Southwest Airlines unveiled details of its new Washington Dulles operation yesterday, having announced its intention three months ago to start service at the airport ( ATWOnline, April 5). It will occupy two gates on Concourse B, hire about 40 local employees and start flying Oct. 5 with services to Chicago Midway (seven-times-daily), Orlando International (twice-daily), Tampa (twice-daily) and Las Vegas (daily). "Dulles will be a fantastic complement to our Baltimore/Washington operation," CEO Gary Kelly said.
US FAA yesterday unveiled an Airspace Flow Program that the agency said will result in fewer weather-related delays by allowing controllers more leeway in canceling or delaying flights. Using new computer technology, controllers will delay or cancel only those flights that "are expected to encounter extremely bad weather." Aircraft routed in the wider vicinity of major thunderstorms will be allowed to take off on time as long as ATC judges that they won't fly directly through the storm. Previously, such flights were delayed or cancelled.
JetBlue Airways will launch a four-times-daily New York JFK-Columbus service on Oct. 3 and a daily Columbus-Boston flight on Oct. 18. Both routes will be operated with Embraer 190s.
BAA named Stephen Nelson CEO replacing Mike Clasper, who stepped down yesterday. The move comes less than three weeks after Ferrovial Group took control of the UK airports operator. Nelson joined BAA in September 2005 from J Sainsbury, where he was marketing director and a member of the operating board. He became a member of the BAA board in April. Meanwhile, Ferrovial announced yesterday that Ferrovial Aeropuertos MD Luis Sanchez Salmeron is BAA's deputy CEO and will serve as the primary go-between for Ferrovial and BAA.
JetBlue Airways yesterday launched four-times-daily New York JFK-Charlotte service aboard Embraer 190s. Last month, JetBlue opened seven new gates at JFK, increasing its total to 21. The gate area is an extension of Terminal 6. The airline now can operate 185 flights daily from the airport. China Airlines will launch a new cargo service between Taipei and Hanoi from July 19. Initially the service will be weekly with a 747-400F as part of the carrier's Taipei-Penang service. AeroRepublica Airlines will launch daily Bogota-Panama City flight on Aug. 3.
Air New Zealand announced a series of changes to its international route network with an increased focus on profitability. The airline will suspend its daily 777-200ER service to Singapore and will not relaunch its twice-weekly 747 summer flights from Christchurch to Los Angeles. ANZ said O&D traffic to Singapore accounted for just 5% of passengers on the service, with most flying on to Europe, which can be served just as well through Hong Kong. Its market share is less than 30%.
Malaysia Airlines received government authority to increase its revised domestic network by three cities--Kuching, Tawau and Sandakan--and to price tickets on the routes as it chooses.
Ryanair will cut its services to and from Sweden by more than half following proposals by the Swedish government to introduce a SEK94 ($13.10) ticket tax on European flights and a SEK188 levy on long-haul flights beginning Aug. 1.
Korean Air launched thrice-weekly service between Seoul Incheon and Hakodate. Condor Airlines will start a twice-weekly Frankfurt-Santo Domingo service and weekly flights from FRA to Samana and Zanzibar by November, using 767-300ERs on all routes. TACV Cabo Verde Airlines launched twice-weekly Praia-Boston service.
DHL yesterday opened an expanded facility in Denpasar's cargo terminal, consolidating its sales, service, warehousing and administration functions under one roof and extending cut-off times for shipments.
Thai Airways no longer will go forward with the planned launch of LCC Royal Orchid Airlines ( ATWOnline, May 4), saying the new carrier is not necessary after the government ruled that all commercial air traffic must use Bangkok's new Suvarnabhumi Airport. Royal Orchid was slated to be based at Don Muang.
Reports from Russia are suggesting that the braking system failed on the S7 Airlines A310-300 that skidded on a wet runway after landing at Irkutsk International Airport at approximately 7:50 a.m. local time Sunday morning. At least 119 passengers and five crew were killed when the aircraft broke through a 6-ft. concrete barrier and crashed into a series of one-story garages, with some reports raising the death toll to 131. At least 20 passengers are in serious condition. There were 195 passengers and eight crew aboard the aircraft, which was arriving from Moscow Domodedovo.
Lufthansa chose SAS Ground Services Finland Oy for its ground handling services at Helsinki Vantaa. The three-year agreement goes into effect Aug. 15. LH operates eight flights per day from the airport.
Wizz Air announced the addition of nine new routes from Romania beginning with Targu Mures-Budapest from July 14. Flights from Bucharest Baneasa to Barcelona, Budapest, Dortmund, London Luton and Rome Ciampino, Arad to Milan Bergamo and Targu Mures to Barcelona and Rome Ciampino will begin on Jan. 15. All routes will operate thrice-weekly except for Bucharest-Ciampino, which will be four-times-weekly. Wizz also will launch a thrice-weekly Gdansk-Cork service on Dec. 15. Aeroflot started a twice-weekly Moscow-Yuzhno Sakhalinsk flight aboard a 767-300ER.
