Germany’s second biggest airline, Air Berlin, will downsize their current fleet by 40 aircraft. Eurowings will receive 35 aircraft, whereas Austrian Airlines will receive five.
Following news this summer of a further 2.2 billion Euros funding being made available for Berlin Brandenburg Airport’s new terminal’s construction, Germany’s airports are largely optimistic for the future. Here's the view of Düsseldorf Airport.
An estimated 240,000 two-way passengers a year are currently flying between Europe and Fort Myers, according to MIDT data for 2014. The German market accounted for 54.4 percent of this demand ahead of the United Kingdom and Switzerland – the only other country markets to have annual flows of more than 10,000 passengers.
The Asian carrier has configured the A350-900 in a 253-seat arrangement across three classes – 42 in Business, 24 in Premium Economy and 187 in Economy. It currently has orders for 67 A350-900s having placed an additional order for four aircraft last year. Seven of these will now be delivered with an Ultra-Long Range capability for flights of up to 19 hours.
Etihad currently operates five 787-9s serving the markets of Brisbane, Washington, Singapore and Zurich from its Abu Dhabi International Airport hub. The type will become the UAE national carrier’s flagship long-haul aircraft in the coming years with a further 66 aircraft due to be delivered.
Subject to regulatory approval, the new ‘SQ338’ will depart Singapore on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays at 23:30 (local time), with the return sector, operated as flight ‘SQ337’, departing Düsseldorf on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays at 11:30 (local time). Although launching with a three times weekly schedule, the carrier says it intends to increase frequency at a later date.
Although not formally confirmed by the airline, Cathay Pacific plans to offer a four times weekly link between Hong Kong International Airport and Madrid’s Adolfo Suarez-Barajas Airport from June 2, 2016 and will be flown using a three-class Boeing 777-300ER.
The twice-weekly service will operate on Wednesdays and Sundays from May next year to the German city which is located in the centre of the Rhine-Ruhr region – Germany’s largest metropolitan area.
Turkish airline, SunExpress has recently announced its plans for a total of 21 new routes for the summer 2015 season, with departures mainly from Antalya, Dalaman, Izmir and Konya.
These new flights will strengthen links to key markets in France and Germany for business and leisure passengers in the South West of England, further enhance the airline’s growing base at Bristol Airport and at the same time providing passengers with a convenient local alternative to the London airports.
The airline, part of the Lufthansa Group, has been forced to cancel a number of its domestic and European short-haul routes as a result of the walkout by the Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) union which has failed to reach an agreement on working contracts for its members with the Lufthansa Group.
Beginning September 1, 2015 and subject to government approval, the service will operate four-times weekly to Dusseldorf - the international business and financial centre in Germany.
airberlin is already the prominent carrier serving Sylt Airport and in 2013 had a 79.7 per cent share of capacity from the facility, also known as Westerland, a well-known part of the municipality of Sylt. This year, following a reduction in Lufthansa’s schedule to the island, the airberlin share has grown to 85.8 per cent.
The Abu Dhabi-based airline’s first Airbus A380 will operate commercially to London Heathrow from December 2014, while its first Boeing 787-9s will debut on routes to Düsseldorf from December this year and then to Washington DC and Mumbai from January 2015.
