The German flag carrier has acquired the modern generation airliner to replace its older, less-efficient, four-engined A340-600s on scheduled routes from its Frankfurt and Munich hubs. It has ordered a total of 25 A350-900s and continues to plan the deployment of the remaining 15 aircraft.
With a partnership in place with Jet Airways, Gulf carrier, Etihad Airways has announced a more than 60 percent increased on full-year passenger traffic to and from India.
Air cargo demand has been subdued by a tough global economic environment, feeble world trade and a slowdown in China’s economy. Consequently, global airfreight volumes experienced a modest growth of 2.2 percent in 2015, a slower rate compared to 2014, with all major regions recording weakness in airfreight traffic, according to data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
The Gulf carrier is both the world’s strongest and most valuable brand, with an increase of 17 percent from 2015. Emirates brand value is weighted at $7,743 million.
An estimated 250,000 passengers a year are flying between India and Ethiopia with almost 90 per cent of the demand in the first half of 2015 taking advantage of Ethiopian Airlines’ pan-African network to connect via Addis Ababa’s Bole International Airport.
Aviation has changed beyond recognition over the past 20 years, a period which the Routes events brand has helped facilitate air service development across the world. The company grew out of a need in a more open landscape for airports to market themselves to airlines. Over time, tourist boards joined the dialogue as the benefits of aviation connectivity became clear.
A change of aircraft – Airbus 330-200 to A330-300 – will see an increased capacity on the Beijing - Manchester route, set to launch later this year. The new aircraft will be able to carry 292 passengers: 32 in Business Class and 260 in Economy.
Hainan Airlines filed an application with the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) in November last year for rights to introduce the first regular flight between China and Alberta. There are already direct links between Beijing and Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver; Guangzhou and Vancouver; Shanghai and Toronto and Vancouver and Shenyang and Vancouver.
The current longest route in the world is the Qantas operation between Sydney and Dallas Fort Worth. For a long time, Singapore Airlines had held the position of operating the world's longest scheduled flight, however, the closure of its non-stop links from Singapore to Los Angeles and New York after its retirement of its Airbus A340-500 fleet earlier this decade, has meant the Pacific connection of Qantas Airways between Sydney and Dallas, a 16 hour 55 minute, 8,500+ mile journey, took over as the longest commercial passenger route.
The airline’s current three times weekly Jakarta – London Gatwick operation, which acts as a continuation of flights from the Indonesian capital to Amsterdam, will grow to a five times weekly schedule when the move to Heathrow takes place from March 31, 2016 as it draws on SkyTeam alliance transfer flows via the hub airport to bring additional passenger flows onto the city pair.
Since Dragonair became a wholly owned subsidiary of Cathay Pacific in 2006, it has added 23 new destinations and the number of passengers travelling across both carriers has grown five times to more than seven million in 2015. The combined annual passenger number of the two airlines grew from 22 million to more than 34 million last year.
Asian carrier, Korean Air will operate three return services between Glasgow and the South Korean capital, Seoul during August 2016. This charter contract will be a gateway to over 1,000 South Korean tourists visiting Scotland and could provide a platform for a longer series of flights next year.
The new routes will support the growing demand for travel between Japan and Manila, a popular year-round destination with a wide selection of shopping, leisure activities as well as vibrant arts, entertainment and gaming. The flights are also expected to meet demand from Japanese travellers, and Filipino expatriates residing in Japan as well as Filipino holiday-makers or those visiting family members.
This latest growth adds to a significant focus on its international activities in 2015. Daily services from Narita and Haneda airports to Houston, Kuala Lumpur, Brussels and Sydney were launched within the last 12 months, in order to meet the growing demand at Narita for international transfers between North America and Asia, and at Haneda for international-domestic connections.
Dubbed the ‘Capital Express’ route, Singapore Airlines will introduce a four times weekly schedule on Singapore – Canberra – Wellington, subject to final regulatory approval and will be operated with a 266-seat retrofitted Boeing 777-200 fitted with 38 Business Class and 228 Economy seats.
Have you wondered what enticed an airline to a certain destination? What the data says about demand on the city pair and connecting markets? What external factors may have influenced the airline in selecting a specific city pair? How this business case differs from others?
The oneworld alliance member will introduce a three times weekly service between Madrid and Tokyo from October 18, 2016. The Madrid – Shanghai route, also expected to be flown three times weekly, will commence from a similar time, but Iberia is still awaiting final approval from Chinese authorities and slots at Pudong International Airport before opening reservations.
Scoot, a subsidiary of Asian full-service carrier, Singapore Airlines will be expanding its network over the next four years as it introduces additional 787s – both -8s and -9s – into its fleet. These are due to arrive at a rate of two aircraft per year over this period and the airline is exploring expansion opportunities across Asia-Pacific as well into Africa, the Middle East and Europe.
The latest UNWTO World Tourism Barometer highlights that growth in advanced economy destinations (up five per cent) exceeded that of emerging economies (up four per cent) in 2015, boosted by the solid results of Europe (up five per cent). By region, Europe, the Americas and Asia and the Pacific all recorded around five per cent growth in international arrivals in 2015, while the Middle East increased by three per cent while Africa saw an estimated three per cent decrease, mostly due to weak results in North Africa, which accounts for over one third of arrivals in the region.
Hong Kong-based HK Express is taking a leading role in the formation of the new U-FLY low-cost carrier grouping, which it describes as a game-changer for the airline industry and which will work to make travel more affordable and accessible than ever before. It will be joined by Kunming-based Lucky Air, Urumqi-based Urumqi Air and Chongqing-based West Air and others could follow in the future.
The A350 will primarily be deployed on the airline's long-haul routes to Europe, Australia and the United States, enabling China Airlines to offer its passengers non-stop service on ultra-long routes. However, it will initially operate in local markets for crew familiarisation.
Have you wondered what enticed an airline to a certain destination? What the data says about demand on the city pair and connecting markets? What external factors may have influenced the airline in selecting a specific city pair? How this business case differs from others? Our new ‘Route Case’ offering will seek to provide the answers all within a single 20 minute meeting slot at our events.
According to OAG schedule data, ANA has accounted for more than a quarter (25.1 per cent) of all 787 flights since the aircraft’s debut offering almost 30 million Dreamliner seats (29,435,351 as of January 13, 2016).
