Manchester Airports Group

Athens, Manchester and Milan could be set for new routes to China if the latest applications to the Civil Aviation Administration of China are given the green light.

This week: SAS targets football traffic, ASL Airlines France adds Belgrade route, and Pobeda to open first service to Belgium.

This week: El Al to resume its Tel Aviv – Manchester route; Oman Air adds European destination; and Ernest Airlines continues Ukraine expansion.

On the first anniversary of the demise of Monarch, Routesonline looks at what happened to the routes operated by the UK leisure carrier at the time of its failure and how the market reacted.

This week: Virgin Atlantic expands US routes from Manchester and Laudamotion adds Jordan to its network.

This week: British Airways adds Marrakech from Heathrow; Manchester secures Mumbai link; Delta resumes New York JFK – Orange County.

Our top five stories on Routes Weekly: WOW's Indian expansion; China to relax international regulations; strong half for easyJet; UAE and US deal; Ethiopian adds Manchester and more.

Jet Airways is to launch a new route between Manchester and Mumbai, the first non-stop service between the two cities.

This week: Air China to start Chengdu-London route, Wizz Air continues its Debrecen expansion and Ethiopian adds a second UK destination.

Ethiopian Airlines is to operate a four-times-a-week service from Addis Ababa to Manchester Airport at a time when capacity between the UK and Africa is increasing.

This week: American Airlines expands in Latin America; Hong Kong Airlines resumes Manila and VLM returns to Manchester.

Ahead of Routes Europe 2018 in Bilbao, Routesonline provides a snapshot of Spain’s leading international airlines and airports, as well as the most used aircraft types on international flights.

Hainan Airlines looks set to increase the number of services it operates to the UK and Ireland following a series of new route applications.

Low-cost carrier Ryanair is to further expand its capacity from Manchester Airport this summer with the launch of ten new routes. It comes as new research reveals the UK airports which have enjoyed the largest passenger growth over the past year, with Manchester among the front-runners.

A deal has been agreed for a 50 percent rise in the number of flights allowed between the UK and China, a move which is set to increase the number of routes from regional airports.

Take-off and landing slots at London Gatwick, Manchester and Birmingham that were previously controlled by collapsed carrier Monarch Airlines are set to be reallocated to other airlines after administrators lost a legal bid to retain them.

KPMG is to seek a judicial review after it emerged Monarch could be stripped of its take-off and landing slots, thought to be worth about £60m.

Routesonline looks at what went wrong at collapsed British airline - from terrorist attacks to fierce competition from low-cost carriers.

With more than 23,000 arrivals and departures expected, airports across the UK are readying for a record August bank holiday weekend.

From May 2017, BA CityFlyer will begin summer-only direct flights from Manchester to the popular Spanish sunspots of Alicante, Malaga, Ibiza and Palma, the Greek island of Mykonos, Nice in the South of France and a weekly service to London City Airport, which will facilitate the transfer of the aircraft in and out of Manchester.

European low-cost carrier Norwegian is set to open four new operational bases – two in the US and two in Europe – in 2017 to support the growth of its long-haul transatlantic network. The internal go-ahead for the expansion follows the final approval late last week by the US Department of Transportation for a foreign carrier permit for the airline’s Norwegian Air International business.

With the south of England facing capacity constraints, Stephen Turner of Manchester Airport Group believes his airport is in pole position to secure more long-haul routes.

Valencia has made a route to New York its number one target, the city’s tourism body has exclusively told Routesonline.

The airport serving the British Overseas Territory has experienced an influx of passengers during the summer months, mainly due to increased services from existing carriers. A new record was set in August, with 60,360 passengers handled.

Under the new Air Service Agreement passenger flights can now increase from the current maximum of 40 per week for each nation to up to 100. There will be no limit on the number of all-cargo services, creating new opportunities for trade and businesses. A restriction on the number of destinations that airlines can serve has also been lifted, meaning services can be operated between any point in the UK and any point in China. Up until now, airlines could only serve six destinations in each country.