July has seen a number of start-up carriers taking shape across the world, including the proposed successor airline to the former national carrier of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Congo Airways, and Zimbabwe start-up, Rainbow Airlines.
Iberia says the improved economic outlook has led the airline to seek new opportunities both in its traditional markets and in new territories. Destinations now under study include Tokyo, Doha, Johannesburg, Toronto, Guadalajara, Managua, San Juan de Puerto Rico, Brasilia, and Asunción with flights to the selected destinations being launched in 2016 and 2017.
As well as a new route between Edmonton and Nanaimo, the Canadian carrier will increase frequencies on a number of routes including Regina, Grande Prairie, Kelowna and Saskatoon.
The Polish flag carrier will introduce two additional weekly frequencies to both Chicago and New York from late October 2016 as it aims to become the leading carrier in New Europe (Central and Eastern Europe).
Allegiant Air’s low-cost business model has allowed it to grow from one aircraft and one route 16 years ago, to offering access to low-cost, non-stop travel over 100 communities nationwide, more than any other domestic low-cost carrier. The airline operation is complement by the Allegiant Travel proposition that offers holiday packages alongside the flight options.
Aeromexico will launch a twice daily service between Queretaro International Airport, in the region of El Bajio, and Mexico City from October 1, 2015. This will be the only link between Queretaro and the Mexican capital, which are around 220km apart but around three-and-a-half hours by road.
Canada has concluded a number of new air transport agreements with Nigeria, Mali and Oman, which will allow Canadian airlines to better serve passengers travelling between Canada and these countries.
This is actually the third time that Star Alliance has welcomed a major Brazilian carrier into the grouping having previously had Varig alongside TAM Airlines as a former member and will once again open up Latin America’s largest country to the international flights of its member airlines with new connection opportunities via São Paulo’s Guarulhos International and Rio de Janeiro’s Galeão–Antonio Carlos Jobim International airports.
The proposed Eurowings link to Fort Lauderdale will be the first service from Cologne to Hollywood International Airport and only the second direct scheduled link from Germany alongside the seasonal offering of Condor from Frankfurt. Norwegian also links Fort Lauderdale to Europe with flights from Copenhagen, London, Oslo and Stockholm.
The flight will open up new more efficient import and export opportunities for local, national and international companies moving products to and from Western Canada. Edmonton is Canada's fifth-largest municipality and the capital of the state of Alberta is a key hub for the country’s oil and natural gas industry, with the city is known as ‘the oil capital of Canada’.
An official signing ceremony for the deal took place at the US Department of State on July 14, 2015 with Under Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment Catherine A Novelli joining Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Andriy Pyvovarsky in signing the formal Open Skies agreement.
The French national carrier will introduce the A380 to Mexico City from January 2016 on an initial three times weekly basis, substituting a Boeing 747-400 that presently serves the route. From March 2016 the A380 will operate on a daily basis, significantly boosting available capacity with a four class product offering - La Première, Business, Premium Economy and Economy.
US Treasury and Commerce Department officials are moving quickly to tear down regulatory barriers to American citizens’ ability to travel, conduct financial dealings and export products to Cuba, ending a 54-year-old American trade embargo against Cuba.
Central Asian country, Kazakhstan has announced that it will expand its visa-free travel program to 19 countries across the world – allowing visitors to access the country for a period of 15 days without a visa.
Despite being a high impact economic activity, a major job generator and key export sector, accounting for 6 percent of total world trade, tourism receives only 0.78 percent of the total Air for Trade disbursements and 0.097 percent of the total Official Development Assistance.
Australian airline, Qantas Airways has said it will resume flights between Sydney and San Francisco after Australian authorities gave approval for an expanded codeshare arrangement with American Airlines.
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.
This year has already seen JetBlue introduce flights from Fort Lauderdale to Albany, Baltimore, Cleveland, Detroit, Mexico City, Nashville and Philadelphia. These have quickly followed the launch of services to Jacksonsville, Los Angeles and Pittsburgh late last year.
Airline ancillary revenue has continued to grow for the eighth consecutive year, according to IdeaWorksCompany, who tracked 63 airlines and researched financial filings made by 130 airlines all over the world.
The network growth follows an increase in demand between the US and St Lucia, located in the eastern Caribbean Sea and part of the Lesser Antilles. According to arrivals data, visitors are travelling to St Lucia at a record pace with international arrivals from the US currently up nine per cent versus last year.
The three-times-weekly link will be operated with Air Canada’s ultra modern Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, and the new service will cut travel time between the two cities by five hours.
The state-run airline has proposed to fly three weekly flights each to San Francisco and Toronto from New Delhi with a Boeing 777-200LR aircraft, which is likely to be reconfigured to include more seating capacity, the airline has said.
