This week: Air Astana’s new low-fare unit FlyArystan set to expand its network; Lucky Air to serve second point in Russia; and Air Italy to resume service to the Maldives.
Four of the top six fastest-growing major airlines in the world over the past year were low-cost carriers, new research by Routesonline has found, highlighting their ongoing disruptive force on the industry. The analysis reveals the ten carriers which have grown their capacity the quickest.
As 2017 draws to a close, Routesonline looks at some of the biggest stories making the headlines this year. Part one of our review of the year features the US travel ban, Norwegian's expansion, Chinese low-cost carrier Lucky Air's ambitious plans and an interview with Etihad's chief executive Peter Baumgartner.
Lucky Air is among the members of the HNA Group’s U-FLY low-cost alliance and its rise into the intercontinental market could represent the arrival of a new breed of Chinese low-cost, long-haul operations. The airline has requested rights from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) to introduce flights from its Yunnan province base to both Los Angeles and Moscow.
In its nine years of operation as a HNA Aviation group subsidiary, Lucky Air has developed its network to cover more than 40 destinations across 21 Chinese provinces with a fleet of approaching 25 aircraft. It now serves 61 routes and handled 5.67 million passengers last year.
The airline has already introduced a new cabin uniform, but will now extend this revised look to the livery on its fleet of aircraft, at the same time replacing its long-standing Bird logo with a new symbol highlighting its Chinese origin.
