When it comes to Europe, particularly across the East, low cost carriers have dominated the industry. But the boom certainly isn’t over just yet. Last year, we witnessed Ryanair become the number one airline operating from Poland, after overtaking the national carrier LOT Polish Airlines and with predictions that European low-cost carriers (LCCs) will continue to outgrow their full service airline rivals, what can we now expect from the region?
Already this year, Europe has seen a significant increase on passenger traffic across its airport networks, with figures showing January 2016 grew by an average of +6.3%. With passenger growth expected to be a continuing trend, airport hubs across the continent must now adapt to meet these new demands.
The year round, four times weekly service to Aberdeen is Icelandair’s second gateway in Scotland, and sixth in the UK. The new route was announced after the city successfully hosted last year's Routes Europe.
The growth in passenger numbers is expected to continue in 2016, as eleven new scheduled services have already been announced for this year, including new direct transatlantic services to Hartford Connecticut, Los Angeles, Newark and Vancouver. There are also new long-haul charter services to Cancun in Mexico and Montego Bay in Jamaica.
Philippine Airlines will configure its A350-900s with a premium three class layout and plans to operate the aircraft on non-stop flights from Manila to the US west coast and New York, as well as on services to new destinations in Europe. The aircraft will enable the carrier to operate non-stop service on the 8,000 nautical mile Manila – New York route all year round with a full passenger load.
The air service development team at Dublin Airport have identified a number of unserved markets in Asia that can sustain regular scheduled flights to the Republic of Ireland’s capital city and are attending Routes Asia in Manila, Philippines to fill these network gaps. It particularly sees a notable role for Asia’s Star Alliance members at Dublin Airport having grown the number of airline members using the airport from this summer.
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.
BRA, an acronym for the operator and also the Swedish word for ‘good’, will bring together the operations of Malmö Aviation, Golden Air and the six airlines of Sverigeflyg (Gotlandsflyg, Kullaflyg, Blekingeflyg, Kalmarflyg, Flysmåland and Sundsvallsflyg. Together they will form Sweden’s largest domestic carrier by destinations served with an approximate market share of 30 per cent.
daa International, a subsidiary of daa – the Irish airport management company – has been chosen to operate the new terminal at King Khalid International Airport, Riyadh. The multi-million euro contract will see daa International manage and operate the new Terminal 5 facility.
At airport management company, ANA - Aeroportos de Portugal, the positive fortunes of the country are clear to see. The Portuguese business group responsible for the management of airports in Mainland Portugal, in the Azores and Madeira, as well as facilities in other countries, handled 38.9 million passengers across its Portugal network in 2015, up 11.4 per cent on the previous year. All airports within the ANA Group reported record annual results during 2015.
The German flag carrier has acquired the modern generation airliner to replace its older, less-efficient, four-engined A340-600s on scheduled routes from its Frankfurt and Munich hubs. It has ordered a total of 25 A350-900s and continues to plan the deployment of the remaining 15 aircraft.
The Gulf carrier is both the world’s strongest and most valuable brand, with an increase of 17 percent from 2015. Emirates brand value is weighted at $7,743 million.
The new winter schedule will see Condor offer 52 flights per week into the Caribbean from the German markets of Frankfurt and Munich, as well as from Vienna in Austria.
The UK’s Birmingham Airport has started the year on a high recording a healthy nine percent passenger growth rate year-on-year for January 2016 and the busiest January on record. Last month the Midlands airport handled a total of 666,681 passengers, 55,000 more than the same month the previous year.
Initially developed under the working title ‘Sunline’, the long-haul operator is expected to be officially launched next month and is likely to serve a network on leisure markets from Paris Orly, including destinations in Canada, USA, Mexico and the Dominican Republic.
This new slot pair has been reportedly purchased from Air France-KLM and will provide an early morning scheduling option for the Middle East carrier and allow it to introduce a second daily rotation on the Muscat – London city pair.
The new Tallinn - Edinburgh route will certainly stimulate demand in a market that currently see around 2,500 indirect passengers a year. However, when this city pair was previously served by low-cost carrier Ryanair on a three times weekly basis between January 2011 and the end of the summer, generating just under 30,000 annual passengers, according to UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) data.
The sale of TNT Airways and Pan Air is conditional on the completion of FedEx’s intended acquisition of TNT, expected in the first half of the calendar year.
This growth represents a notable change in the network strategy from the state-controlled airline and sees it using the additional capabilities of E-Jet to support market opportunities. Although these initial four return flights are a test, they could lead to a longer schedule next summer or even additional new markets.
The new routes will launch from May 28, 2016 and will operate on a weekly schedule with flights to Ibiza, Malaga and Palma on Saturdays and Faro on Sundays. These are all markets currently served by BA from at least two other London airports – City and Heathrow, while Ibiza, Faro and Malaga are also served from Gatwick.
Rome is the airline’s largest destination in an Italian network that also includes Catania, Milan, Olbia, Palermo, Pisa and Venice. During the summer 2016 schedule it will account for 64.7 per cent of the airline’s total departure capacity in Italy, according to OAG data, offering around 520,000 seats in and out of Rome.
A change of aircraft – Airbus 330-200 to A330-300 – will see an increased capacity on the Beijing - Manchester route, set to launch later this year. The new aircraft will be able to carry 292 passengers: 32 in Business Class and 260 in Economy.
