Dubai International Airport's Terminal 3 is scheduled to open Tuesday. The facility eventually will be able to handle 43 million passengers per year and will open in three phases, with flights arriving and departing to Doha, Muscat, Bahrain, Kuwait City, Jeddah, Dammam, Riyadh, New York JFK, Houston Intercontinental, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Sao Paulo Guarulhos and Toronto when the first phase launches next week. EK President Tim Clark said T3 is "geared for the phenomenal growth we have charted for the airline." It features a 4,500-sq.-m.
London Stansted received permission from Transport Secretary Geoff Hoon and Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Hazel Blears last week to increase the annual passenger cap to 35 million from 25 million on its existing runway.
Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes on Friday announced the formal integration of Gol and VRG (once again called Varig) into a single airline company and from Oct. 19 will launch a new route network in which Gol will focus on shorter routes and Varig will operate longer-haul flights.
Jet Airways will discontinue its Mumbai-Shanghai-San Francisco service on Jan. 13 owing to "the downturn in major economies worldwide." It said it will serve SFO from London Heathrow through codeshare with United Airlines and continue to optimize its long-haul network "focusing more on its established international gateways and routes." AirAsia will launch daily service to Singapore from Kuching and Kota Kinabalu on Nov. 1. Martinair will increase freighter service to Amsterdam from Quito and Bogota to eight-times-weekly in January.
London Luton plans to invest £2 million ($3.5 million) in improvements including upgrades of bus stops, the main terminal roundabout, drop-off zone facilities and a short-term car park. Work began this month and is expected to be completed next spring. Luton currently serves 10 million passengers per year.
Yeti Airlines said in an English language confirmation of Wednesday morning's Twin Otter accident that killed 18 of 19 onboard that "the entire [Lukla] airport region was suddenly covered with fog right after [the] other two aircraft (of Yeti) had landed successfully." Capt. Surendra Kunwar was the only survivor ( ATWOnline, Oct. 9). Aircraft was on its way from Kathmandu.
Republic Airways Holdings is considering a move into the Hawaii inter-island market to operate 70-seat E-170s in partnership with Mokulele Airlines. An internal memo dated Oct. 1 and obtained by The Honolulu Advertiser said Republic subsidiary Shuttle America "has a potential opportunity for a new codeshare agreement with additional flying beginning on or before Nov. 15, 2008. . .
Raleigh-Durham International is scheduled to open its new $570 million Terminal 2 on Oct. 26. The 920,000-sq.-ft. facility is three times larger than the terminal it replaces. Project's initial phase includes 19 gates, two ticketing islands, seven security checkpoint lanes and three baggage carousels. When the second phase is completed in late 2011, T2 will serve two concourses with 32 gates designed to accommodate up to 11.4 million passengers annually.
British Airways begins weekly London Gatwick-St. Kitts on Jan. 10. In addition, it will increase service from London Heathrow to Dubai (to 20-times-weekly from 14 on March 29) and Johannesburg (to 19-times-weekly from 14 on May 1). Atlanta and Toulouse flights will transfer to LHR from LGW on March 29. Shanghai Airlines launched service from Shanghai Hongqiao to Seoul Gimpo aboard a 757 and Tokyo Haneda aboard a 767-300ER. SkyEurope Airlines launched twice-weekly Prague-Bari.
Air France will abandon its daily London Heathrow-Los Angeles International service launched when the EU-US open skies agreement came into force on March 30 and opened LHR to flights to/from the US to all EU and US carriers.
Aegean Airlines will launch new service from Athens to Paris Charles de Gaulle (daily from Nov. 12, becoming twice-daily in March) and Dusseldorf (five-times-weekly from Oct. 26). A third daily ATH-London Stansted will start Dec. 15. Aegean will take delivery of two new A320s by year end, the ninth and 10th to enter the fleet this year. It plans to have 27 new A320/321s in service by 2010. Separately, it promoted Director-European Sales and Operations Giovanni Matassa to commercial director.
Copenhagen Airports will construct a low-cost terminal designed to "provide new opportunities for growth for the airlines during these difficult times and more cheap fares to choose from for the passengers," CEO Brian Petersen said. Passenger charges for airlines using CPH SWIFT will be half those applied to carriers using Kastrup's main infrastructure. Airlines wanting to fly SWIFT will have to meet a number of efficiency requirements, including a 30-min. turnaround, while passengers will be expected to check in mainly via the Internet, a mobile phone or at self-service kiosks.
Etihad Airways expanded its codeshare agreement with Brussels Airlines and will place its code on SN flights from Brussels to Oslo Gardermoen, Stockholm Bromma, Gothenburg, Helsinki and Copenhagen effective Oct. 6.
Air France will consider deploying the A380 in India "when the airport infrastructure at the Mumbai and Delhi airports supports the aircraft," which also would require a renegotiation of AF's rights with the Indian government, Senior VP-International Jean-Louis Pinson told Indian media last week, the Business Standard reported. AF has 12 A380s on firm order and currently serves Bangalore, Delhi, Chennai and Mumbai.
Ryanair will base a sixth aircraft at Shannon and launch service to Frankfurt Hahn and Newcastle in November. It also will add 26 weekly frequencies on existing routes. From Oct. 31 it will cease operating to Nottingham East Midlands and cut frequencies to London Luton. It also will launch daily flights to Paris Beauvais from Nottingham (Oct. 28) and Liverpool (Nov. 3). Separately, it extended its online check-in service from five days to 14 days before travel, allowing most passengers to check in for both outbound and return legs before departure.
