India is still failing to address capacity issues and high fuel prices despite a recent rethink of the country’s aviation policy. Speaking at a Routes Talks Focus on India, Mumbai International Airport CEO Rajeev Jain said the new Civil Aviation Policy has failed to address the fundamental problem of ensuring there is enough space for the country’s aviation sector.
Vietnam's low-cost carrier Vietjet Air is helping to stimulate the nation's air transport connectivity to position it as the fastest growing market across the region. With a low air travel presentation the opportunities for growth are extensive, Jay L Lingeswara, deputy director commercial, strategy and planning at VietJet Air told delegates in the first of today's Routes Talks sessions at Routes Asia.
There are differing views over the value of alliances to the world’s airlines and an increasing view that traditional global airline groupings are no longer the best fit for the changing structure of the sector.
The Asian Pacific region is the most in danger of missing out on passenger growth thanks to its congested airports, said Vijay Poonoosamy, vice president international affairs in the office of the president and CEO of UAE carrier Etihad Airways.
Indian full-service carrier Vistara hopes to take advantage to changes in air service regulations to launch international flights within the next year, its chief strategy and commercial officer, Sanjiv Kapoor, confirmed during a panel discussion at the Routes Asia Strategy Summit in Okinawa, Japan earlier today.
The deputy director commercial, strategy and planning of Vietnamese low-cost carrier VietJet Air, Jay L Lingeswara has played down speculation that the airline is to acquire a small fleet of widebodied aircraft to launch long-haul flights. Speaking at the Routes Asia Strategy Summit in Okinawa, Japan earlier today he dismissed a quick launch date for the introduction of the flights, but confirmed it remains a short-term consideration.
Now in its 15th year, Routes Asia brings together airlines, airports, tourism authorities and governments to plan new flights and increase existing services. Over 930 route development professionals from 110 airlines, 170 airports and 20 tourism authorities are expected to attend this year’s event at Okinawa Convention Centre.
International Airlines Group (IAG) has confirmed its new low-cost long-haul business will operate under the LEVEL brand. The airline will launch from Barcelona from June 1, 2017 with flights to Buenos Aires, Punta Cana, Los Angeles and Oakland International using two Airbus A330-200s configured with a premium economy and economy onboard offering.
Etihad Airways will introduce the Airbus A380 on its route between Abu Dhabi and Paris this summer. The deployment is part of seasonal adjustments to the airline’s fleet plan and will result in a notable capacity growth in the market as the A380 substitutes for a smaller Boeing 777-300ER.
Low-cost giant Ryanair is to debut in Ukraine with flights to Kiev from four European cities, while Central and Eastern European low-cost airline specialist Wizz Air is to further expand its activities in the country with growing summer 2017 operations from both Kiev and Lviv.
Colombian flag carrier Avianca will launch the only scheduled non-stop link between South America and Boston's Logan International Airport when it inaugurates a new four times weekly link from its El Dorado International Airport hub in Bogotá from the start of June 2017.
After reviewing and restructuring its operations at the start of the decade and reducing its network by around a third between 2011 and 2013, Frontier returned to growth in 2014 with a year-on-year capacity rise of 9.8 per cent. This was followed by a 6.9 per cent growth in 2015, while last year brought a 16.2 per cent increase as the airline took the opportunity to expand, adding six ‘new’ markets to its network.
The confirmation of this deal follows extensive discussions between the management of Aer Lingus and its parent company International Consolidated Airlines Group (IAG) over the growth of the Dublin-based carrier’s long-haul network and the value IAG places in Ireland’s growing hub at Dublin Airport, one of fastest growing transatlantic departure markets of the current decade.
Flights between Japan and Hawaii represent a highly competitive market - around 1.5 million Japanese travel to Hawaii annually, with airlines enjoying consistently high load factors. ANA’s use of the Superjumbo on this route shows it is seeking to increase significantly its share of this lucrative market. It has even unveiled a colouful special livery for its first aircraft featuring the Hawaiian green sea turtle – a symbol of good luck and prosperity in Hawaii.
After a year of work, a Swedish government-appointed commission recommended in late November 2016 that airlines operating in Sweden should pay a tax of between 80 and 430 Swedish crowns ($9- $47) per passenger per flight to compensate for climate pollution. Under the proposal, the lower end would relate to domestic and European flights while a levy of between SEK280 (for city pair markets under 6,000km) and SEK430 (for city pair markets beyond 6,000km) would be added to medium- and long-haul international services.
As first revealed by our Airlineroute news stream in the middle of last month, Qatar Airways is deploying the first LATAM aircraft on one of its two daily flights between Doha and Munich. It debuted on the QR059/060 rotation from March 2, 2017 and another of the LATAM airframes will be used on the second QR057/058 service from April 1, 2017. The additional two LATAM A350-900s will be used on Qatar Airways’ Doha – Madrid route.
Subject to regulatory approvals, the new service will operate for a three month period between December 1, 2017 and February 28, 2018 and will complement Cathay Pacific’s current seasonal double daily flights to Auckland as well as strategic partner Air New Zealand’s daily service between Hong Kong and Auckland.
A striking new pier at Oslo Airport is scheduled to open in April, but the feature is only part of a thoroughgoing renovation that will lift capacity to 32 million.
For a long time Ryanair has served the greater Frankfurt market via its operations from Hahn Airport, a secondary facility around about 120 km (75 mi) from the city. However, as part of its business maturity and to boost premium traffic the carrier is now serving more major airports and its arrival into Frankfurt is a major part of this network project.
As low-cost carrier Jambojet once again seeks rights to fly internationally from Kenya, we explore its growth plans and also look at the potential for new non-stop flights into USA after the US Department of Transportation (DOT) delivers a clean safety review for Kenya.
The spectre of terrorism has haunted Egypt’s aviation industry over recent years but Air Cairo is determined to press on with plans for innovation and growth. Martin Rivers writes for Routes News.
airBaltic will inaugurate the Riga – Abu Dhabi service from the start of the winter schedules on October 29, 2017 and will operate four weekly return flights using its CS300. The Etihad Airways ‘EY’ code will also be displayed on the flight under a full codeshare partnership.
As widely expected, European low-cost carrier Norwegian will introduce its new Boeing 737MAX fleet into operation on flights between the UK and Ireland and the United States of America. The budget airline will offer 38 new weekly transatlantic flights this summer from Edinburgh, Belfast, Cork, Shannon and Dublin serving ten routes.
The £3.8 million UK government funding is a significant investment in supporting the Londonderry - London route. Based on bmi regional using a 50-seat Embraer ERJ-145 on the route and its 13 return weekly frequencies that will equate to 1,300 seats a week, 67,600 seats a year or 135,200 seats for the full two-year funding term. With 2,704 one-way flights scheduled to operate during this period that works out as over £1,400 of support per flight, or £28 per seat.
