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.
To cheers from the airports included in the latest growth, David Harvey, Managing Director Business Development revealed additional daily frequencies on six domestic routes, seasonal extensions in six markets and the launch of flights on seven new routes.
Deliveries are scheduled to begin in late 2019 and extend to 2022. The first 25 aircraft on delivery will replace Air Canada's existing mainline fleet of Embraer E190 aircraft, with the incremental aircraft supporting Air Canada's hub and network growth, bringing numerous network development opportunities.
This new non-stop charter service will depart every week between March 24, 2016 and August 25, 2016 operating every Thursday. It will be operated by its partner carrier Swift Air using a 150-seat Boeing 737-400.
Latin American airline holding company Grupo Viva is to formally launch its first Viva Airlines business next month, its Chief Executive Officer Joe Mohan revealed to Routesonline at this year’s Routes Americas forum in San Juan, Puerto Rico ahead of his keynote address to delegates. The start-up will commence operations in the third quarter of 2016 using leased Airbus A320 equipment, but will not be domiciled in Costa Rica as had been previously suggested.
There’s a new political landscape for Latin America, but their remains plenty of challenges ahead. That was the view of David Appleby, Director, Latin America & the Caribbean Routes and ASM at UBM EMEA when Routesonline spoke to him on the opening day of this year’s Routes Americas forum in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Air France's two locally domiciled Airbus A320s fly between Pointe à Pitre, Fort de France, Cayenne, Port au Prince and Miami, operating more than 30 weekly flights between these regional economic centers.
The airlines that are members of ALTA are some of the biggest players in Latin America – including the flag carriers of Argentina, Mexico and Colombia. Of the ten reporting members, many have either increased capacity on existing routes or have expanded their networks within the last 12 months.
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.
The project, led by CAAi, will be delivered in partnership with the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and over its 13-month contract period will see the UK CAA support the Ministry of Transport, Communication and Tourism (MTCT) of Suriname in the implementation of a modernised legal and institutional framework for civil aviation.
This Routes Americas edition of our occasional ‘Flashback’ series has been produced by our Airline Route blog to highlight the transition of air services at Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport, the largest airport in the Caribbean region and gateway to San Juan, Puerto Rico and host of this year’s forum.
The memorandum of understanding, signed on February 16, 2016, allows airlines of each country to operate up to 20 daily scheduled frequencies between the US and Havana and up to ten daily frequencies to any other airport in the country (Camaguey, Cayo Coco, Cayo Largo, Cienfuegos, Holguin, Manzanillo, Matanzas, Santa Clara and Santiago de Cuba). It also permits unlimited charter services to and from any point in Cuba in accordance with the regulations of each country.
San Juan is unlike any other Caribbean market because it has significant outbound travel. With an estimated five million Puerto Ricans living on the US mainland, there is a thriving ‘visiting friends and family’ market. Puerto Rico has the most competitive economy in Latin America and the pharmaceutical and aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) industries generate substantial outbound traffic. A strong cruise industry means that Puerto Rico benefits from a year-round aviation market with very little seasonal variation.
Should Southwest be granted permission to serve the Long Beach route, it would be the fifth airport in Greater Los Angeles on the airline’s route map. It currently flies to Los Angeles International, Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, John Wayne Airport in Orange County and Ontario International Airport.
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.
An estimated 250,000 passengers a year are flying between India and Ethiopia with almost 90 per cent of the demand in the first half of 2015 taking advantage of Ethiopian Airlines’ pan-African network to connect via Addis Ababa’s Bole International Airport.
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.
Throughout 2016, associations like IATA are working towards a fairer and improved economy within the region and Peter Cerda, Regional Vice President for Americas at IATA, explained to Routesonline just ahead of this year’s Routes Americas why airlines and governments must work closer together.
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.
Aviation has changed beyond recognition over the past 20 years, a period which the Routes events brand has helped facilitate air service development across the world. The company grew out of a need in a more open landscape for airports to market themselves to airlines. Over time, tourist boards joined the dialogue as the benefits of aviation connectivity became clear.
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.
Over the last decade, the city has emerged as an important passenger and cargo destination for the airline in the Indian sub-continent. Since the start of its operations, it has carried over two million passengers on the route and moved up to 105,000 tonnes of cargo in and out of Thiruvananthapuram.
