New York JFK all-business-class flights Sept. 29 aboard 32-seat A318s, increasing to twice-daily in October. Lufthansa Cargo will launch a weekly Frankfurt-Dallas/Fort Worth-Guadalajara-Frankfurt freighter service on July 22. CSA Czech Airlines said it will cease Prague-New York JFK flights in the coming winter season. Two A310-300s used for the service will be switched to charter operations. The move is part of the 2009 "action plan" to achieve overall cost savings of CZK300 million ($16 million).
American Airlines and Gol said they intend to enter a codeshare agreement "in the near future" and will initiate a frequent-flyer accord from Aug. 1 that will allow members of AA's AAdvantage and Gol's Smiles programs to cross-access benefits. Passengers from the two programs will be able to earn miles on each airline's flights and in the fall will begin to be allowed to redeem miles on each. Gol CEO Constantino de Oliveira Jr.
