Air Canada plans to launch thrice-weekly Toronto-Shanghai service on April 6, increasing to daily on June 30 and returning to thrice-weekly for the 2007-08 winter schedule. It also will double its Vancouver-Beijing service to twice-daily July 1-Sept. 30.
Airports of Thailand Chairman Chotisak Asapavirya resigned last week owing to "ill health." He had been criticized heavily for the pavement cracking problems at Bangkok's $3 billion showcase Suvarnabhumi International. While he said he was not forced out, he told Thai media yesterday that he warned authorities not to rush the airport's opening. Meanwhile, Suvarnabhumi's director and head of commercial operations have been fired.
American Airlines will increase daily summer service to Rome Fiumicino from Chicago O'Hare and New York JFK to year-round from Oct. 28, when it will operate from ORD four-times-weekly and JFK thrice-weekly aboard 767-300s. AA also will upgrade its ORD-Frankfurt service to a 777 from a 767-300 on April 10. Eurofly launched thrice-weekly Rome Fiumicino-Delhi service aboard an A330.
Virgin America announced that former US Secretary of Transportation and White House Chief of Staff Samuel Skinner will be vice chairman, which CEO Fred Reid said should "continue to demonstrate our compliance with the Department [of Transportation]'s citizenship requirements" ( ATWOnline, Jan. 19). The carrier also said that pending DOT certification, it intends to serve New York JFK, Washington Dulles, Los Angeles, San Diego and Las Vegas within nine months of launch. It is based in San Francisco.
Thailand's Dept. of Civil Aviation postponed renewal of Suvarnabhumi International Airport's safety certification, which expired last week and originally was issued to comply with ICAO efforts to standardize international airport documentation. No Thai airport is currently certificated by DCA. Although lack of certification has no impact on operations at the new Bangkok airport, Thai politicians are trumpeting it in their campaign to discredit the deposed Thaksin government, which built the facility ( ATWOnline, Jan.
BAA yesterday unveiled revised development plans for London Stansted that "will cost much less than originally anticipated, with environmental impacts much reduced too." The UK airports operator, controlled by Spain's Grupo Ferrovial, said opening cost in 2015 would be £1.4 billion ($2.74 billion) and overall cost would be £2.27 billion by the time the phased expansion is complete in 2030. This compares to the original estimate of £4 billion.
Korean Air plans to increase the number of destinations served in China from the current 20 to 32 by 2010. According to North American Marketing Director John Jackson, KE now regards China as a "second home market." Frequencies to current destinations will rise as well. "By the end of 2007 we'll be operating three daily shuttles to Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong," Jackson said. The increase comes following a June 2006 agreement for a gradual open skies policy between China and South Korea.
Etihad Airways will launch thrice-weekly Abu Dhabi-Sydney service March 26, becoming daily June 29, with a 240-seat, three-class A340-500. Sydney will be Etihad's fifth destination in the Asia/Pacific region. Clickair will launch daily flights from Seville and Valencia to London Heathrow on Feb. 2 aboard A320s. The LCC is taking over the routes from Iberia and will operate them under codeshare. It also will start flights from Barcelona to Berlin Tegel and Prague on Feb. 1 and from BCN to Dublin, Frankfurt, Basel and Amsterdam on March 1.
Japan Airlines Group took a hatchet to its 165-route domestic network in its biggest overhaul since 9/11. Changes announced yesterday include introduction of one new route (a daily Kobe-Ishigaki service starting in July), a frequency increase on four, reductions on five and suspension of 10 regional domestic services. Key drivers of the change are the availability of more slots at Tokyo airports in FY09, a focus on yield and competitive pressures from ANA.
Wizz Air announced it will expand its operations from Katowice with the launch of a daily service to London Stansted on May 29, thrice-weekly service to Malmo starting in July and a thrice-weekly flight to Brussels Charleroi beginning Oct. 2. Bmi will launch twice-daily London Heathrow-Jersey flights on March 25. The carrier, which in 2005 introduced a single-class cabin and paid-for catering on most of its short-haul network from LHR, said it will offer a full-service operation on the new link.
