Air New Zealand has accelerated the purchase of a 15th domestic Airbus A320 to allow improvements to its Dunedin-Auckland schedule from March 2015 with the operation of an earlier direct return service between the two cities.
In 2004, airlines offered 7.7 million seats from Lisbon Airport but this rose to just under ten million seats last year, a 27.7 per cent rise. This year, based on existing published schedules, the airport will surpass the ten million figure for the first time with capacity set to rise 7.8 per cent.
This month Air China has added its latest US destination to its network after inaugurating flights between Beijing and Washington, its seventh destination in North America. The airline already offers flights from the Chinese capital to Honolulu, Houston, Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco in the US and Vancouver in Canada.
The two destinations join Dubai in the network of Cebu Pacific Air's long-haul division which flies Airbus A330-300s configured in an all-Economy, 436 seat arrangement.
With a focus on strengthening existing relationships with airlines and building new relationships with the broader business market and consumers, BAC’s Asian push signals a new era in the development of the airport as one of the growth gateways into Australia.
As new Prime Minister Narendra Modi promises to revive economic growth in India, Air India’s new position will improve India’s connectivity to high-growth economies and give Star Alliance members access to India’s vibrant domestic air market, says OAG.
Emirates has served Karachi since the carrier was founded in 1985, and in the past decade alone has transported over six million passengers on the route. The new service will boost the Emirates offering on the route to 14,185 seats each week, it confirms.
In the first change to the Philippine - Canada Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA) since December 2008, the two sides have agreed to increase the frequency entitlement for each side from seven flights a week to 14. Fifth freedom rights were also increased from four to five per week.
There has been a growing demand for air connectivity between China and the popular leisure destination with O&D demand rising massively over the past ten years from just 8,000 bi-directional passengers in 2004 to around 66,000 in 2013.
The initial tentative schedule shows the aircraft will operate twice daily on the Toronto - Halifax route from May 23, 2014 through to May 25, 2014 and then on various dates through to the end of June 2014. Alongside this domestic link, Air Canada also plans to use the aircraft on its flights from Toronto to Zurich (from May 25, 2014 to July 14, 2014) and London (from July 2, 2014 to July 13, 2014).
The flight will be operated using a four-class Boeing 777-300ER and will seek to take advantage of the strong business and leisure demand. Located right in the heart of Europe, Zurich is a top banking centre but is also the gateway to the scenic mountains and lakes of Switzerland.
The airline says the decision to close flights to these two destinations from the end of September 2014 is due to the “sustained weak performance of both routes”.
Our own analysis of MIDT data shows that last year around two thirds of the passengers flying with the airline from or to Auckland actually ended their journeys at other locations than Guangzhou.
