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.
Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary found himself in the headlines again yesterday after telling Sky News "We might take out the last five or six rows [of seats] and say to passengers, 'Do you want to stand up? If you do, you can travel for free'." O'Leary said he has asked Boeing to look at converting or producing aircraft with "vertical seating" and asked, "Why is this any different to what happens on trains where you see thousands of people who cannot get a seat standing in the aisles?"
JetAmerica, a low-fare startup scheduled to launch flights from Newark and Toledo on July 13, said last week that it will postpone introduction of service until Aug. 14 "due to unforeseen complications with landing and takeoff time slots" at EWR. The airline has said it will offer seats starting at $9 each way ( ATWOnline, June 1) and claimed that the 6,486 passengers who booked flights from July 13 through Aug. 13 will receive full refunds, along with "special incentives" to rebook.
Award winning low fares airline Monarch has seen traffic to its mid-haul destinations soar again in June 2009, with average load factors across the network reaching 83.2%.
