During the past couple of days we have been in conversation with many delegates during Routes Silk Road in Tbilisi, Georgia and here are some of the snippets of information we picked up from our discussions.
Turkish Airlines Splits Baltic Services
Turkish Airlines is to introduce dedicated services to the Baltic capitals of Tallinn, Estonia and Vilnius, Lithuania from its Istanbul Ataturk Airport hub from the start of the winter schedules in late October 2014. The carrier currently serves these markets with a triangle routing which was introduced from June 2013. It will offer a four times weekly service between Istanbul and Tallinn using an Airbus A319 and a five times weekly link between Istanbul and Vilnius using a Boeing 737-800 from October 26, 2014 The airline is the sole carrier to serve both routes.
Azerbaijan Airlines to use A340-500 to Antalya
Azerbaijan Airlines has over the past couple of days introduced its Airbus A340-500 on its route between Baku and Antalya to meet seasonal demand. The aircraft operated the service on July 6 and again today (July 8) and the type is scheduled to fly the routing on at least two further dates in the coming weeks – July 13 and August 5. The carrier operates flights four days a week on the route normally using type’s varying from the Embraer 190 up to the Boeing 757.
Aeroflot to Boost Miami Operation During Winter Schedule
Russian national carrier Aeroflot will introduce an additional weekly rotation between Moscow Sheremetyevo and Miami during the forthcoming winter 2014/2015 schedule. The fourth weekly service will be launched from December 19, 2014 and like the existing three flights will be operated by an Airbus A330-200. The SkyTeam alliance member introduced the route in October 2012.
Uzbekistan Airways Returns to Kiev
Central Asian carrier Uzbekistan Airways is to resume services to Ukraine’s capital city, Kiev from next week following a short-term suspension due to the political instability in the Eastern European country over the past months. The airline will introduce a twice weekly operation from Tashkent from July 15, 2014 using a Boeing 757-200. Meanwhile, it has emerged that Ukraine International Airlines is also looking to introduce flights on the route from next month on a twice weekly basis.
UTair Introduces 767-300 on Leisure Routes
Russian carrier UTair has debuted its recently acquired first Boeing 767-300s on leisure routes from Moscow Domodedovo. The two former Air Astana aircraft have been acquired on lease from International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC) and were delivered in mid-April and early May this year. Configured in a single-class, 336-seat arrangement they are being initially used on routes to Antalya, Barcelona and Hurghada, as has become clear with the sensational media coverage this past weekend of a go-around involving one of the aircraft at Barcelona last week.
Air Astana Delays Bangkok Launch
Kazakhstan carrier Air Astana has put back the launch of its flights between Astana and Bangkok by seven weeks. The twice weekly route was due to commence from October 26, 2014 but latest updates to the airline’s GDS listing shows a delay until December 14, 2014. The carrier is due to operate a Boeing 767 on the route.
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