Copa Airlines yesterday unveiled an expansion plan that includes addition to its network later this year of Belo Horizonte in Brazil, Oranjestad in Aruba, Valencia in Venezuela and Santa Cruz in Bolivia. All will be served from Panama City and will bring its network to 45 destinations by year end. Etihad Airways launched daily flights from Abu Dhabi to Chennai and Kozhikode. It also has secured flying rights to two more cities in India, Kolkata and Jaipur. American Airlines will launch daily Miami-Antigua from Nov. 20 aboard 737-800s.
Lufthansa A320 with 107 passengers onboard collided with a Futura International Airways 737-800 carrying 180 passengers on a Manchester taxiway yesterday, damaging both aircraft but causing no injuries. The A320 was preparing for a takeoff to Frankfurt while the 737 was scheduled to depart for Tenerife. Neither aircraft apparently was traveling at a high speed. A Manchester Airport spokesperson told Agence France Press that "the planes were taxiing towards the runway when the Futura plane touched the wingtip of the Lufthansa plane. .
Los Angeles International defended itself against claims that it will not be ready for the A380 by the time Qantas intends to fly there on Oct. 20. QF Senior Executive VP-Americas and Pacific Wally Mariani told Jane's that the carrier would not tolerate passengers having to exit aircraft at remote gates and would relocate all operations to San Francisco if necessary. In response, an LAX spokesperson told The Sydney Morning Herald that QF executives visited the airport last week and praised the progress made on the approximately $670 million renovation project.
BAA launched legal action against Ryanair to force it to pay the increase in airport charges at London Stansted that was applied from April 1, The Irish Times reported. The suit is part of a lengthy dispute between the airport operator and the LCC over charges and BAA's expansion plans at STN. In April, Ryanair wrote to BAA saying it would be withholding the 7% charge increase pending a judicial review. EasyJet also threatened to withhold payments to BAA after it raised takeoff and landing fees at Gatwick ( ATWOnline, April 16).
Menzies Aviation reached a deal with Virgin America to provide ramp handling and cabin cleaning services at Seattle. It already handles VX at Los Angeles and San Francisco.
S7 Airlines will launch daily flights from Ekaterinburg to Sochi (weekly from Aug. 5 aboard a Tu-154) and Moscow Domodedovo (daily from Sept. 2 aboard an A319). S7 said it is planning to serve Novosibirsk and St. Petersburg from Ekaterinburg as well. It also will place its code on Belavia Belarusian Airlines' twice-daily Minsk-DME.
AirBaltic will launch daily Riga-Amsterdam on Oct. 26 aboard a 737-500. It also reached a codeshare deal with Brussels Airlines under which the Belgian carrier will place its code on airBaltic's Riga-Brussels service beginning Aug. 4.
Menzies Aviation has been selected by six Star Alliance carriers as their new ground handling company at London Heathrow. The deal, reached through a joint tender, was prompted by Star's Move Under One Roof initiative at LHR's Terminal 1. Star said it expects combined annual savings of at least €1 million. Deal enters effect Oct. 1 and covers Austrian, Croatia Airlines, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, Swiss and TAP Portugal. Menzies will handle check-in, ticketing, special services and select ramp provisioning.
American Airlines and El Al announced an expanded codeshare agreement effective Sept. 2 that will connect passengers from an additional 25 North American cities with the Israeli carrier's network. El Al currently serves New York JFK, Newark, Los Angeles and Toronto with 22 weekly flights. It said it is "the most comprehensive and far reaching agreement" it has with any foreign carrier. US Airways launched daily Charlotte-Montreal aboard a Republic Airlines E-175.
OpenSkies will open its second European gateway when it launches daily Amsterdam-New York JFK on Oct. 15. It currently serves the New York area from Paris Orly. A 757 currently operated by British Airways is undergoing modification and will join the OpenSkies fleet when the AMS service begins. Etihad Airways will operate daily Abu Dhabi-Melbourne from March 2009 aboard an A340-600. It will be EY's third Australian destination.
Southwest Airlines Chairman, President and CEO Gary Kelly said last week that the LCC's recently announced partnership with WestJet ( ATWOnline, July 9) likely will not be its last codeshare tie-up with another airline as it seeks to expand its reach beyond the continental US. While the deal with WS gives SWA extensive access to the Canadian market, "we're working very hard on a Hawaiian solution and also a Mexican and Caribbean solution," Kelly told analysts.
Etihad Airways will launch four-times-weekly Abu Dhabi-Almaty on Dec. 2 aboard an A319. AirTran Airways will launch a Milwaukee-Fort Lauderdale service in November and will increase frequencies from MKE to Baltimore, Fort Myers, Las Vegas, Tampa and Orlando International during the winter schedule. AirAsia will launch service from Kuala Lumpur to Guilin (four-times-weekly from Sept. 3) and Manado (thrice-weekly from Sept. 12), plus a thrice-weekly Singapore-Pekan Baru beginning Aug. 14.
Philippine Airlines subsidiaries PAL Express and Air Philippines will launch operations today at Manila Ninoy Aquino's new Terminal 3. The two carriers will operate a combined 131 weekly flights from the facility. The mainline will continue to operate out of T2.
Ukraine International Airlines launched thrice-weekly 737-300SF cargo service between Kiev Boryspil and Vienna in partnership with Austrian Airlines, European Cargo Services and TNT. Service increases to five-times-weekly on Sept. 1. Five-times-weekly flights to Liege via VIE will begin in September. UIA said its cargo subsidiary also will offer charter flights and is negotiating with "prospective clients."
Berlin Tempelhof will close for good on Oct. 30. Final scheduled flight at the historic 85-year-old facility will be an 8 p.m. Cirrus Airlines service to Mannheim aboard a Do-328.
SkyEurope Airlines will close eight routes and ground two of its 15 737-700s for the coming winter schedule. Chairman Jason Bitter confirmed that it will drop routes from Bratislava and Kosice to Cork, Dublin and Birmingham as well from Prague to Sophia and Lisbon. He said rising fuel prices have made operating certain longer routes uneconomical.
Delta Air Lines launched five-times-weekly New York JFK-Lyon aboard a two-class 757-200. Air New Zealand launched twice-weekly Auckland-Beijing aboard a 777-200ER Royal Jordanian will launch twice-weekly Amman-Kiev on Aug. 17 aboard an E-195.
Worldwide Flight Services was selected by Asiana Airlines to provide cargo, ramp and passenger handling services at stations at Paris Charles de Gaulle, Lille, Lyon, Marseille, Strasbourg and Toulouse. Asiana operates thrice-weekly Incheon-CDG.
Midwest Airlines yesterday unveiled a revised flight schedule that will feature elimination of service to Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers and San Diego and an enhanced codeshare agreement with Northwest Airlines.
One day after announcing a service cut at Dublin, Ryanair yesterday unveiled a series of winter schedule reductions and temporary base closures that it used as a platform to attack airport monopolies and increasing charges.
