Kurt Hofmann interviewed Mark Schwab in Rio de Janeiro in December, where the Alliance celebrated the opening of a dedicated lounge at Rio’s Galeão–Tom Jobim International Airport. Schwab joined Star from United Airlines in 2011. He retires Jan. 1 and will be succeeded by COO Jeffrey Goh.
Airbus launched the A380 a decade ago with high hopes for the rise of the super jumbo, but demand is dwindling. So what now for the future of the ultra-size market?
The new routes will connect the countries directly, boost bi-directional tourism and establish an important link for trade and business between Hungary, Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania, Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina. In compliance with the public service obligation rules, all five markets will be served on a twice weekly basis with flights commencing the first week of April 2017.
An announcement last month that LOT Polish Airlines will return its direct long-haul service between Kraków and Chicago from July 2017 after a seven year absence provides a fitting end to what will certainly be remembered as one of the most successful years in the airport’s history.
An influential UK parliamentary committee has described as “a fiasco” the building of an airport on the remote UK South Atlantic possession of St. Helena. The airport has been discovered to be unusable to commercial flights by wind shear on the approach.
UK regional carrier Flybe has named the former head of Irish regional CityJet, Christine Ourmieres-Widener, as its next CEO and has secured slots to launch services from London Heathrow.
The flights from Aberdeen and Edinburgh to London Heathrow will be Flybe’s first ever scheduled flights into the UK’s largest airport and the world’s second largest international gateway, and will complement the carrier’s well-established London City flights from the two Scottish airports.
Passengers at 18 UK airports face potential disruption over Christmas weekend, as more than 1,500 check-in staff, baggage handlers and cargo crew, represented by the Unite union, are set to stage a 48-hour strike beginning Dec. 23 after a long-running pay dispute.
Star Alliance members SAS Scandinavian Airlines and Singapore Airlines (SIA) are expanding their codeshare cooperation as part of a joint venture (JV) agreement that was signed in 2012.
Germany’s Lufthansa Group and Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Aviation Group have finalized a codeshare deal and wet-lease agreement for 38 airberlin Airbus A319/A320 aircraft operating for Eurowings and Austrian Airlines.
JetBlue Airways is eyeing potential transatlantic route opportunities from Boston, based on comments made by executives during a Dec. 13 investor day in New York.
Low-cost carrier (LCC) Norwegian has announced a major increase in flights from Germany for its 2017 summer timetable, offering five new routes from Düsseldorf and three from Hannover.
Steven Small has been appointed brand director of Routes with responsibility for heading the events business in Manchester, UK, and setting its future strategic direction.
Having lived in the shadow of Icelandair’s effective European and North American network strategy since it launched services in 2012, WOW air has now exploded into the low-cost transatlantic market with a network that covers almost 30 destinations in Europe and North America. And having grown capacity by over 90 per cent in 2016, it expects to continue its rapid rise as the low-cost long-haul model continues to stimulate traffic across the Atlantic.
Montreal-based Air Canada and Brisbane-based Virgin Australia will implement the first stage of a codeshare agreement in early 2017, the two carriers announced Dec. 14.
