US major, American Airlines is to grow its network into Mexico, the Caribbean and Latin America later this year, further strengthening its position in these key regions. Alongside the new routes, American will also reinstate its link between New York's John F. Kennedy Airport and Simon Bolívar International Airport in Caracas, Venezuela, a service that was ended as the Venezuelan government withheld funds from airline ticket sales.
Among the early customers for the 747, Air France was one of the largest operators of the type in the world flying four major variants of the aircraft and more than 70 aircraft over five decades of scheduled service. It has now reduced its fleet to just five 747-400s having replaced the type with more efficient 777 and larger A380 equipment.
Over a twelve-month period, preliminary data shows a growth rate of 5.1 percent year over year, with both international and domestic traffic posting strong growth rates of 5.8 percent and 4.5 percent respectively.
The growth into Belize with regular flights to Philip S W Goldson International Airport in Belize City, will add a second destination in Central America, a seventh country, and the 96th city to the Southwest route map.
The latest schedule update from the airline includes the introduction of new non-stop services from Calgary to Terrace and Nanaimo; from Vancouver to Comox; from Toronto to Austin and from Montreal to Mexico City. Air Canada is also switching its existing Toronto-Kelowna and Toronto-Sydney, NS services to Air Canada rouge due to the high volumes of leisure traffic on the routes, while Air Canada rouge will also introduce a new domestic seasonal link between Calgary and Halifax.
In its application to the US DOT, JetBlue says it intends to offer a twice daily link to Mexico City’s Benito Juárez International Airport from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and a daily service from Orlando International Airport. Both routes will be served with 150-seat Airbus A320 equipment.
