Emirates launched operations between its Dubai International Airport hub and Washington’s Dulles International Airport in September 2012 initially utilising a 777-200LR, but switching to the larger 777-300ER from February 2013. Analysis of MIDT data shows just 16.1 per cent of demand during this six month period was local traffic, with transfer traffic via Dubai accounting for a massive 81.9 per cent of passengers (including 1.2 per cent in bridge traffic also connecting via Washington).
AirAsia X is planning to add Auckland, the largest and most populous urban area in New Zealand, as a tag on its existing daily Kuala Lumpur – Gold Coast service and is expected to open reservations this week. It previously served Christchurch, the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand but closed the route after just 15 months of operation.
The new routes will commence from the start of the summer schedules in late March 2016 with the introduction of twice weekly flights to both John Lennon Airport in Liverpool and Keflavik International Airport, serving Reykjavik from March 27, 2016 and a weekly flight to Ibiza from June 18, 2016 to September 17, 2016.
NewLeaf will offer an unbundled travel service for leisure travellers with low base fares and numerous add-ons for passengers to tailor their itineraries depending upon what extras such as checked baggage allowance, inflight meals etc, that they require.
The airline will introduce an additional two weekly flights, growing its offering to 21 return services per week. However, notably the two services will result in a Virgin Australia Embraer 190 night-stopping in Newcastle for two nights each week and the introduction of a later evening departure from Brisbane and new early morning flight from Newcastle.
The low-cost carrier will initially position a single Boeing 737-800 at Belfast International Airport to support the London Gatwick operation, a route that it will directly compete with easyJet. A further two aircraft will be stationed at the airport later in 2016 to introduce five more routes for the winter season from October 2016.
The second flight will complement the carrier’s existing A380 service on the route with a mid-afternoon departure from the UAE and a late night departure from the US. The carrier says it will serve the growing customer demand for travel between Dubai and western United States, as well as for those passengers connecting to Emirates’ vast global network of onward destinations.
Ahead of this year's Routes Americas forum, Routesonline is providing a snapshot on the leading airlines and airports and most used aircraft types across the region. Here we look closely at the airlines serving South America and highlight the region's top performers.
Although it likely to be a couple of decades before the transport project is completed, subject to financial backing, a new high-speed connection between Helsinki’s Pasila station with Ulemiste station in Tallinn will impact travel dynamics between the two cities with single fares of around €36 (£26) being suggested in promotional literature.
Analysis of MIDT data shows that over 1.5 million O&D passengers a year fly in and out of Iran from/to Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. The market between the UAE and Iran is the largest at an estimated 1.35 million annual passengers, with around 100,000 annual passengers in the other markets.
Etihad Airways, a minority shareholder in German carrier airberlin, will still be able to put its code on a number of the German carrier's routes, but the court ruling means a temporary injunction granted last November, permitting the two airlines to continue all their codeshare flights through January 15, 2016 will end on that date.
This SuperJumbo commitment is understood to be linked to ANA Holdings’ successful sponsorship of a rescue bid for fellow Japanese carrier Skymark Airlines. The latter had an outstanding commitment for the A380 and Airbus was among its largest creditors with a sizeable voice in deciding a rescue package for the airline.
Emirates has opened reservations for a new daily flight linking its Dubai International Airport hub with both Mactan–Cebu International Airport and Clark International Airport (formerly the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport) from the end of March 2016. The flight will operate on a triangular basis and will be flown using a two-class Boeing 777-300ER
To date, passenger traffic between the major cities of Dar es Salaam and Nairobi, which have a combined population of over eight million people, has been limited by high air fares which we believe, have excluded large parts of the local population from air travel. The only alternative to flying is to undertake a long and difficult journey by road, which can take up to 12 hours.
Fiji Airways, Fiji’s National Airline, has announced plans to commence seasonal twice-weekly direct services from Nadi to San Francisco starting June 2016. The flights, operating in June, July, August, December 2016 and January 2017, will depart from Nadi International Airport to San Francisco International Airport on Thursdays and Sundays.
Under a water cannon salute provided by Atlanta Fire and Rescue vehicles, and in front of hundreds of guests, dignitaries and fellow passengers, Delta Air Lines Flight 1256 made history at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on the morning of December 27, 2015. The flight from Gulfport, Mississippi carried the airport’s 100 millionth passenger in 2015, marking the first time ever an airport served more than 100 million passengers in a single year.
The carrier will start operating the A350 XWB commercially in January 2016 between Sao Paulo and Manaus, Brazil, as part of continued training and crew familiarisation. This will be followed by operations from Sao Paulo to Miami in March and then to Madrid in April.
Monarch will introduce flights to Lisbon from the start of May with a three times weekly link from London Gatwick from May 3, 2016 and a three times weekly service from Manchester from May 5, 2016. Madrid will be added to its network from June 17, 2016 with the start of a four times flight from Birmingham, which will be followed just days later by a new four times weekly link between Birmingham and Lisbon.
The signing of this important agreement by US Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx and his Mexican counterpart Gerardo Ruiz Esparza took place at Mexico’s embassy in Washington last week. Although the exact details of the agreement have not been revealed, it is likely to end all restrictions on the number of carriers allowed to operate on routes between the two countries ending the current restriction to just two carriers from each country.
Star Alliance partners Brussels Airlines and United Airlines have moved quickly to partly fill the void left following Jet Airways’ decision to close its scissor hub at Brussels Airport from spring next year. The main gateway to the Belgian capital city is a key European gateway for the airline grouping and accounts for around 52 per cent of the departure capacity.
The introduction of flights to Amsterdam is a logical growth for Aeromexico. Alongside the strong trading relationship between Mexico and the Netherlands, the route will feed into the SkyTeam hub of KLM providing additional connections within Europe and complement its existing offer with fellow alliance partner Air France via Paris.
