Originally launched in May 2005 by Continental Airlines, United Airlines took over the link between Newark and Belfast International in April 2012 following the merger of the US majors and initially operated a full year-round offering. However, last winter it cut back capacity and suspended flights from early January and mid March this year. It had planned a similar capacity cut for the forthcoming winter season, but has now reversed this decision.
The investigations concern in particular marketing fees paid to Wizz Air by Cluj-Napoca International Airport and low airport charges offered by Târgu Mureş Transilvania Airport to airlines operating there. Furthermore, the Commission will also investigate subsidies by local authorities to the airports themselves.
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.
European low-cost carrier, Wizz Air has reported a record first quarter and has subsequently raised its profit forecast for the year by as much as €20 million.
The route to Spain’s third largest city will start on November 6 with four flights per week, which will increase to six per week for the summer 2016 season.
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).
This week, Balkan Holidays, one of the leading tour operators to Bulgaria, Croatia, Montenegro and Slovenia, has announced a new route between Glasgow and Varna for its Summer 2016 programme. The new summer service is Glasgow’s first direct connection to Varna and will operate once a week on a Saturday starting in May 2016.
Austrian Airlines has been serving Dubai since 1996 but the arrival of Emirates Airline into the Vienna market has meant it has been under pressure for some time. Although the European carrier upped frequencies to a more than daily schedule in the late 2000s and early 2010s, it has recently cut back its activities to match capacity to seasonal point-to-point demand.
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.
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.
SkyWork is initially offering a single morning weekday rotation between London City and EuroAirport (plus a Sunday rotation) from July 19, 2015, but from September 1, 2015 it will add an evening rotation and a Saturday service to boost its schedule to 12 flights per week. All flights offer a continuation service from EuroAirport to Bern.
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.
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.
From December 17, 2015, the airline will launch the weekly link to Rotterdam - Europe’s largest cargo port, operating every Thursday, with immediate connections to Sao Vicente, Praia and Boa Vista.
Durban will be Turkish Airlines’ third destination in South Africa after Johannesburg and Cape Town. The airline first introduced flights into the country with a three times weekly joint operation to Johannesburg and onward to Cape Town from its Istanbul Ataturk International Airport hub in September 2007 but has grown to offer a daily service on the route, currently flown using an Airbus A330.
In its ruling the Commission had concerns that the merged entity would have faced insufficient competition on several routes. The Commission also found that the merged entity would have prevented Aer Lingus from continuing to provide traffic to the long-haul flights of competing airlines on several routes and has requested the parties to address the Commission’s concerns on this matter.
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.
In an interview with the Chinese media following the arrival of the A330 in China, Xu Xin, chief executive officer, Beijing Capital Airlines said that over the next five years the carrier intends to purchase at least 30 widebody aircraft to open more international routes between Chinese cities and major overseas tourist destinations.
UK regional airline, Eastern Airways will increase services between Yorkshire-based airport, Leeds Bradford and Southampton with an additional mid-afternoon departure.
The move enables the carrier to maintain its network operations but without any Danish Collective Agreement, which would have restricted its operations from the Danish capital by making it difficult for the aircraft to refuel and arrangements to be made to handle aircraft, despite the airline’s pay and conditions for its pilots and cabin crew better than the standards set under the agreement.
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.
After the merger of Vilnius, Kaunas and Palanga Airports last year, the Lithuanian air gateways have witnessed a significant increase in passenger and flight volumes, sales and overall net profit over a year-long period.
British Airways has announced it will introduce its first Boeing 787-9 into its fleet in September 2015 and will initially deploy the larger Dreamliner variant on its route between London Heathrow and Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi, India from the start of the winter 2015/2016 schedule in late October.
