The two new seasonal flights between New York and Birmingham and Edinburgh will be launched from May 7, 2015 and will be operated using a 182-seat Boeing 757-200 configured with 22 Business Class and 160 Economy seats. Both flights will operate under a codeshare arrangement with British Airways through their joint transatlantic business.
According to Ryanair, the first aircraft is due for delivery in March 2015 and will be used to introduce routes to London, Milan and Warsaw, with three more units due to arrive later in 2015. These will be used for an additional ten more new routes which will be announced in the New Year.
Dortmund is the 2nd destination from Sibiu after the London Luton service began operations on 14 June. The service is initially to operate twice weekly, with one of its Airbus A320 aircraft.
The carrier has been presently focussing on charter and ACMI work but will begin to dip its toes back into the scheduled market using a mixed fleet of Fokker 50 turboprops and two Sukhoi Superjets after signing deal to become European launch customer for the long-range SSJ100LR.
The new business will operate with a small fleet of around four Boeing 737-800s transferred from its parent and will initially fly from Moscow to Belgorod and Volgograd in the European part of Russia, to Kazan and Samara on the Volga River, to Yekaterinburg and Ufa in the Urals Federal District, and to the Siberian cities of Tyumen and Surgut.
Scotland’s largest airports made a joint submission yesterday (28th October 2014) to the Smith Commission calling for Air Passenger Duty (APD) to be devolved to the Scottish Parliament.
The confirmation of the new route follows years of discussions between the management of Newcastle International Airport and various US partners to establish a scheduled westbound long-haul link to the US to support its highly successful Emirates Airline flight to Dubai.
Leeds Bradford Airport yesterday welcomed Aer Lingus on its inaugural flight from Dublin and released information about a new shuttle service with Flybe during their winter schedule.
The Greek airline has released its summer 2015 schedule to include a total of 38 new routes. The Star alliance carrier initially released 23 new routes in September, followed by a further three at the beginning of October and an additional 12 today (October 20, 2014).
Although Jota Aviation plans to initially establish its jet operations with the single BAe 146-200 it is already looking to the future and could even add a second aircraft before the end of 2014, although more likely in summer 2015, with a third example also an option for next year.
Amsterdam is already one of easyJet’s most successful network points with more than 3.5 million passengers flying annually to and from 21 destinations. It revealed earlier this year its plans to open a base at Schiphol Airport to further strengthen the airline’s long term strategic position at the airport, where it now holds a nine per cent market share having first introduced flights back in 1996.
SWISS International Airlines will be adding 20 new Zurich routes as well as launching a new-look cabin on its European Airbus fleet from November 2014 onwards.
The airline will introduce new routes to Alicante and Naples (a new market and return of a former destination) and boost frequencies to Dalaman and Faro as it offers 28 weekly flights from Leeds Bradford to ten sun and city destinations across Europe during the summer 2015 schedule.
Air services between Europe and Edmonton, the capital of the Canadian province of Alberta and a developing cultural, governmental and educational centre, have been limited over recent years and the introduction of this additional transatlantic connection will help facilitate the growing long-haul demand for travel to and from the city.
The new link will provide the first regular link between East Africa and Dublin and will mark the return of flights between the Irish capital and Los Angeles, a market last served by Aer Lingus in November 2008. This will strengthen Ireland’s connectivity to the west coast of the United States, with California a major market for Irish tourism.
UK leisure carrier Jet2.com, the largest operator at Blackpool Airport, has already revealed it will move its entire operation to Manchester Airport from October 10, 2014, while Aer Lingus Regional and Citywing will maintain services to Dublin, Belfast City and the Isle of Man until the closure of the airport on October 15, 2014.
Icelandic carrier WOW air is to launch a new year-round link between Reykjavik and Dublin from next summer. The three times weekly route will commence on June 2, 2015 and will be the first scheduled service between the two cities.
Virgin Atlantic will end the Little Red flights, operated on its behalf by Aer Lingus, during summer 2015. The London Heathrow – Manchester route will close at the end of March 2015 and the links from the UK capital to Aberdeen and Edinburgh at the end of September 2015.
