Government actions have meant that within the past year, eleven of the 24 airlines operating in Venezuela have reduced operations between 15 per cent and 78 per cent while one has stopped flying to the country altogether.
Under its revised Dallas schedule, Virgin America will move its existing links to Dallas/Fort Worth International from Los Angeles and San Francisco to the downtown airport from October 13, 2014 and will add multiple daily links with Chicago, New York, Washington DC.
In its formal application for an Exemption and Foreign Air Carrier Permit, Dreamjet confirms it plans to offer an all-Business Class service between Paris and Newark from the second half of June 2014 but has plans to expand its transatlantic network and “possibly add flights” from other European cities in the future.
US ultra low-fare carrier, Spirit Airlines, has announced it will expand its domestic to offering into Kansas City with the launch of five new routes this summer with daily flights to Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Houston and Las Vegas from August 2014.
The majority of the eleven widebodies will be sourced from International Lease Finance Coporation (ILFC) and will enable earlier delivery slots than if they had been acquired directly from the manufacturer. The lessor will supply three A330-200s from 2014 and the five A350-900s in 2017.
The new Pittsburgh – Fort Lauderdale route will increase the flight options in and out of Florida for those in Allegheny County and will bring competition to the existing at least daily Southwest Airlines offering on the route.
Alaska Airlines introduced service to Mexico in 1988 and operates more non-stop flights between the US West Coast and Mexico than any other carrier, flying an average of 1.5 million passengers a year.
WestJet Airlines continues to study the introduction of widebody aircraft into its fleet, but an executive of the carrier revealed in this year’s Routes Europe Strategy Summit in Marseille, France that the carrier has never been closer to formalising a deal.
Air France last week introduced a new three times weekly link between its Paris Charles de Gaulle hub and Brasília International Airport in Brazil’s capital city. The service commenced on March 31, 2014 and is operated by a Boeing 777-200 equipped with 309 seats.
As SAS Scandinavian Airlines celebrates the 50th anniversary of its first scheduled flight to Chicago, host city of this year’s World Routes forum in September 2014, the carrier has revealed it is to boost its flights to the Windy City, while also adding frequencies to other markets in the US.
Dublin Airport is set for another record-breaking year for transatlantic traffic in 2014. Last year, a record 1.9 million passengers travelled between Dublin and North America, but this total is likely to be eclipsed this year, with new routes to San Francisco, Toronto and St John’s, Newfoundland.
United will initially introduce the aircraft on its route between Chicago O’Hare and Ronald Reagan Washington National from May 17, 2014 before launching the aircraft on its Chicago O’Hare – Boston Logan International link two days later on May 19, 2014.
This new Brisbane link will be operated up to three times a week during the peak season with two weekly services in the off peak and will bring competition to the existing Hawaiian Airlines non-stop service on the route.
SAS Scandinavian Airlines is to launch a new direct transatlantic connection between Stavanger and Houston from August this year in partnership with premium airline operation specialist PrivatAir.