Irish Transport Minister Martin Cullen yesterday outlined privatization plans for Aer Lingus to Ireland's parliament, confirming the government's April decision to sell off most of its stake in the carrier by the end of September.
The European Commission adopted two regulations concerning the interoperability of European air traffic management systems aimed at establishing the long-awaited Single Sky. The "coordination and transfer" regulation establishes the requirements for automatic systems for the exchange of flight data that notify, coordinate and transfer flights between ATC units.
Air France launched a trial with RFID tags to label and track passenger baggage on flights between Paris Charles de Gaulle and Amsterdam Schiphol. KLM joins the trial on July 10 at two baggage drop-off points in Schiphol's Departure Hall 2. The tags will be used for all baggage dropped at those points regardless of destination. Later this year, all drop-off points in DH2 will be equipped to handle RFID tags. KLM developed RFID together with Schiphol, which is responsible for facilitation.
Ryanair, easyJet and other carriers comprising the Stansted Airlines Consultative Committee said BAA's planned expansion of London Stansted is based on "wildly inflated" forecasts of future traffic levels and called on Ferrovial Group, the new BAA owner, to reject current proposals for upgrades. The airline committee said plans to spend £4.5 billion ($8.3 billion) to expand facilities and lay down a second runway are "excessive" and will create a "costly, gold-plated" airport that will impose high user fees on carriers.
Air Canada announced the addition of three new routes to the US: Twice-weekly flights to Las Vegas starting Sept. 7 from Edmonton with A319s and Winnipeg with CRJ705s and daily seasonal Calgary-Palm Springs flights starting Dec. 15. AC also launched daily Toronto-Shanghai Pudong service aboard an A340-300, daily Montreal-Mexico City flights on an A319 and daily Embraer 190 service between Toronto and Abbotsford.
Spanair unveiled a four-year Expansion Plan Friday that it said "affirms that the company is the only alternative in Spanish air transport and emphasizes its contribution to the social and economic developments in Catalonia." The carrier said that by 2010 it intends to transport 15 million passengers per year--a 50% increase--grow its market share to 27% from 22% and bring its fleet to 80 aircraft from the current 64. It will focus on Barcelona International, which it intends to use as a domestic and European hub, targeting 60% growth and 5.5 million passengers annually.
The UK Office of Fair Trading confirmed Friday that it is initiating a study into whether or not the UK airports market in its current form works well for consumers. OFT announced in late May that it was considering a market study of UK airports ( ATWOnline, May 26). Since then it has consulted the Civil Aviation Authority and held meetings with relevant parts of the government, including the Dept. for Transport.
JetBlue Airways launched service Friday from Pittsburgh to New York JFK (four-times-daily) and Boston (twice-daily) aboard Embraer 190s. It also started thrice-daily Boston-Buffalo flights aboard 190s and daily flights from Burbank to Orlando International and Las Vegas aboard A320s. Zoom Airlines of Canada launched weekly flights from Vancouver and Calgary to Paris Charles de Gaulle. Last year the long-haul LCC began serving CDG from Toronto and Montreal. Zoom operates four 767-300ERs.
Etihad Airways will boost Abu Dhabi-Riyadh service to four-times-weekly from July 10 and will operate eight weekly flights on the route during the winter. The carrier currently operates thrice-weekly service. The added flight will use a 777-300ER. Frontier Airlines yesterday launched five-times-daily service between Los Angeles and San Francisco aboard A319s. Germanwings will start a thrice-weekly Hamburg-Moscow Vnukovo service from Oct 31. The LCC now flies to Moscow from Cologne/Bonn, Berlin Schoenefeld and Stuttgart.
JetBlue Airways is joining Northwest Airlines in opposing the deal struck by Southwest Airlines, American Airlines and the cities of Dallas and Fort Worth that repeals the Wright Amendment by 2014 and effectively reduces the number of gates at Love Field from 32 to 20 ( ATWOnline, June 16). The 20 gates would be used by Southwest (16), American (2) and Continental Airlines (2).
Jet Blue Airways will launch a daily New York JFK-Tucson service from Sept. 28 and a daily JFK-Sarasota/Bradenton flight starting Sept. 21, both aboard A320s. Tucson and Sarasota/Bradenton are new destinations for the carrier, which earlier this week announced plans to serve Houston Hobby. US Airways will operate a daily Reagan Washington National-Sarasota/Bradenton service from Aug. 15 aboard a Republic Airways Embraer 170. US was awarded the slot exemptions two weeks ago ( ATWOnline, June 14).
