SkyTeam partners Air France KLM and Delta Air Lines today will announce a wide-ranging agreement on the joint operation of transatlantic flights, including a number of flights from London Heathrow to US destinations, as the carriers seek to challenge British Airways directly when the EU-US open skies accord takes effect at the end of March.
Officials from Star Alliance and EgyptAir were in Cairo yesterday to announce that the world's largest airline grouping is expanding yet again, this time to North Africa, and to tout the progress of Cairo International Airport's new Terminal 3, which will host Star carriers when it opens next year. EgyptAir, which operates 48 aircraft to 60 destinations in 44 countries, will become Star's 21st member when it joins "within the next 18 months." Air China, Shanghai Airlines and Turkish Airlines also are preparing to join.
Finnair said yesterday it has approved a new long-term plan that focuses on developing Europe-Asia services with a future goal of also boosting North America-Asia service by turning Helsinki Vantaa into a significant connecting hub. "We will take advantage of Helsinki's geographical location even more extensively," President and CEO Jukka Hienonen said. "In years to come, the airspace and terminal facilities of large European airports are likely to become increasingly congested while Helsinki-Vantaa Airport has plenty of room for construction and possibilities for development."
Delta Air Lines plans to launch five-times-weekly Atlanta-Queretaro service on Jan. 14, subject to regulatory approval. The city would be DL's 19th Mexican destination, the most it serves in any foreign country. Aerolineas Argentinas will launch twice-daily Buenos Aires-Asuncion flights on Oct. 22. One daily flight will be nonstop while the other will stop in Corrientes four-times-weekly and Resistencia thrice-weekly. It also will launch weekly Cordoba-Rio de Janeiro Galeao service on Dec. 16 aboard a 108-seat 737-500.
Ryanair said Friday it will appeal the decision of the TAR Lazio, a regional court in Rome, to uphold flight cuts at Rome Ciampino ( ATWOnline, Aug. 9). The LCC is accusing the Italian government of "unlawfully restricting the availability of low fares in the Rome market, a move that provides further illegal protection of Alitalia and restricts consumer choice."
Porter Airlines will operate seasonal Toronto City Centre-Mont Tremblant service from Dec. 22 to March 31. Flights will be four-times-weekly Dec. 22-Jan. 6 and twice-weekly thereafter.
US airlines will convene for a meeting with Bush Administration officials Oct. 23-24 to discuss ways of reducing airspace congestion, with particular focus on the crowded New York market, the Dept. of Transportation announced.
Fraport remains on course to expand its portfolio of foreign airport investments, with China and India priority regions, Senior VP-Marketing, Sales Support, Board and Committees Annegret Reinhardt-Lehmann told ATWOnline. "We are looking for further opportunities in China as well as in India," she said, adding that the company already holds a 10% share in Delhi International Airport Private Ltd., which took over the operation of Indira Gandhi International last year and is in the process of taking a 24.5% share in Xi'an Xianyang International.
Dragonair will launch flights from Hong Kong to Fukuoka (daily aboard A321s) and Sendai (thrice-weekly aboard A320s) on Oct. 28. KLM and Copa Airlines signed a codeshare agreement covering flights beyond their Amsterdam and Panama City hubs effective March 30. KLM will launch thrice-weekly service between the hubs that day.
Southwest Airlines unveiled a new gate design to complement the adjusted, numbered boarding procedure announced last month ( ATWOnline, Sept. 20) that it hopes will "alleviate the need for customers to 'camp out' in line at the gate." Stainless steel columns and television monitors will be installed to support the boarding procedure at each of SWA's 64 airports, with a family area, power stations, a business/leisure section with padded seats and tables and flat screen TVs to follow.
Sterling Airlines will open its seventh base in Malmo, where it will base two 737s and fly to London Gatwick, Barcelona, Alicante, Florence and Nice beginning March 10.
Virgin America launched twice-daily San Francisco-Washington Dulles service, its fourth route. IAD-Los Angeles flights are scheduled to begin Oct. 24. Delta Air Lines will launch twice-daily flights from Cincinnati to Cape Girardeau, Owensboro and Jackson (Tenn.) Nov. 18 aboard Big Sky Airlines Beech 1900Ds.
