Air Malta and Turkish Airlines signed a codeshare agreement under which THY will place its code on KM's twice-weekly Malta-Istanbul Ataturk. The carriers said the deal "is expected to pave the way for further cooperation. . .in the near future."
Continental Airlines yesterday detailed route closures stemming from its decision last week to downsize ( ATWOnline, June 6), leading to a mainline system capacity reduction of 6.8% year-over-year in the fourth quarter. From Sept. 3 it will discontinue a number of routes. Most prominently, it will stop flying Houston Intercontinental-Washington Dulles, IAH-Oakland, Newark-Cologne/Bonn, EWR-Salt Lake City, Cleveland-IAD and Guam-Bali.
Asia/Pacific airlines are responding rapidly and emphatically to the soaring cost of fuel and slowing global economy. Thai Airways announced that it will quit its nonstop services from Bangkok to New York JFK and Los Angeles and sell off its four A340-500s to help stem losses due to surging oil prices. It estimates that losses on the two routes at current fuel prices would top $120 million. China Airlines told Bloomberg News that it will ax 100 flights per month--10% of its capacity--mainly to the US, while EVA Air told the same news agency that it will cut services by 5%.
Hainan Airlines operated its first Beijing-Seattle A330 flight yesterday. It will operate the service four-times-weekly going forward. Etihad Airways and Jet Airways agreed to enter into a codeshare agreement that will take effect July 1 and cover both carriers' services to/from Abu Dhabi, New Delhi and Mumbai. EasyJet launched a six-times-weekly Brussels-Milan Malpensa service. Virgin Atlantic Airways will increase its London Heathrow-Hong Kong service from daily to 10-times-weekly from Oct. 28 and to twice-daily from Dec. 4.
Emirates said it will operate its first A380 commercial flight on Dubai-New York JFK service Aug. 1 and from Aug. 8 will operate the route with the aircraft thrice-weekly. The flights are in addition to the twice-daily service it already offers on the route. The aircraft, the first to be powered by Engine Alliance GP7200s, will be configured with 489 seats: 14 first class, 76 business and 399 economy. It also will provide 13 tons of belly hold capacity for cargo.
Jetairfly will base one 737-800 at Charleroi Brussels South from Oct. 24 and launch twice-weekly services to Oujda, Nador, Tenerife and Gran Canaria. The Belgian airline, part of TUI Group, also will take over five weekly flights to Casablanca from its Moroccan affiliate Jet4You, which will continue to operate two weekly flights between CRL and Casablanca.
Qantas Group announced a series of changes to its international network owing to fuel expense. CEO Geoff Dixon said Japan and Southeast Asia will be most affected. "The Japan-Far North Queensland market has also been particularly difficult for Qantas for a number of years," he noted.
Smiths Detection signed a $25.2 million contract with the US Transportation Security Administration for provision of advanced threat identification x-ray systems featuring carry-on baggage viewing and algorithm intelligence capabilities. Already in place at Denver International, Albuquerque International Sunport and numerous UK airports, aTiX systems will be deployed across the country.
Flyglobespan launched weekly Dublin-Vancouver. Service will run through September. Ryanair announced the following new routes for its winter schedule: From Bristol to Gdansk, Marrakesh and Szczecin; Brussels Charleroi to Fez, Gdansk, Manchester, Marrakesh, Riga, Tangier and Wroclaw; Frankfurt Hahn to Birmingham, Klagenfurt and Prague; London Luton to Beziers, Derry, Kaunas, Rzeszow, Szczecin and Trapani; Madrid to London Stansted and Milan Orio al Serio; Milan Orio al Serio to Berlin, Brindisi, Fez, Ibiza and Madrid; Rome Ciampino to Alghero.
Sunwing Airlines will operate twice-weekly Los Angeles-Vancouver from Nov. 15 through April 2009. Japan Airlines yesterday began placing its code on twice-daily British Airways flights between London Heathrow and Manchester and from Aug. 14 will place its code on Vietnam Airlines' four-times-weekly Hanoi-Nagoya service.
Garuda Indonesia announced the successful completion of its IOSA certification and said it "hoped the achievement would gain some recognition from the European Commission," which has banned Indonesian airlines from operating in Europe ( ATWOnline, April 14). Separately, Garuda launched thrice-weekly Denpasar-Nagoya aboard an A330-300. It had suspended service to the Japanese city in January.
