Alongside the point-to-point market, the expanded frequency will provide better connection options for travelers from the UK to a range of markets across West Africa, including Abidjan, Abuja, Cape Verde, Libreville, Malabo, Niamey, N’Djamena, Nouakchott, Ouagadougou and Yaoundé.
From July 2, 2014, Air Seychelles will operate two return services per week between Seychelles and Paris Charles de Gaulle via Abu Dhabi with an Airbus A330-200 aircraft, configured with 18 flat-bed Business Class seats and 236 Economy seats. The new Paris service will complement the existing double-daily services to Paris from its shareholder Etihad Airways.
The three new routes will boost the Jet2.com offering by over 35,000 seats at Leeds Bradford to around 1.3 million for summer 2015 and will grow its network to 48 destinations.
Although Norwegian had been serving Gatwick from various points across its network since October 2007 it only opened a base at London’s second largest airport in May 2013. It has already expanded its network to operate 375 weekly flights and 33 routes to and from the facility.
This latest announcement shows how the partnership between Virgin Atlantic and Delta Air Lines, which launched on January 1, 2014, is increasing the network of each carrier. Virgin Atlantic will now have access to Delta's Atlanta hub, the busiest airport in the world, for the first time, providing greater access for the carrier to offer connections through to points throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean.
Flybe has confirmed it will launch new daily links from Birmingham to Hamburg and Oslo from October 26, 2014 through to March 27, 2015, while its new summer 2014 flights to Bordeaux, Cologne, Florence, Oporto, Reykjavik and Toulouse will be extended through the winter season.
The flight will be operated using a four-class Boeing 777-300ER and will seek to take advantage of the strong business and leisure demand. Located right in the heart of Europe, Zurich is a top banking centre but is also the gateway to the scenic mountains and lakes of Switzerland.
These two new routes adds to the carrier’s existing service to Madagascar’s capital, Antananarivo, which has been operating since 2006 and further strengthen the airport's long-haul network and Marseille Provence’s position as the French airport with the most long-haul destinations away from Paris.
The route announcement comes eight years after Ryanair pulled out of Cardiff Airport after it ended an at least daily service from its Dublin headquarters in May 2006.
OAG’s analysis of which airlines will be taking Europeans on holiday this summer is outlined in its OAG FACTS (Frequency and Capacity Trend Statistics) report for May 2014.
Building on the momentum from last year, when 17 new destinations where added to the network, the airline has further cemented its commitment to enhance connectivity between different cultures.
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.
UK leisure carrier Thomas Cook Airlines is to launch new long-haul links to the United States from London Stansted, Manchester and Glasgow as part of its expanded summer 2015 programme. The long-haul growth will be supported by a major investment in upgrading its Airbus A330 fleet to offer a much higher level of comfort to Transatlantic passengers.
The confirmation of the return of the route will now place the carrier in direct competition with its local rival Air Europa which inaugurated its own operations between Madrid and Montevideo in June 2013 just three months after Iberia ended its flights.
The airline’s first flight as an alliance member departed the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo to the Kuala Lumpur hub of oneworld partner Malaysia Airlines on the morning of May 1, 2014.
Brussels will be Emirates’ 147th destination. The non-stop service will be operated by a Boeing 777 in a three-class configuration. Emirates will be the first international airline to offer a First Class product from Brussels to the Middle East and Asia.
The move to introduce these routes is part of the UK’s largest tour operator’s strategy to ensure customers across the UK can fly from their local airport. There are also frequency increases enabling customers more choice and the ability to book a mix of seven, ten, eleven or 14 night holidays rather than the existing week and fortnight options.
Cambridge is one of the UK’s fastest growing economic cities but its close vicinity to Stansted Airport means it has previously found it difficult to secure and sustain regular air services.
