Despite being affected by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, SVP of network Wolfgang Reuss believes airBaltic is on track to top 3 million passenger this year.
Charting the resurgence of air transport in markets around the word, Routes looks at the easing of travel restrictions in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
This week: Thai AirAsia is adding its first flight to China from Chiang Rai; HK Express to resume Okinawa; and Turkish Airlines plans to introduce additional service to Azerbaijan.
The introduction of the sub-brand will enable AZAL to compete with both full-service and the developing low-cost market in the country. Turkish Airlines’ affiliate Anadolu Jet already operates flights to the regions of Azerbaijan and from the end of this month Wizz Air will resume flights between Budapest and Baku.
The new non-stop link between Doha and Yerevan will commence from May 15, 2016 with a four times weekly service being flown using an Airbus A320 configured in a two-class arrangement with 12 seats in Business Class and 132 in Economy Class. The new route is understood have been facilitated by Qatar Airways’ network expansion across the US, a market which has strong links back into Armenia, but with limited current connectivity.
The airline, part of the Silk Way Group, first introduced flights between Heydar Aliyev International Airport in Baku and Budapest in March 2014 but strong demand for goods in and out of the European market has seen it switch from the 53-tonne capacity 767-300F to the 113-tonne capacity 747-400Fs.
Etihad Airways treated delegates to an engaging presentation at the 20th World Route Development Forum Strategy Summit, outlining the carrier’s expanded network by the end of 2015, writes Jonny Williamson for The HUB.
AZAL plans to launch a twice weekly service between Baku’s Heydar Aliyev International Airport and New York’s John F Kennedy International Airport using a 237-seat Airbus A340-500 but will likely deploy its Boeing 787 Dreamliners on the route; the first of two is due for delivery towards the end of this year.
During the past couple of days we have been in conversation with many delegates during Routes Silk Road in Tbilisi, Georgia and here are some of the snippets of information we picked up from our discussions.