JetBlue launched service yesterday from Austin, its first Texas destination, to New York JFK (thrice-daily) and Boston (daily) aboard Embraer 190s. It also started a daily Oakland-Ft. Lauderdale service yesterday that is the first nonstop flight between the cities. Separately, JetBlue confirmed it applied last week to commence service to Mexico. A new route from New York to Cancun was opened by the liberalization of the countries' bilateral agreement reached last fall. Delta Air Lines and USA 3000 also applied to operate the route.
Emirates said it will launch six-times-weekly Dubai-Kolkata service from March 26 aboard A330-200s. Helios Airways added weekly flights from Larnaca to Manchester and from Paphos to London Gatwick, Manchester and Newcastle from Jan. 14. Southwest Airlines said it will add 18 roundtrip flights between New Orleans and Houston Hobby, Dallas Love Field and Orlando International from Feb. 24 to March 4 to support the rebuilding city's Mardi Gras celebration. Kingfisher Airlines will launch daily Mumbai-Mangalore service Jan. 20.
El Al will launch Miami-Tel Aviv service on March 28. American Airlines is ending service to Houston Hobby from April 3, according to the Dallas Business Journal. AA currently operates service to New York LaGuardia and Austin from HOU. Its Regional affiliates American Eagle and American Connection will continue to serve the airport with flights to Dallas/Ft. Worth and St. Louis respectively. Allegiant Airlines will increase frequencies between Bellingham, Wash., and Las Vegas from four flights weekly to six from April 5.
Austrian Airlines Group is eyeing service to new destinations in Siberia. "We are currently studying whether to start services from Vienna to Tjumen and Celyabinsk. We also hope to get permission to operate regular services to Kazakhstan during 2006," CCO Josef Burger told ATWOnline. In addition, Austrian plans to add 19 weekly frequencies to Eastern European destinations and 21 frequencies to Western Europe.
Southwest Airlines continues to rebuild service to New Orleans following last summer's hurricane and flood that destroyed large parts of the city. From March 17, service to Houston Hobby will grow from five to eight daily flights, to Orlando International from two to three daily flights and to Dallas Love Field from two to three daily flights. Merpati Nusantara Airlines soon will reopen 40 domestic routes shuttered two years ago in a cost-cutting move, The Jakarta Post reported.
Swedish Regional City Airline and SAS signed a codeshare agreement including all City flights from Gothenburg. From mid-month the carrier will end services to Bergen, Milan Malpensa and Tallinn.
Dallas/Ft. Worth International Airport is supporting Virgin America's application before the US Dept. of Transportation for authority to begin operations. According to a statement, DFW is one of the airports being considered for service by the airline that plans to start operations later this year.
Air Canada will operate thrice-weekly Toronto-Shanghai service from June 16 aboard 286-seat A340-300s. Estonian Air launches four weekly flights to Barcelona from May 14. The carrier operates direct flights from Tallinn to 14 destinations throughout Europe. SN Brussels Airlines will launch twice-daily Brussels-Frankfurt service March 27 using RJ85/100 and A319 aircraft. Vueling will commence three new twice-daily services from its base in Madrid to Amsterdam, Lisbon and Milan Malpensa Feb. 20.
Prague will open its new Terminal North 2 this month. Beginning Jan. 17, the CZK10 billion ($419.9 million) facility will take over handling passengers bound for Schengen countries flying on CSA, Alitalia, KLM and Air France. From Jan. 24 the terminal switches to full operation, replacing Terminal South 2, which will be used for general aviation and special flights.
Spain will spend $3.5 billion over the next 14 years improving the eight airports in the Canary Islands, according to a Development Ministry statement cited by Reuters. The enhancements will include terminal extensions, new runways and more parking.
Spirit Airlines launched service yesterday from Dallas/Ft. Worth to its Ft. Lauderdale hub aboard two-class A319s. Copa Airlines launched a second frequency between Panama City and Santiago yesterday aboard a two-class, 124-seat 737-700. Wizz Air will begin four-times-weekly Zagreb-London Luton service on March 27.
Austrian Airlines Group announced yesterday that it plans to start scheduled services to Erbil in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The twice-weekly service will be operated with A319s from March 9 and will increase to three flights per week in May.
