It has been a busy few weeks at Belfast International Airport as leisure carrier Jet2.com, low-cost carrier Wizz Air and low-fare giant easyJet have launched new air services or expanded their schedules from Northern Ireland’s largest air gateway. But the airport is still working hard to further improve Northern Ireland access as its strong delegation at this year’s Routes Europe in Aberdeen, Scotland, UK showed.
The hosting of Routes Europe in the Northern Ireland capital, Belfast, in April 2017 will bring significant benefits to the city, country and entire Ireland, said Minister Arlene Foster, head of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment in the Northern Ireland Executive at the formal announcement of the 2017 edition of the forum.
Just as its aviation heritage developed, Belfast has bloomed as a destination from very humble beginnings after starting out as a small hamlet with fertile land along the mouth of the Lagan. It is now emerging as a developing business and leisure destination as it moves away from its historic industries such as shipbuilding to develop as a centre for the arts, higher education, business, and law.
April has seen a number of start-up carriers taking shape across the world, including AtlasGlobal’s Ukranian subsidiary, Atlasjet UA, and Canadian Ultra Low-Cost Carrier (ULCC), NewLeaf Airways.
Icelandair’s existing Tuesday and Saturday schedules will be complemented by Monday and Thursday rotations from February 2016 and will not only open up new opportunities of travelling to and from Iceland but also across to North America on the airline’s growing network in Canada and the United States from its Keflavik International Airport.
Located on the crossroads of Europe and Asia, Georgia is a historical and hospitable country, which is a gateway connecting several important economic regions including Europe, the Newly Independent States (NIS), Turkey, the Caucasus as well as Central Asia. As a geographical centre of gravity, air traffic has been consistently moving towards east and south, and this trend is expected to continue into the future.
All Nippon Airways (ANA) has announced that it will become the first Japanese airline to introduce the Boeing 787-9 on international routes, beginning service on its Haneda – Munich route from May 5, 2015.
The airline plans to launch operations on May 30, 2015 with a special Boeing 737-800 passenger charter between its Miami International Airport base and Baltimore Washington International. This will be an ‘Honor Flight’ transporting World War II and Korean War era veterans from South Florida to Washington and back.
The new venture will complement the existing operations into Jordan with the introduction of regular scheduled flights to Kuwait from May 18, 2015 with services to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia following from May 19, 2015; Erbil, Iraq from May 20, 2015 and Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt from May 21, 2015 and more destinations are due to be added later in 2015.
According to airport operator Hermes Airports, the operations of Transavia in Cyprus, is a result of the coordinated actions of the company in collaboration with the stakeholders of the tourism industry of the country and will help contribute to the efforts to increase the tourist flows into Cyprus from mainland Europe.
The number of aircraft movements at Den Helder Airport has risen over the past few years to more than 23,000 per annum. The airport provides forty to fifty flights per day, mainly to the 130 oil, gas and service platforms in the Dutch sector of the North Sea and on average 140,000 passengers, mainly offshore personnel, pass through the facility every year.
Turkish Airlines has been granted permission to carry air cargo from Shannon to Chicago, starting immediately, and will become Ireland’s only direct all-cargo service to North America.
The Australian-backed business submitted an application for a Cypriot Air Operator’s Certificate to the Department of Civil Aviation last week and has already registered as a local company on the island, according to sources in Cyprus, although it could take three to four months for the legislative process to be followed and the airline secure final approval for its launch.
The airline is lobbying for an increase in air traffic rights which will give it the option of daily flights to Sydney and Melbourne as well as servicing Brisbane and Perth.
This summer marks the fourth summer since Japan and the Republic of China (Taiwan) signed an Open Skies agreement. At the time it was hailed by tourism bodies and academics as a breakthrough agreement. Three years on, aviation intelligence provider OAG has highlighted how has it has changed the options for flying between the two countries.
Central and Eastern European low-cost airline specialist, Wizz Air, will slightly modify its existing model by introducing a second aircraft type to its fleet later this year. While maintaining the one fleet family concept, the budget carrier has switched 26 of its outstanding orders for the A320, for the larger A321 variant and will place the first aircraft into service in the last quarter of this year.
The Allegheny County Airport Authority has confirmed OneJet will introduce flights from Pittsburgh International Airport and Milwaukee from May 4, 2015 and Indianapolis from May 11, 2015. The links will be flown by OneJet’s regional operating partner, Pentastar Aviation, using 7-seat executive Hawker 400 jets.
The new four times weekly Košice – Kiev service will launch on May 18, 2015 and will operate as an extension of the carrier’s existing Prague – Košice offering. This will mean passengers flying between Prague and Kiev will remain on the aircraft while the 144-seat A319 makes a 30 minute stopover in the Slovakian city to collect and drop off passengers.
According to the airport’s chief executive officer, John Holland-Kaye, there are more than 30 airlines currently seeking access to London Heathrow, an issue that will only be overcome with further expansion at the heavily slot constrained facility.
Speaking at the Routes Strategy Summit in Aberdeen, Jochen Schnadt, Principal and Managing Director, Latitude Aviation, put the UK aviation landscape under the microscope, and highlighted what he thought was wrong with the UK aviation strategy.
The rise of the Gulf Carriers has become a major talking point in the aviation industry, with many arguments that the big three have an unfair advantage on the European market.
TUI UK’s summer 2016 growth continues the UK’s largest holiday company’s strategy to ensure customers across the UK can fly from their local airport and stay at the best hotels in some of the most exciting destinations.