Air Berlin will close some routes from its London Stansted hub next month. An AB spokesperson confirmed to ATWOnline that twice-daily service to Manchester, Glasgow International and Belfast City will be shut down. AB handles 1.2 million passengers annually at the airport, its second-largest hub outside Germany after Palma de Mallorca. STN will continue to handle AB flights from eight German destinations and Spain.
Hainan Airlines is moving forward with its plan to launch Hefei-based Anhui Airlines, though the specific timetable has yet to be fixed. The capital of Anhui Province, Hefei is located approximately 200 mi. west of Shanghai. The carrier is expected to be based at the new Hefei Xinqiao Airport, upon which construction will begin this year. It is scheduled to be operational in 2010.
Northwest Airlines will launch daily Portland, Ore.-Amsterdam service on March 29 aboard a 243-seat, two-class A330-200. Portland will become NWA's 20th North American transatlantic gateway. Malev Hungarian Airlines will increase its daily Budapest-Madrid service to 11-times-weekly from Oct. 28. Flights to Bangkok will rise to four-times-weekly beginning Jan. 8 and daily service to Venice will become 12-times-weekly on Oct. 28. Twice-weekly Budapest-Ekaterinburg flights will launch the same day.
SkyEurope Airlines continues to restructure its network in an effort to enhance and stabilize its financial base. The company reported a loss of €37.6 million in the nine months to June 30. It will start by expanding its Vienna-based fleet of 737-700s to six beginning at the end of this month. "We are increasing our network [from Vienna] from 16 to 20 destinations, but we are concentrating more on increasing frequencies," CCO Karim Makhlouf told ATWOnline. The airline hopes to serve 2.1 million passengers in Vienna within the next 12 months.
British Airways CEO Willie Walsh said in a speech in Manchester last weekend that the airline aims to link major business centers in the US with continental Europe thanks to open skies and has become the first European carrier to file a "formal blanket application" to fly between any city in the US and any city in the EU. He called the prospect of operating flights that would neither take off nor land in the UK "a radical departure for British Airways" but said the liberalization "offers some real opportunities . . .
Air Arabia will launch four-times-weekly Sharjah-Bangalore service on Oct. 15, bringing the LCC's Indian destinations to nine and its total to 37. Frequency will increase to daily Oct. 29. Qantas will launch weekly Brisbane-Karratha flights from Nov. 6 aboard a 737-800.
Transaero said it received Russian government approval to operate scheduled service from Moscow Domodedovo to the New York City area and Los Angeles beginning next year. Russia's second-largest international carrier, Transaero already flies to Toronto and Montreal in North America and serves nearly 80 destinations overall with 13 737 Classics, seven 767-200s/-300s, seven 747-200s/-300s and one Tu-214.
US and Australia announced last week "their intention to liberalize relations by initiating bilateral discussions to conclude a comprehensive open skies agreement." The statement was issued jointly by Australian Deputy Prime Minister Mark Vaile and US Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters. Negotiations will begin before year end and an agreement is expected early next year. An existing open skies agreement between the countries covers only cargo services.
UK and Singapore concluded a significant aviation services agreement that removes all restrictions on flights operated by airlines of both countries and includes beyond and domestic rights in the UK. The deal was reached almost two decades after Singapore first proposed it. The Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation said the deal "virtually guarantees Singapore Airlines will jettison its [49%] stake in Virgin Atlantic and mount additional services to Heathrow and beyond to the US in a staged manner from March 2008, when the UK-Singapore agreement takes effect."
EasyJet will open two new bases in France next year and invest €600 million ($849.5 million) to 2011 to reinforce its position as the country's "only significant low-cost airline" and its second-largest carrier. "With a low-cost penetration of 17% at half the European average [33%], France's air transport market still suffers from a lack of affordable, direct air links and therefore offers huge opportunities for easyJet," the LCC said.
US National Transportation Safety Board concluded that the probable cause of the Southwest Airlines 737-700 runway overrun in December 2005 at Chicago Midway "was the pilots' failure to use available reverse thrust in a timely manner" and to use the best data to calculate landing distance. The aircraft veered from the runway after landing and crashed through a boundary fence onto a road next to the airport, striking a car and killing a six-year-old child.
