International Airlines Group (IAG) has confirmed its new low-cost long-haul business will operate under the LEVEL brand. The airline will launch from Barcelona from June 1, 2017 with flights to Buenos Aires, Punta Cana, Los Angeles and Oakland International using two Airbus A330-200s configured with a premium economy and economy onboard offering.
Colombian flag carrier Avianca will launch the only scheduled non-stop link between South America and Boston's Logan International Airport when it inaugurates a new four times weekly link from its El Dorado International Airport hub in Bogotá from the start of June 2017.
After reviewing and restructuring its operations at the start of the decade and reducing its network by around a third between 2011 and 2013, Frontier returned to growth in 2014 with a year-on-year capacity rise of 9.8 per cent. This was followed by a 6.9 per cent growth in 2015, while last year brought a 16.2 per cent increase as the airline took the opportunity to expand, adding six ‘new’ markets to its network.
The confirmation of this deal follows extensive discussions between the management of Aer Lingus and its parent company International Consolidated Airlines Group (IAG) over the growth of the Dublin-based carrier’s long-haul network and the value IAG places in Ireland’s growing hub at Dublin Airport, one of fastest growing transatlantic departure markets of the current decade.
Flights between Japan and Hawaii represent a highly competitive market - around 1.5 million Japanese travel to Hawaii annually, with airlines enjoying consistently high load factors. ANA’s use of the Superjumbo on this route shows it is seeking to increase significantly its share of this lucrative market. It has even unveiled a colouful special livery for its first aircraft featuring the Hawaiian green sea turtle – a symbol of good luck and prosperity in Hawaii.
While all operators to date have adopted the standard nine-abreast arrangement initially detailed by the carrier in its catalogue, Air Caraïbes has selected a dense ten-abreast configuration with a seat width of just below 17 inches, enabling it squeeze more returns out of the aircraft. This additional seat in each Economy row will mean the carrier’s A350-900 will seat just short of 400 passengers - 389 passengers in a three-class configuration (18 in Business, 45 in Premium Economy and 326 in Economy).
As low-cost carrier Jambojet once again seeks rights to fly internationally from Kenya, we explore its growth plans and also look at the potential for new non-stop flights into USA after the US Department of Transportation (DOT) delivers a clean safety review for Kenya.
As widely expected, European low-cost carrier Norwegian will introduce its new Boeing 737MAX fleet into operation on flights between the UK and Ireland and the United States of America. The budget airline will offer 38 new weekly transatlantic flights this summer from Edinburgh, Belfast, Cork, Shannon and Dublin serving ten routes.
Latest data from the organisation’s membership shows global passenger traffic grew 7.3 per cent in December 2016 and 5.5 per cent for the year as a whole. All regions except Africa posted growth in passenger volumes for the year, ranging from 2.2 per cent in the recessionary Latin America-Caribbean region to over 9.0 per cent in the buoyant Asia-Pacific and Middle East regions.
The new Montreal – Tel Aviv route will operate twice weekly from June 22, 2017 to October 16, 2017 and flown with a 292-seat Airbus A330-300. It is part of Air Canada’s strategy to strengthen its hub at Montreal’s Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport and follows last month’s announcement by leisure carrier Air Transat of its own plans to serve the Montreal – Tel Aviv market.
Orlando Sanford is only the second US airport currently served by Surinam Airways, adding to its historical flights into Miami, a destination it now serves non-stop from Aruba, Georgetown and Paramaribo. It introduced its flights between Guyana and Orlando Sanford in July 2015 and operated schedules again in summer 2016, although no non-stop availability is currently displayed for summer 2017.
While New York’s John F Kennedy International and Newark’s Liberty International airports grab the headlines about international connectivity into the city, the downtown LaGuardia Airport plays a critical role in supporting strong domestic flows in and out of the Big Apple.
Aeromexico is the latest addition to the airport’s roster of air carriers, with flights to Mexico City beginning April 1, 2017 and flights to Monterrey starting May 1, 2017, coinciding with the busy summer travel season. In January 2017, Southwest Airlines resumed its weekend service to Orlando. Additionally, Spirit Airlines will add service to Oakland and Seattle this spring, while United Airlines will begin direct flights to and from San Francisco this summer.
During the peak summer season in 2016, Dublin Airport had 48 flights per day to and from 12 cities in the United States and five Canadian destinations. Last year Aer Lingus launched three new transatlantic services - to Los Angeles, Hartford, Connecticut and Newark and Air Canada Rouge launched a new Vancouver service.
Denver International Airport were announced as the overall winner of the Routes Americas edition of the Routes 2017 Marketing Awards which were formally announced during the Networking Evening event which took place in Las Vegas, USA.
Southwest’s expansion into the international market from Oakland International comes as the airport enhances its facilities to handle a significant increase in international traffic during 2017. Work is well underway to modernise and expand the International Arrivals Building for US Customs & Border Protection services, and is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2017.
Canada’s 150th anniversary is the ideal time to visit a vast country that offers something different at every turn, yet the surprises don’t extend to the downtrodden aviation industry that may soon see its fortunes change.
A new president offers potential for change and the US, Florida’s tourist board and some of its airports remain hopeful that Donald Trump will not impinge on their ongoing business of growth. Here's the view of Visit Florida.
A new president offers potential for change and the US, Florida’s tourist board and some of its airports remain hopeful that Donald Trump will not impinge on their ongoing business of growth. Here's the view of Tampa International Airport.
A new president offers potential for change and the US, Florida’s tourist board and some of its airports remain hopeful that Donald Trump will not impinge on their ongoing business of growth. Here's the view of Greater Orlando Airport Authority.
US airlines are in a period of surging profits due to low oil prices, consolidation and strong demand. But with the arrival of a new US administration, long-standing issues such as infrastructure and a failure to develop secondary and tertiary airports, is everything positive?
Aeromar Airlines boss Andres Fabre has pledged that President Trump's plan to build a wall on the Mexican border will not derail his efforts to get the business back on track. In a spotlight interview session at the Routes Americas Strategy Summit in Las Vegas this week, Fabre said an ongoing fleet rollover to modern ATR turboprops, a growth in capacity through larger aircraft variants and opportunities to grow a network into the southern states of the United States of America (USA) will provide the platform to deliver a profitable return for the carrier.
According to USTA’s research, in two-thirds of US states air service quality and convenience is worse today than in 2007. Nearly 60 per cent of US airports have lost connectivity over the last decade; and Roger Dow set out how USTA aims to tackle this.
JetSMART made its formal request for an air operator certificate to the Chilean Civil Aviation Authority in January 2017 and will reveal more about its plans, including its operational base once this process has been completed. It remains tight-lipped over its development but is expected to serve a network covering domestic and regional international services.
America’s carriers have recovered well and are enjoying good profits and are growing in strength. How will they continue to ensure long term profits with a number of disruptors waiting in the wings? Who will be the winners and losers?
