Just as its aviation heritage developed, Belfast has bloomed as a destination from very humble beginnings after starting out as a small hamlet with fertile land along the mouth of the Lagan. It is now emerging as a developing business and leisure destination as it moves away from its historic industries such as shipbuilding to develop as a centre for the arts, higher education, business, and law.
April has seen a number of start-up carriers taking shape across the world, including AtlasGlobal’s Ukranian subsidiary, Atlasjet UA, and Canadian Ultra Low-Cost Carrier (ULCC), NewLeaf Airways.
Icelandair’s existing Tuesday and Saturday schedules will be complemented by Monday and Thursday rotations from February 2016 and will not only open up new opportunities of travelling to and from Iceland but also across to North America on the airline’s growing network in Canada and the United States from its Keflavik International Airport.
Located on the crossroads of Europe and Asia, Georgia is a historical and hospitable country, which is a gateway connecting several important economic regions including Europe, the Newly Independent States (NIS), Turkey, the Caucasus as well as Central Asia. As a geographical centre of gravity, air traffic has been consistently moving towards east and south, and this trend is expected to continue into the future.
According to airport operator Hermes Airports, the operations of Transavia in Cyprus, is a result of the coordinated actions of the company in collaboration with the stakeholders of the tourism industry of the country and will help contribute to the efforts to increase the tourist flows into Cyprus from mainland Europe.
The number of aircraft movements at Den Helder Airport has risen over the past few years to more than 23,000 per annum. The airport provides forty to fifty flights per day, mainly to the 130 oil, gas and service platforms in the Dutch sector of the North Sea and on average 140,000 passengers, mainly offshore personnel, pass through the facility every year.
Turkish Airlines has been granted permission to carry air cargo from Shannon to Chicago, starting immediately, and will become Ireland’s only direct all-cargo service to North America.
The Australian-backed business submitted an application for a Cypriot Air Operator’s Certificate to the Department of Civil Aviation last week and has already registered as a local company on the island, according to sources in Cyprus, although it could take three to four months for the legislative process to be followed and the airline secure final approval for its launch.
Central and Eastern European low-cost airline specialist, Wizz Air, will slightly modify its existing model by introducing a second aircraft type to its fleet later this year. While maintaining the one fleet family concept, the budget carrier has switched 26 of its outstanding orders for the A320, for the larger A321 variant and will place the first aircraft into service in the last quarter of this year.
The new four times weekly Košice – Kiev service will launch on May 18, 2015 and will operate as an extension of the carrier’s existing Prague – Košice offering. This will mean passengers flying between Prague and Kiev will remain on the aircraft while the 144-seat A319 makes a 30 minute stopover in the Slovakian city to collect and drop off passengers.
According to the airport’s chief executive officer, John Holland-Kaye, there are more than 30 airlines currently seeking access to London Heathrow, an issue that will only be overcome with further expansion at the heavily slot constrained facility.
Speaking at the Routes Strategy Summit in Aberdeen, Jochen Schnadt, Principal and Managing Director, Latitude Aviation, put the UK aviation landscape under the microscope, and highlighted what he thought was wrong with the UK aviation strategy.
The rise of the Gulf Carriers has become a major talking point in the aviation industry, with many arguments that the big three have an unfair advantage on the European market.
TUI UK’s summer 2016 growth continues the UK’s largest holiday company’s strategy to ensure customers across the UK can fly from their local airport and stay at the best hotels in some of the most exciting destinations.
Speaking at the Routes Europe Strategy Summit in Aberdeen, a panel including representatives from Transavia France and Vueling as well as Budapest Airport and OAG, discussed low-cost carriers and their position in the European market.
Cork Airport’s level of connectivity, which is the highest outside of Dublin, the country’s largest air gateway, is crucial in generating more trade, drawing more foreign direct investment as well as attracting more tourists. And, given the airport’s significant role in the local economy, its managing director, Niall MacCarthy has called for more local support.
Although low-cost carrier Wizz Air has a major base in Budapest it believes there is sufficient demand to offer schedules from Debrecen, despite being just two hours away from the capital city by road.
Niki said at the time the flights were announced that it believed there would be sufficient demand for the short flights, which despite a 25 minute block time were estimated to be just ten minutes in length. The majority of this demand would have been to feed its wider network from Vienna International Airport, according to the carrier.
Ryanair opened the Copenhagen base at the end of last month as it continues to develop its network offering from primary airports to support business as well as leisure demand. It is initially stationing a single Boeing 737-800 at the airport but expects a further three aircraft to arrive over the course of the year to support its network expansion.
The decision of three major European operators to depart the AEA shows the dispute between Europe and the Gulf carriers is clearly heating up. It is a very rare move that a key member of an EU trade association withdraws, but for three of its membership to leave shows significant concern at its abilities to fulfil its role.
The market from Europe to Puerto Rico is currently massively underserved, with a significant percentage of indirect passengers already flying between the two markets. In the past 12 months this market size was an estimated 150,000 passengers, with 87 per cent having to travel indirect due to the current limited direct offering across the Atlantic.
Although Belgium represents the 6th source market for Tenerife with 2.7 per cent of the total tourists travelling each year to the island, they also represent the 4th source market and account for 4.7 per cent of tourists staying in 5-Star hotels, according to visitor information.
The arrival of the second A380 on the Doha- London route from July 1, 2015 reinforces Qatar Airways’ presence in the United Kingdom, with six flights a day between the two cities in addition to daily direct services from Doha to Edinburgh from May and double daily services to Manchester. The three-class aircraft will be operated on the ‘QR001/002’ flight.
Ethiopian Airlines is moving its European hub to Dublin Airport from next month which will see the airline transit 10 transatlantic flights per week through the airport to destinations in the US and Canada.