ANA announced that the South Pier of Tokyo Haneda's Terminal 2 will open Feb. 15, "completing the final phase of construction at the terminal occupied almost exclusively by ANA." Currently, 70% of ANA flights are served through attached gates and this will rise to 90% with the addition of the new pier. The South Pier will add approximately 11,000 sq. m. of space including a Starbucks, a Relaxation Corner with massage chairs and a Business Support area equipped with computers, printers and photocopiers.
Emirates will launch six-times-weekly Dubai-Sao Paulo service on Oct. 1, which it said will be the first-ever nonstop service between the Middle East and South America. It will operate the route with the first of its 10 ordered 777-200LRs ( ATWOnline, Nov. 21, 2005). Aircraft will seat 266 across three classes.
Expressing "deep regret" that it has been unable to reach an agreement with cabin staff represented by the Transport & General Workers Union, British Airways yesterday said it has cancelled all passenger flights out of London Heathrow and all domestic and European flights out of Gatwick scheduled for next Tuesday and Wednesday, when T&G plans the first of three walkouts ( ATWOnline, Jan. 25).
Royal Jordanian will resume flights to Canada after 10 years. It will operate twice-weekly Amman-Montreal service from May 25 aboard A340-300s. JetBlue Airways will launch daily White Plains-Orlando International service March 28. On April 2 it will start daily service from White Plains to Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach and add a second daily flight to MCO, all aboard A320s.
Pavement cracks at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi International Airport are being cited by politicians as a reason to oust Airports of Thailand officials appointed by the deposed Thaksin government, which built the new facility. But a senior member of the airport's professional staff told this website that the cracks are in a few sections of taxiway, not the runways as claimed by airport critics. ATWOnline observed crews repairing small rough spots, probably caused by water seeping under the pavement, in the taxiway adjoining the aircraft ramp.
Austrian Airlines Group CCO Josef Burger told ATWOnline this week in Iraq that the carrier has secured traffic rights to all airports in the country, meaning cities like Baghdad, Basra, Mosul and others can be served with daily frequencies.
Finnair will report a negative operating result for 2006 "due to costs from structural arrangements and changes in fuel derivative market value," CEO Jukka Hienonen said yesterday. He cited a €100 million ($129.6 million) year-over-year increase in fuel costs and more than €15 million in one-off costs from Finnair Technical Division, "which had a hard year," he admitted. "The year 2006 will be an interim year in Finnair's result development," he said at an industry forum in Kirkkonummi.
American Airlines, Continental Airlines and United Airlines filed a lawsuit last week in US District Court against the city of Los Angeles in an attempt to fight a retroactive increase in Los Angeles International Airport "terminal maintenance fees" that the carriers say will cost a combined $15 million, the Associated Press reported. The fee hikes reportedly are designed to cover increased security costs. Earlier this month, the Air Transport Assn.
SunExpress will launch service from London Stansted to Antalya (twice-weekly on Feb. 8) and Izmir (March). Continental Airlines will launch daily Newark-Jackson, Miss., service Sept. 5 aboard ExpressJet E-145s.
The Kurdistan Regional Government in northern Iraq is spending $300 million to upgrade Erbil International Airport in an effort to make the city that sits just 60 mi. from the Turkish and Iranian borders an important transportation hub. "We are in the center of the Middle East and want to play a strategic role in civil aviation," KRG President Massoud Barzani told ATWOnline in Erbil.
Delta Air Lines watched from the sidelines as four US legacy rivals vied over the past few months for the right to operate a new daily route to China. United Airlines and its bid to fly from Washington Dulles to Beijing won out earlier this month ( ATWOnline, Jan. 10), but Delta yesterday signaled its intention to compete hard for the US Dept. of Transportation's 2008 award, presenting a proposal to operate a daily Atlanta-Shanghai service beginning next March.
Delta Air Lines will operate thrice-daily Atlanta-Hilton Head service March 17-Sept. 4 aboard an Atlantic Southeast Airlines ATR 72. DL also will add seats to its ATL-Myrtle Beach service with the introduction of an MD-88 on the route.
SAS Ground Services UK established a ground handling organization at Aberdeen Airport that will include passenger handling, ramp services and deicing operations. The company said it expects to secure third-party customers by spring. Separately, Icelandair chose SAS Ground Services for handling at Oslo, Bergen, Stockholm Arlanda and Gothenburg.