Jet Airways launched daily ATR 72-500 flights from Hyderabad to Pune, Visakhapatnam and Goa, re-launched Pune-Bengaluru aboard a 737NG and started daily Muscat-Thiruvananthapuram aboard a 737-800. It also expanded its codeshare agreement with Brussels Airlines effective Oct. 26 to include SN flights from Brussels to Paris Charles de Gaulle and Manchester. Ethiopian Airlines will begin serving Ouagadougou six-times-weekly on Oct. 26. The 757-200 flights will originate in Addis Ababa and operate via Accra, Abuja and/or Lome.
Miami International Airport dropped its landing fee 39% to $1.18 per 1,000 lb. of landed weight for the current fiscal year that began Oct. 1. The move reduces the cost per departing passenger to $16.48 from $17.39 in the prior fiscal year and a projected $18.87 under the previously announced FY09 rate. The fee was projected to rise to as much as $2.46. Director of Aviation Jose Abreu warned that in FY10 the landing fee could be as high as $3.73 per 1,000 lb.
Turkish Airlines will re-launch thrice-weekly Istanbul Ataturk-Baghdad Oct. 26. Route has been closed since the 1991 Gulf War. Qatar Airways Cargo launched weekly Doha-Zaragoza-Dubai-Doha aboard an A300-600F. Jet Airways re-launched daily Pune-Bengaluru aboard a 737NG. Horizon Air will launch 12-times-weekly Sacramento-Santa Barbara Nov. 9 aboard a CRJ700 Continental Airlines will operate seasonal thrice-weekly Houston Intercontinental-Rio de Janeiro Galeao Dec. 17-Feb. 28 aboard a 767-400.
Wizz Air said it will base one extra A320 each at Timisoara, Bucharest Baneasa and Cluj Napoca and double its Romanian capacity over the next six months. From Timisoara it will launch thrice-weekly Dortmund (Dec. 18), thrice-weekly London Luton (Oct. 27), twice-weekly Paris Beauvais (Feb. 20), thrice-weekly Treviso (Feb. 19), thrice-weekly Bergamo (Feb. 19), thrice-weekly Rome Fiumicino (Feb. 17), thrice-weekly Barcelona (Feb. 19) and twice-weekly Valencia (Feb. 22).
Jet Airways is "very pleased" with the performance of its European hub in Brussels, which it launched in August 2007 with a daily Mumbai-BRU-Newark 777 service, claiming that its first year "proves that the concept of hubbing out of your home market works." But CEO Wolfgang Prock-Schauer confirmed to ATWOnline on the sidelines of a presentation in Brussels that the venture is not yet profitable. "We remain optimistic to achieve our target to break even after 18 months of operations despite the current slowdown," he said.
AirTran Airways plans to launch daily Atlanta-Cancun on Feb. 25 and twice-weekly Baltimore-Cancun on March 7. TAP Portugal will launch six-times-weekly Lisbon-Casablanca on Oct. 27. It will be its ninth African destination. It also will increase daily LIS-Oslo Gardermoen to nine-times-weekly from January. TAM will launch daily Sao Paulo Guarulhos-Lima on Oct. 17 aboard a two-class A320. Jet2.com will launch Edinburgh-Dusseldorf, Manchester-Rhodes and Newcastle-Cork for its summer 2009 schedule.
Ryanair will expand its Madrid Barajas base with two new 737-800s on Nov. 18 and launch twice-daily service to Alicante, Palma, Santiago and Valencia. It also will increase frequencies to Dublin, Santander and Bergamo. Expansion will see the LCC's MAD network grow to six domestic and 17 international routes on six based aircraft. Ryanair also said that delayed delivery of new aircraft resulting from the machinists strike at Boeing ( ATWOnline, Sept. 22) has forced it to cancel 25 flights to/from Birmingham between Oct. 24 and Oct.
Porter Airlines will launch 19-times-weekly Toronto City Centre-Chicago Midway on Nov. 12. Flights will operate thrice-daily on weekdays and twice on Saturdays and Sundays. Q400 service will increase to six times each weekday, twice on Saturdays and thrice on Sundays from Jan. 8. Porter said it is targeting flights to Boston, Washington and Philadelphia over the next 18 months. Air New Zealand will launch six-times-weekly Auckland-Masterton on Feb. 16 aboard an Eagle Air Beech 1900D.
The City of Chicago picked a consortium led by Vancouver Airport Services to operate Midway Airport under a 99-year lease. The group's $2.5 billion bid was the highest offer for MDW, the first large US commercial airport to be privatized under an FAA pilot program. Other members of the winning consortium are Citi Infrastructure Investors and John Hancock Life Insurance Co. It is the first US contract for YVRAS, which operates 18 airports in seven countries.
Southwest Airlines said yesterday that it will add Minneapolis/St. Paul to its network in March, its first new city since adding San Francisco in August 2007. Chairman and CEO Gary Kelly said the expansion will be "very cautious and very conservative," evidenced by SWA's only operating flights to Chicago Midway from MSP. He did not disclose the number of daily flights on the route.
