Gulf Air removed one A320 and one A330 from service in response to the economic downturn, CEO Bjorn Naf told ATWOnline at last week's Paris Air Show. "The 'tsunami' hit the Middle East in February, with a drop in demand of 5%-15% depending on the market, and even more in other markets like India," he said. "We reacted quickly and adjusted capacity in April." Network changes include a strengthening of its Middle Eastern network and more careful capacity additions to certain long-haul destinations in the Asia/Pacific such as Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok.
Flydubai will launch Indian service on July 13 with a four-times-weekly flight to Lucknow. Thrice-weekly service to Coimbatore and flights to Chandigarh begin July 23. Wizz Air will launch thrice-weekly Prague-Treviso service Sept. 20.
Emirates will fly the A380 to Paris Charles de Gaulle beginning Feb. 1. EK President Tim Clark said the daily service "is a result of such encouraging sales" and that "our plans to introduce this exceptional aircraft have been accelerated by almost a year which, in the current economic climate, is a major achievement." The carrier currently operates 777s to CDG twice-daily and its five A380s to Sydney, Auckland, Bangkok, Toronto and London Heathrow.
Lufthansa Flight Training and Vnukovo International finalized an earlier MOU to create a joint venture flight training facility ( ATWOnline, Jan. 6). The venture, called Flight Training Vnukovo, will be completed in mid-2010. It initially will house four full flight simulators and eventually will be able to accommodate as many as 20, according to LFT. FTV aims to capture business of Russian carriers "that currently train their pilots in Europe, Asia and America," LFT said.
Virgin America CEO David Cush told Bloomberg News that "certainly one or more" American investors "will come to fruition before year end. . .These expressions are a lot firmer than they have been in the past. There is more capital available than there was six months ago.
Southwest Airlines will launch its Milwaukee service on Nov. 1 to six destinations ( ATWOnline, May 21). It will fly to Baltimore (thrice-daily), Kansas City (thrice-daily), Las Vegas (twice-daily), Kansas City (twice-daily), Orlando International (twice-daily), Phoenix (daily) and Tampa (daily).
Ryanair will "freeze growth" at its nine UK bases "with immediate effect" in response to a drop of 4.5 million passengers at BAA's seven UK airports through the year's first five months. The LCC blamed both the airports operator and the country's £10 ($16.43) air passenger duty for the decline.
British Airways will press ahead with the launch of its new business class-only service between London City and New York JFK, setting Sept. 29 as the date of the first flight. There will be a daily return service except Saturdays when LCY is closed, and flights will increase to twice-daily from mid-October. Tickets go on sale today. "In the harshest trading environment airlines have experienced, we believe it is more important than ever to embrace the future and innovate. That is what this historic new route is all about," CEO Willie Walsh said.
US Airways will launch daily Charlotte-Honolulu service Dec. 17 aboard a 767. Alaska Airlines will launch daily San Jose-Austin service on Sept. 2 aboard a two-class 737-800.
Virgin Atlantic has placed a $2.1bn order for ten Airbus A330-300 aircraft to help expand its route network to new destinations such as Beijing, Cancun and Vancouver.
Aegean Airlines will launch daily Athens-Istanbul Ataturk on Sept. 9 aboard an A320. JetBlue Airways launched thrice-weekly Boston-Santo Domingo service aboard an A320. Flights will be daily during the winter season. Qatar Airways will start four-times-weekly flights from Doha to Amritsar (Oct. 11) and Goa (Oct. 25). Thrice-weekly service to Melbourne begins Dec. 6, becoming daily early next year. Flydubai will launch service to Aleppo, its fifth destination, on July 13, after taking delivery of a third 737-800.
Abu Dhabi Airports Company (ADAC) has followed up its launch of the Al Ain Aerospace Cluster at the Paris Air Show last week with an announcement today of a new alliance with the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), one of the world's leading education and research universities in the aerospace field.
Abu Dhabi Aircraft Technologies (ADAT) and Engine Alliance announced an agreement that will make ADAT a member of the Engine Alliance maintenance, repair and overhaul network provider for the GP7200 engines, reported the Gulf News.
Porter Airlines will begin serving Boston from Toronto City Centre on Sept. 14 with up to three daily nonstop roundtrips. Boston is the third US destination for the Canadian carrier, which currently offers service to Chicago Midway and Newark.