Singapore completed its new Budget Terminal for low-cost carriers at Changi. The facility, which will open in March, is 25,000 sq. m. in size, or about a tenth as large as Terminal 1 at Changi. The name of the terminal was selected through a naming contest that drew 12,000 entries, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore.
Qantas launched thrice-weekly Sydney-Beijing service yesterday. The carrier said it intends to operate daily service to Beijing and Shanghai "within two years" aboard two-class A330-300s and noted that the travel market between the countries has increased 22% in the past year. It flies to Shanghai four times weekly. AeroMexico will expand its Mexico City-San Diego service from two to four flights per week beginning Jan. 12. It is pulling service from Dallas/Ft. Worth on Feb. 5 ( ATWOnline, Jan. 9)
Gulf Air and Thai Airways signed a codeshare agreement covering Thai's services from Bangkok to Muscat, Phuket and Chiang Mai and Gulf Air's services from Bangkok to Bahrain and Muscat. Gulf Air VP-Network Fareed Al Alawi said the carrier will continue to expand into the Asia/Pacific region.
Smiths Detection announced yesterday the deployment of its Sentinel II explosives detection walkthrough trace portals at Washington National and Washington Dulles.
Vietnam will build a $158 million international airport on Phu Quoc island, according to media reports. It will open in 2008 and is expected to handle 2.5 million passengers per year.
Copenhagen Airport reduced its takeoff charge for cargo flights by 3% on Jan. 1 and introduced a cap on cargo flight charges to the first 200 tons. The new rate is DKK63.25 ($10.25) per 1,000 kg. or part thereof. It will rise to DKK63.90 in 2007 and DKK64.55 the following year.
Frontier Airlines mechanics, represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, approved a three-year labor contract. The agreement was reached in December and includes a 3% pay raise over the life of the deal, reinstitution of a company 401(k) match, increased pension contributions and other benefits, according to media reports. Separately, Frontier intends to begin serving five cities in Canada in late May, according to the Rocky Mountain News.
AeroMexico and Mexicana Airlines plan to end service from Dallas/Ft. Worth International Airport, according to media reports. AeroMexico, which has served DFW since 1994 and operates one flight per day to Mexico City, will cease operations Feb. 5. Mexicana will leave DFW Jan. 10. It flew once daily to Guadalajara, four times per week to Morelia and thrice-weekly to Zacatecas. AeroMexico codeshares with Delta Air Lines and was hurt by the latter's withdrawal from DFW last year.
Virgin Atlantic service increases from London include: To Mumbai from thrice-weekly to daily, to Shanghai from six-times-weekly to daily, to Cape Town from twice-weekly to thrice-weekly through Jan. 25 and to daily between Jan. 29 and March 25. It also will add a fifth weekly flight to Las Vegas in July and a sixth in September.
Qatar Airways and Saudi Arabian Airlines announced the signing of a "strategic codeshare agreement" to take effect Feb. 1 on the Dammam-Doha sector. Delta Air Lines will launch daily New York JFK-Sao Paulo service from July 1. It also will add service to New Orleans and Long Beach from its Salt Lake City hub. Atlantic Southeast Airlines will operate daily routes to New Orleans beginning Jan. 31 and SkyWest Airlines will run thrice-daily flights to Long Beach from March 6.
AirAsia is adding Ipoh, Tawau, Kota Bharu and Sandakan to its network from its Johor Bahru hub at Senai International Airport. New services start on Feb. 6. The LCC will operate four weekly flights to Ipoh and Tawau and thrice-weekly to Kota Bharu and Sandakan. It also is upping frequencies from Johor Bahru to 10 flights per week to Kuching, 11 flights per week to Kota Kinabalu and 10 flights per week to Penang. AirAsia launched service from Johor Bahru on Malaysia's southern tip in 2003 and is carrying 1 million passengers a year with just one aircraft.
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International has surpassed Chicago O'Hare as the busiest airport in the US, FAA said. ATL logged 980,197 takeoffs and landings in 2005 compared to 972,246 at ORD. Dallas/Ft. Worth International finished a distant third with 718,291. Growth at Atlanta largely reflects Delta Air Lines' increased activity there, while DFW's declining position similarly is a result of Delta's closing its hub last year.
