American Airlines will launch daily Dallas/Fort Worth-Madrid service on May 1 aboard a two-class, 225-seat 767-300. AirTran Airways will launch daily Atlanta-Branson service on May 11 aboard a 717-200. Branson Airport will open that day and is the first privately financed and operated commercial airport in the US, AirTran said.
South Korea's Jeju Air will launch 737-800 service from Incheon to Osaka (daily) and Kitakyushu (thrice-weekly) on March 20, becoming the country's first LCC to operate internationally, The Korea Times reported. Jeju launched domestic flights in June 2006 and currently flies two 737-800s and four Q400s. It plans to take delivery of two more 737s next year.
Air France KLM subsidiary CityJet will take over the London City-Amsterdam route from VLM Airlines and KLM Cityhopper on Jan. 5. It will operate a two-class, 95-seat RJ-85 eight-times-daily on weekdays, once on Saturdays and four times on Sundays. VLM will take over CityJet's current twice-weekday LCY-Eindhoven service on Jan. 12 and base an additional F50 at Rotterdam from Jan. 5 to operate charter flights. It will continue to operate its eight-times-weekday LCY-Rotterdam service.
Ryanair yesterday confirmed that it will shutter its Fuerteventura operation on Jan. 31 "after local tourism group AIE failed to honor the commercial agreemen. . .to promote Fuerteventura as a tourist destination" ( ATWOnline, Nov. 20). It will cancel 23 weekly flights to Birmingham, Bremen, Dublin, Dusseldorf Weeze, Nottingham East Midlands, Frankfurt Hahn, Liverpool, London Stansted and Shannon. " It said that "legal action" would continue against AIE and its members.
JetBlue Airways will launch daily Orlando International-San Jose, Costa Rica, service on March 26 aboard an E-190. It is JetBlue's first Central American destination. KLM will launch five-times-weekly Amsterdam-Calgary service on May 3 aboard an A330-200.
US FAA broke ground on a new air traffic control system command center in Warrenton, Va., that will replace the current facility at nearby Washington Dulles in 2011. Equipping the 63,000-sq.-ft. facility will cost around $46 million, the agency said.
Southwest Airlines announced elimination of 32 existing roundtrip flights and addition of 19 new flights on its summer schedule beginning May 9, which will include changes in the number of flights offered in 102 markets. New services will comprise daily Denver-Tucson, daily Nashville-Oakland and daily Nashville-Seattle flights. SWA will cancel its daily Austin-Midland/Odessa, daily Detroit-Orlando International, daily Fort Lauderdale-Manchester, N.H., and daily Fort Myers-Long Island Islip flights. Kingfisher Airlines will launch daily Mumbai-London Heathrow service on Jan.
UPS yesterday launched service at its new international air hub at Shanghai Pudong, a major component of its ongoing Asian expansion. The delivery giant plans to operate flights from Shanghai both to the US and Europe. "The facility is strategically located. . .right in the heart of the Yangtze River Delta area and now becomes the key gateway linking China to UPS's global network," the company said. The 1 million-sq.-ft. facility features 117 conveyor belts and 47 docking bays and boasts package sorting capacity of 17,000 pieces per hr.
European Commission yesterday announced the signing of the SESAR Joint Undertaking by 15 companies pledged to contribute to development of Europe's next-generation satellite-based ATC system. "This is one of the most complex research and development programs ever launched by the European Community," VP and Commissioner for Transport Antonio Tajani said. The signatories agreed to work with the EC to coordinate "all relevant research and development efforts" pertaining to SESAR, according to an EC statement.
The EU yesterday announced a far-reaching air services agreement with Canada that includes reciprocal investment and signed new air services accords with Armenia and Israel.
Aviapartner Cargo will provide AirBridgeCargo Airlines with cargo and ramp handling services under a deal announced yesterday. Contract takes effect Jan. 1.
Ryanair was forced to cancel 52 flights in and out of London Stansted early yesterday morning after a group protesting the airport's potential expansion ( ATWOnline, Oct. 13) cut through perimeter fences and chained themselves together near the runway. Police reportedly arrested more than 50 demonstrators and the runway reopened "just after" 8 a.m., airports operator BAA said. The LCC was furious, claiming STN "is not fit for purpose." It took authorities nearly 5 hr.
