The carrier will be the first airline in the world to operate the A350 on scheduled services to China, as Shanghai will be served daily by the next-generation Airbus aircraft from October 25, 2015. Beijing will follow with daily A350 services to commence from November 21, 2015.
The new Guidelines on state aid in the aviation sector offer Member States a degree of flexibility in granting investment aid which they consider necessary for regional airports. In addition, operating aid may be granted for a transitional period of ten years to airports with fewer than three million passengers. Airports with up to 700,000 passengers may benefit from operating aid regardless of any transitional period.
The airline, part of the Volga-Dnepr Group, introduced a twice weekly connection to Nội Bài International Airport in Hanoi from its base at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo International Airport from April 1, 2015. The flights from Vietnam operate via Hong Kong and connect in the Russian capital to AirBridgeCargo’s wider network into Europe and the United States.
Wizz Air first launched operations in Poland in 2004 and has subsequently built up a strong presence in the country over the subsequent eleven years. As a result of these latest network additions it will now offer a total of 113 Polish routes to 20 countries from seven Polish airports.
The airline announced it would resume flights to Dublin last September when it also revealed summer 2015 network plans to reintroduce links between Helsinki and Athens and Malta. The Irish market was last served by the carrier in summer 2007 and it is now offering a six times weekly link through to the end of October 2015 using a 100-seat Embraer E190.
The base opening has enabled easyJet to introduce nine new routes to its Amsterdam network: Corfu, Dubrovnik, Hamburg, Ibiza, Nice, Olbia, Palermo, Toulouse, and Venice, bringing the total number of destinations it serves from the city to 29. Earlier this week, the airline also announced that it will start flying from Amsterdam to Milan Linate.
China Southern has previously revealed its intent to serve the European market with the 506-seat airliner but has faced opposition flying the jet out of Beijing due to regulatory procedures that prevent China’s big three state-owned carriers from competing with one another directly.
The airline will introduce a twice weekly connection between Budapest and Bologna from June 5, 2015 and a twice weekly link between Budapest and Glasgow from June 13, 2015. The latter service has been partly driven by recent surveys in which Hungarian consumers listed Scotland on top of their wish list for future routes from the carrier.
At Belfast in Northern Ireland, the airline’s winter schedule sees it increasing the number of seats for sale on routes to Gatwick, Luton and Stansted in London by more than 125,000, bringing the total number of seats to over 500,000 up to the end of February, 2016.
March has seen a number of start-up carriers beginning to take shape across the world, including Malaysian carrier Flymojo, and restart-up Greenland Express which is to resume operations in May.
The new service will commence from September 7, 2015 with up to three flights per day, departing early morning, lunchtime and late afternoon and timed to coincide with many convenient onward long-haul connections available through Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport hub.
The airline plans to increase its summer flight schedule for 2016, to include passenger flights to the Balearic Islands seven days a week, up to twice per day. Germania is also set to station a fourth aircraft at Bremen from 2016 to cater for increased demand.
Europe’s largest low-cost airline for Central and Eastern Europe will commence flights between the two cities from June 15, 2015, operating twice weekly.
The airline will offer a three times weekly link between Mahe and Paris Charles De Gaulle from July 1, 2015, using an Airbus A330-200, replacing the current twice weekly offering via the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Spanish carrier Vueling, and American Airlines have announced a new connection agreement, which will bring more long-haul passenger traffic to Barcelona.
Cathay Pacific introduced the link between Hong Kong International Airport and Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport in July 2010 and operated a three times weekly rotation using an Airbus A340-300.
The start-up will inaugurate flights on April 2, 2015 with a three times weekly links to Budapest and Prague, while three times weekly flights to the Italian destinations of Milan and Rome will follow from April 3, 2015.
Ryanair last week revealed it was in talks with manufacturers, with a view to ordering long-haul aircraft after its board approved plans to begin transatlantic flights. However, the carrier has subsequently said said no approval has yet been received to expand into the long-haul, transatlantic market, putting the erroneous information down to a “miscommunication”.
Air Serbia, the national airline of the Republic of Serbia recently launched its very own theme song, titled “The Wings of Europe”, especially dedicated to the carrier and its passengers.
France and Germany are leading a call for the European Union to ensure fair competition between EU airlines and those from the Gulf region, who are accused of receiving major state backing.
