Continental Airlines will begin daily nonstop flights between Los Angeles and Queretaro June 9 and will launch four weekly nonstop flights between Los Angeles and Durango June 9, increasing to daily July 2. Continental Express will operate both routes with ERJ-145s.
American Eagle will begin daily flights between Cleveland and New York JFK using 50-seat ERJ-145s; two daily nonstop flights between Mobile and Dallas/Ft. Worth using 44-seat ERJ-140s; two daily nonstop flights between Colorado Springs and Chicago O'Hare using 70-seat CRJ-700s, and daily nonstop flights between O'Hare and Nassau using CRJ-700s. All new flights will begin June 9.
Riga-based airBaltic said its revenues rose 54% in 2004 to €74.4 million ($96.1 million) but extraordinary costs associated with the investment in its new hub in Vilnius, fleet restructuring and the significant increase in fuel prices caused it to report an annual loss of €1.2 million. The carrier, which is owned jointly by Latvia and SAS, carried 589,288 passengers, up 75% over 2003, as it launched nine new routes from Riga and opened 11 routes from Vilnius.
Munich Airport formed a new subsidiary, MUC Ground Services Flughafen Munchen GmbH. The entity will begin ground handling operations before the end of summer and initially will employ 40 workers.
Bulgarian Transport Ministry chose Copenhagen Airports to overhaul and manage its two Black Sea airports, Varna and Bourgas, Reuters reported citing a source close to the ministry. The government plans to award a single 35-year concession for the two terminals to the selected investor.
US Transportation Security Administration said Miami International Airport will receive a new explosives detection trace portal to screen passengers at the Concourse E security checkpoint, becoming the tenth airport to participate in the pilot program.
Germanwings is planning to start new services from Berlin Schoenefeld to Moscow Domodedovo. It also is evaluating opening a fourth base in Germany and is considering Hamburg and Duesseldorf. It now operates from Cologne, Stuttgart and Berlin.
AirTran Airways will introduce service to Richmond, Va., from Atlanta and Philadelphia beginning June 23 with continuing service to Boson. It will operate four daily Richmond-Atlanta nonstops and two daily Philadelphia services. Beginning Nov. 8, Richmond will receive one daily roundtrip to Orlando as well. All service will be flown with 717s configured for 12 business class and 105 coach seats.
Air Luxor on April 9 began operating weekly seasonal service (through October) to Funchal and Faro from Paris, using A320 equipment. It already serves Funchal with two weekly flights to Paris.
EasyJet will add another aircraft to its Bristol base for a total of eight and introduce three new routes from the airport to Inverness, Murcia and Pisa. The daily flights will begin July 7. In the last 12 months easyJet has launched nine new routes from Bristol, making it the LCC's largest UK base outside London.
Continental Airlines formally submitted an application to the US Dept. of Transportation for approval to operate nonstop flights from Newark to Shanghai. If approved, Continental would introduce flights in March 2007 using a 283-seat 777. Earlier this year, Continental was approved by DOT as a new entrant in the US-China air market and awarded rights to launch daily service from Newark to Beijing ( ATWOnline, March 21). Those flights will begin June 15. The new flights became available under the US-China aviation agreement signed last July.
Menzies Aviation was awarded a new three-year cargo handling contract in Sydney from Asiana Airlines. The carrier currently operates daily 777-200 service to the Australian capital from Seoul.
In what it described as a further step in its "commitment to intra-European travel," easyJet announced that it will establish a new base at EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg this summer and launch five new routes from the airport.
Swissport International will expand its presence in Africa through two new collaborations. In Algeria, the company is establishing a joint venture with Arcofina Group with a goal of obtaining an airport ground handling license this summer. In Sudan, the company has completed a franchise agreement with MASS Aviation Support that should allow it to begin ground handling activities there in May.
If the European Commission has its way, the airport slot allocation process in Europe is set for a major overhaul to include much wider use of commercial mechanisms. Although a consultation outlining a range of proposals elicited a storm of protest from a broad cross-section of aviation interests, the EC remains determined to shake loose what some see as an ossified structure that protects incumbents at the expense of new entry and hurts competition.
US Dept. of Homeland Security this week initiated the US-VISIT Biometric Exit Pilot Program at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Under the program, foreign visitors departing from the airport will be asked to provide their two finger scans and stop for a photo as part of the project to test and evaluate an automated biometric exit process. The program has been operating for a number of months at Baltimore/Washington International, Chicago O'Hare, Denver International, Dallas/Ft. Worth International and Miami International airports.
Skyguide has completed a massive reorganization of the airspace around Zurich Airport with new holding areas and approach and departure routes that will go into effect April 14. The company stressed that the move was politically motivated. "Skyguide has built a new airport in Zurich," CEO Alain Rossier said. "Virtually all that is left is the concrete on the runways; in the air, everything has been altered or adapted." According to Skyguide, the key element of the reorganization is the transfer of holding areas from southern Germany over Swiss territory.
Swissport International is expanding its network by launching passenger handling operations in Rome and Milan in May. Under current plans, the company said it initially will begin station management, supervision and airport ticketing services at Rome Fiumicino and Milan Malpensa. It also said that as part of an agreement in place with Swiss International Air Lines, it will be taking over Swiss's entire ground organization at Milan and Rome.
Estonian Air launched new twice-weekly service from Tallinn to Milan. The airline will operate a third weekly flight on the route from June to September.
