Air France yesterday launched daily Paris CDG-Seattle flights aboard an A330-200. Separately, the airline said it operated its last 737 flight yesterday aboard a -500 on its Paris CDG-Turin route. Oasis Hong Kong Airlines plans to launch six-times-weekly Hong Kong-Vancouver service from June 28 aboard 747-400s purchased from ANA. Air China plans to operate a dual-class A340 in daily Beijing-London Heathrow service from June 21. It currently operates the aircraft to Frankfurt from Beijing and Shanghai.
Wizz Air is basing a third A320 in Warsaw and recently launched weekly flights to Bourgas and Corfu. Thrice-weekly service to Durham Tees Valley and Oslo Torp will begin July 28. In the past two weeks Wizz also has started flights from Katowice to Belfast (thrice-weekly), Eindhoven (thrice-weekly), Bourgas (weekly) and Heraklion (weekly).
The European Commission adopted a regulation on flight message transfer protocol that will allow the use of Internet protocol in communication systems between air traffic control units. "This legal instrument is another milestone in the implementation of the Single Sky, as it supports the coordinated introduction of a new technical solution in air traffic management systems throughout Europe," VP Transport Jacques Barrot said. Last year the EC adopted two regulations aimed at modernizing ATM within the Single European Sky.
FedEx signed a new 30-year lease agreement yesterday with the Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority under which it will pay more than $240 million over the life of the contract to control a 30.5-million-sq.-ft. area at Memphis International. The agreement goes into effect Jan. 1 and replaces one that had been in place since 1979. FedEx will pay $7.9 million next year, with annual payments rising 13% every five years. The agreement includes options to extend it to 2058.
Air France KLM is in talks with its US SkyTeam partners regarding slot exchanges to permit the US carriers to operate to London Heathrow when the US-EU open skies agreement takes effect next spring, Vice Chairman Leo van Wijk confirmed earlier this week. Speaking to media in Vancouver at the IATA AGM, van Wijk said KLM is talking with Northwest Airlines and Air France with Delta Air Lines. They also have agreed in principle that Continental Airlines will participate. "London Heathrow will become an additional transatlantic hub for SkyTeam partners," he stated.
Amsterdan Airport Schiphol will need a sixth runway to accommodate its anticipated growth, Schiphol Group indicated in its long-term outlook published last week. AMS expects passenger throughput to grow 84.4% to 85 million by 2025, with freight more than doubling to 3.5 million tonnes. Runway capacity will need to increase from last year's 423,122 flights to 600,000-650,000 by 2025, with a new passenger area constructed by 2015, the airport said.
US Airways launched daily Philadelphia-Brussels service aboard 757s in two-class configuration. During the winter schedule, the service will be reduced to four weekly flights aboard 767s.
US Airways launched daily Philadelphia-Brussels service last week. EasyJet will start daily Madrid-Ibiza flights on June 21. Etihad Airways launched thrice-weekly Abu Dhabi-Thiruvananthapuram service. Hamburg International will begin weekly Weeze-Erbil service on June 21. The carrier has served the Iraqi city from Munich and Frankfurt since 2005. Sky Express of Russia will increase Moscow Vnukovo-St. Petersburg service to thrice-daily from daily beginning today.
VT Airside Solutions is taking delivery of 127 Linde tow tractors for the British Airways ground fleet services operation at London Heathrow's new Terminal 5 set to open next year.
Air New Zealand CEO Rob Fyfe said the airline intends to "open one new long-haul destination every year" and wants to increase its offering of round-the-world services. It currently operates Auckland-London Heathrow via Los Angeles and Hong Kong and is starting flights to Vancouver this year. "We want to use our existing Auckland-Shanghai service to continue onwards to Europe," Fyfe told ATWOnline, adding that the number of ANZ passengers taking advantage of round-the-world services is increasing.
Servisair will provide full passenger, ramp and cargo handling services for British Airways' thrice-weekly 777 flights at Port of Spain International Airport.
Alaska Airlines will offer daily flights from Seattle to Honolulu (from Oct. 12) and Lihue (from Oct. 28) and seasonal service from Anchorage to Honolulu starting Dec. 9, all aboard two-class 737-800s. Copa Airlines yesterday said it will add frequencies to eight destinations from its Panama City hub for the summer season.
Skybus Airlines, which launched its low-fare service from Columbus last week ( ATWOnline, May 23), is adding three new destinations on July 16: San Diego; St. Augustine, Fla., which the airline is marketing as Jacksonville/Daytona Beach; and Chicopee, Mass., which is near Springfield and a little more than 30 mi. from Hartford. American Airlines will launch thrice-daily New York LaGuardia-Minneapolis/St. Paul flights on Sept. 5 aboard two-class MD-80s.
While US airlines enthusiastically applauded the newly signed air services agreement with China, their Asian counterparts admit they are at a competitive disadvantage compared to the relatively strong carriers across the Pacific.
LTU will establish a third long-haul base in addition to Dusseldorf and Munich at Berlin Tegel starting with the 2007-08 winter schedule. It will base one A330-200 at TXL and launch thrice-weekly flights to Bangkok and a weekly service to Melbourne, Fla. Charters to Punta Cana and Varadero will depart from TXL rather than Schoenefeld. LTU said it hopes to use TXL as a base for future services to the Far East.
Emirates will increase twice-daily Dubai-Johannesburg service to 18-times-weekly beginning June 1. Additional flights will be aboard 427-seat 777-300ERs. Alaska Airlines will increase Seattle-Cancun service to daily from four-times-weekly on Oct. 28.
Singapore Changi's Terminal 3 will commence flight operations on Jan. 9, 2008, it was announced yesterday. The terminal cost S$1.75 billion ($1.15 billion) and will have a capacity of 22 million passengers per year, bringing the airport's total annual capacity to 70 million. T3 will be equipped with 28 gates, of which eight will be A380-compatible.
Air Jamaica will drop its Kingston-London Heathrow route, on which it reportedly was losing $20-$25 million annually, and sold its LHR landing and takeoff slots to Virgin Atlantic Airways, according to media reports out of London and Jamaica. Virgin beat out rival British Airways to replace Air Jamaica's LHR-Kingston service and will operate two weekly flights on the route beginning this fall. Virgin currently operates two weekly London Gatwick-Montego Bay flights and will continue that service.
Ryanair will establish its 20th European base at Bristol in November. The LCC will base two new 737-800s there and launch 13 new routes, lifting the number of routes it serves from the airport to 16. New destinations are Derry and Milan Orio al Serio (daily); Budapest, Knock and Wroclaw (four-times-weekly); Bratislava, Dinard, Katowice, Porto, Poznan and Riga (thrice-weekly), and Rzeszow and Salzburg (twice-weekly).
Jetstar Airways' codeshare arrangement with Japan Airlines on Jetstar's daily Sydney-Osaka Kansai-Brisbane A330 service, a first for the value carrier involving a partner airline outside of Qantas Group, will commence selling today.
US FAA Administrator Marion Blakey yesterday warned of a "tough summer" for travelers, predicting that high traffic and intense weather likely will lead to extensive delays and cancellations, and said the agency will employ technology and flexible flight management procedures in an effort to reduce disruptions.
The US and China yesterday announced the establishment of a new air services accord between the countries that will more than double the number of passenger flights by 2012 and offer airfreight operators "greatly expanded commercial freedom," according to the US Dept. of Transportation. "Piece by piece, we are making it easier, cheaper and more convenient to fly people and ship goods between our two countries," US Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters said.
