Abu Dhabi based Elite Aviation, will commence services to two new destinations in Germany starting from 15th June 2009. The services will be operated by the German carrier Blue Wings.
Abu Dhabi Airports Company (ADAC) is exhibiting at the Paris Air Show, Le Bourget where it will be holding talks, signing agreements and making a number of important announcements throughout the week. The biannual event runs from 15-21 June 2009, and brings together the world's leading organisations in the aviation and aerospace industry.
Singapore Airlines will fly the A380 to Hong Kong beginning July 9. The daily flight will replace an existing 777-300ER frequency and will bring to five the number of airports served by SIA's A380 fleet (Sydney, London Heathrow, Tokyo Narita and Paris Charles de Gaulle). It operates five daily SIN-HKG flights.
Council of the European Union formally adopted the regulation allowing the suspension of the "use it or lose it" rule governing slots at EU airports for the current IATA summer schedule at its meeting in Luxembourg this week. "This temporary measure will help airlines cut costs by allowing them to cut capacity more easily at busy airports, knowing that their slots will be safeguarded for the next summer season 2010," it said in a statement ( ATWOnline, May 11).
Jetstar Airways launched services in New Zealand, taking over parent Qantas's flights between Auckland, Christchurch, Wellington and Queenstown. The QF mainline, which operated a small fleet of 737-400s in New Zealand, will withdraw from domestic service there.
AirAsia will launch daily Kuala Lumpur-Colombo service on Aug. 15. It will be the LCC's third destination in southern Asia after Dhaka and Tiruchirappalli. Pacific Blue will introduce twice-weekly Queenstown-Sydney and thrice-weekly Wellington-Sydney and Dunedin-Brisbane flights on Sept. 1. Eurowings will resume its seasonal weekly Dusseldorf-Newquay Cornwall flight June 20 aboard a CRJ200.
The world of tourism and the growth of air transport is inextricably linked. Marcelle Nethersole meets the people with the responsibility of putting Abu Dhabi on the map and finding ways to attract the discerning travellers who have already written off vacations in the emirate's neighbouring states.
Aer Lingus said it will launch service from London Gatwick to Bucharest, Eindhoven, Tenerife, Lanzarote, Warsaw and Vilnius and suspend flights to Nice for the winter schedule. Vilnius service will begin Sept. 10, with the remaining five routes starting Oct. 25. Ukraine International Airlines launched twice-weekly Kiev Boryspil-Nice service on a 737.
RIO, an all-cargo startup airline in Brazil, said it received certification from the country's National Civil Aviation Agency and will begin operations this month. RIO said it will focus on airport-to-airport flying and "leave the distribution (logistics) to the specialized companies." It initially will operate one 727-200 freighter with a second of the type to be purchased and put into service in the second half of 2009. A route network was not revealed, but it said it will operate both domestic and international flights based out of Curitiba.