TACA A320-200 runway overrun accident at Tegucigalpa's Toncontin International Friday killed five (the aircraft's captain, two passengers and two people on the ground), the airline confirmed, one more than was apparent Friday ( ATWOnline, June 2). Forty-five people, including three members of the cabin crew, remained hospitalized Saturday. The airport was closed following the accident and reopened yesterday with aircraft carrying 42 or fewer permitted, according to the Associated Press.
Korean Air today will launch thrice-weekly Los Angeles-Sao Paulo Guarulhos aboard a 777-200. Delta Air Lines will operate daily New York JFK-Bogota from Aug. 19. Northwest Airlines will launch thrice-daily Memphis-Columbia, Mo., Aug. 19 aboard a Mesaba Airlines Saab 340. WestJet launched daily Toronto-Quebec City.
A TACA A320-200 overran the runway at Tegucigalpa's Toncontin International Friday morning, crashing into a street and buckling and cracking as it collided with a billboard, an embankment and several cars, according to published photos and reports. A pilot, two passengers and a motorist reportedly died and 81 people were injured, according to the Associated Press. The carrier confirmed the incident on its website but did not report the deaths. It said there were 124 passengers onboard.
Air France KLM said it is pleased with the performance of its first direct transatlantic service out of London Heathrow, which it launched March 30 to take advantage of the EU-US open skies agreement, and is considering expanding to other destinations. The daily LHR-Los Angeles flight aboard a 777 is performing "very well," Executive VP-Marketing, Revenue Management & Network Bruno Matheu told ATWOnline in Paris. Load factor in the first month was above 70%, with higher loads in the back and lower in premium, but loads are much more "balanced" now, he said.
Aeroflot Sunday launched its Aeroflot Shuttle service between Moscow Sheremetyevo and St. Petersburg, which it said is designed to offer "faster and more convenient processing." It will feature fixed gates, additional airbridges and separate buses for business and economy passengers, who will be able to claim their bags within 15 min. of arrival. SU offers eight daily flights between the cities and said an average of 200,000 passengers fly on the route each month.
Russia's KD Avia signed a commitment with Airbus for 25 A319s, the manufacturer announced last week in Berlin. No engine choice was reported. "The A319 will contribute to the strengthening of Kaliningrad's position as an important Russian transit hub and at the same time will enable us to further develop our route network," KDA Chairman Sergey Grishchenko said. It is a new Airbus customer that currently operates an all-737-300 fleet. RIA Novosti reported that deliveries will begin in 2014, citing Airbus COO-Customers John Leahy, and that the order is worth $1.7 billion.
Ryanair will launch the following new routes on Oct. 27: Bremen to Fuerteventura, Gothenburg, Marrakesh and Tenerife; Bournemouth to Milan Orio al Serio and Paris Beauvais; Glasgow Prestwick to Faro, Malaga and Tenerife; Marseille to Agadir, Brest, Lille, Nador and Tangier. It also will operate flights from London Stansted to Beziers and Rimini in June, July and August.
British Airways announced a further postponement of the transfer of most of its long-haul services to London Heathrow's Terminal 5. The new terminal "is working well, and this phased move has been planned in the interests of our passengers and the smooth operation of Heathrow over the busy summer period," BA said.
American Airlines yesterday began specifying the services it is cutting following last week's announcement that 40-45 mainline aircraft and 35-40 regional aircraft will be parked this year in an effort to cope with "an extraordinarily difficult environment" characterized by "skyrocketing fuel prices and a softening economy" ( ATWOnline, May 22). Services to be discontinued include New York JFK-London Stansted from July 2, Chicago O'Hare-Buenos Aires from Sept. 3, Boston-San Diego from Sept. 3 and ORD-Honolulu from Jan. 5, 2009.
DHL yesterday opened its new €300 million ($473 million) European airfreight hub at Leipzig/Halle, officially relocating its air operations base from Brussels. The new hub "is situated at a crossroads to provide direct North-South and East-West access to Europe and connects both established and emerging markets in Central and Eastern Europe and Asia," DHL said, adding that it has "comprehensive authorization for night-time flights" at the airport. It will employ 2,000 initially and expects that to rise to 3,500 by 2012.
United Airlines and US Airways plan to postpone by one year newly awarded services to China. UA received permission from the US Dept. of Transportation to launch its San Francisco-Guangzhou service in June 2009 and US asked DOT for permission to push back its Philadelphia-Beijing service to 2010. "We're optimistic that economic conditions will be on the upswing in 2010, giving us a better chance of success with our first route to China," US President Scott Kirby said in a letter to employees cited by the Associated Press.
