Emirates has confirmed it will introduce a four times weekly link between its Dubai International Airport hub and Yinchuan’s Hedong International Airport from May 3, 2016, with an additional onward leg to Zhengzhou’s Xinzheng International Airport. The flight will be operated by a 266-seat Boeing 777-200LR and will bring its offering mainland China to five points, adding to existing flights to Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai.
The new services will increase capacity between the two cities by almost 2,500 seats per week enabling Etihad to better serve the market in the UAE and the Philippines for point-to-point travel as well as supporting behind and beyond demand via its Abu Dhabi International Airport hub.
The airline currently operates a double daily service between its Dubai International Airport hub and Cairo International Airport using Boeing 777-300ER equipment. The three new weekly rotations will be operated using a smaller Airbus A330-200, offering 12 seats in First Class, 42 in Business Class and 183 in Economy.
According to information released by aviation regulator, Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), China’s national carrier, Air China has requested rights to introduce a daily service from Chengdu to Sydney from June 2016. The route, subject to final approval, will be operated using Airbus A330 equipment.
The new Brussels – Thessaloniki route will support the strong Greek diaspora in Belgium and southern Netherlands. Many Greeks who live in Belgium have their roots in Northern Greece and return to their birthplace each summer.
The transaction and the transfer of operations are to take place by the end of the first quarter of 2016 and will bring the number of airports operated by VINCI Airports to 33, including eleven in France, ten in Portugal, three in Cambodia and one in Chile (since October this year). Its airport network currently encompasses flights from over 100 different airlines, handling around 47 million passengers annually, with a turnover of € 717 million.
The revised Amsterdam operation and agreement with KLM will enable Jet Airways to increase its coverage of the European market, albeit on a codeshare basis. Alongside its existing Brussels services the carrier currently only serves two other European points: London Heathrow (daily from Delhi and twice daily from Mumbai) and Paris Charles De Gaulle (daily from Mumbai).
The growth of Edinburgh as a destination is an example of how air travel is evolving. Scotland's capital is now served by some of world’s largest airlines with direct connectivity across Europe, the Middle East and North America. Its network next summer will encompass 174 routes serving 122 destinations.
South African low-cost carrier Mango will help launch a new Connecting Partner Model from global airline grouping Star Alliance as it seeks to further expand its network reach. The South African Airways (SAA) subsidiary will be the first ‘low-cost’ or ‘hybrid’ carrier to introduce its network into that of the wider grouping.
KLM will introduce a daily service to Valencia from its Amsterdam Schiphol hub, its first flights on the city pair since May 1993. These will initially operate on a twice weekly schedule from April 23, 2016 but will revert to a daily operation from May 16, 2016. The route will be flown using mainline Boeing 737-800 equipment.
Seattle is now on the route maps of ten air carriers from outside the Americas, including major brands like All Nippon Airways, Condor, Emirates, Hainan Airlines, Icelandair, Lufthansa and Korean Air which have added to long-standing routes from Asiana Airlines, British Airways and EVA Air. A lasting legacy for managing director, Mark Reis as he steps down from the helm during February 2016.
Qatar Aiways, Air France, Monarch, Primera Air, Air Serbia and Wizz Air are the latest airlines to register early for the 11th Routes Europe in Krakow.
Cathay Pacific is already the largest operator in the Hong Kong – London market by capacity, according to data from schedules provider, OAG. The airline has a 58.7 per cent share of the available non-stop capacity in this market ahead of British Airways (29.9 per cent share) and Virgin Atlantic Airways (11.4 per cent share).
This will be the first regular flight between Munich and Debrecen since former German carrier OLT Ostfriesische Lufttransport ended its up to four times weekly operation at the end of the 2005 summer schedules. According to schedules provider, OAG, Debrecen is also linked on a weekly seasonal basis to the German cities of Dresden, Erfurt and Leipzig by Germania.
Saudi Arabia’s continued economic diversification, growth of the private sector and increasing popularity as a destination for the Middle East MICE industry is directly translating into increased demand for business travel within the region and Emirates Airline and Qatar Airways aim to be well-positioned to boost their positions in this market.
Emirates confirms it will retire 26 aircraft next year, including 12 Airbus A330-200s, four A340-300s, one A340-500, six Boeing 777-200ERs, two Boeing 777-300s and one Boeing 777-300ER. In addition, 13 more aircraft will be retired in 2017 and another 13 will be retired in 2018. Balancing its aircraft retirement programme, Emirates will take delivery of 36 new aircraft in 2016, comprising 20 A380s and 16 Boeing 777-300ERs.
Aviation is a strong driver of economic growth, jobs, trade and mobility for the European Union and plays a crucial role in the EU economy. The sector employs almost two million people in the EU and is worth €110 billion to Europe's economy. Over the last 20 years, the EU's liberalisation of the internal market for air services and the substantial growth of demand in air transport within the EU and worldwide, have resulted in the significant development of the European aviation sector. The aviation traffic in Europe is predicted to reach 14.4 million flights in 2035, 50 per cent more than in 2012.
This will be the only regular flight between the UK and Oakland International Airport, which is growing in popularity as an alternative gateway into the San Francisco Bay Area and certainly an ideal destination for low-cost, long-haul operators.
Around 14 million annual seats are available between Ireland and the UK with this year’s offering the largest this decade and up 4.8 per cent on last year. Ryanair is the dominant carrier with a 53.7 per cent capacity share, ahead of Aer Lingus (including its Aer Lingus Regional operation) with a 32.4 per cent share.
The Boeing 747-400 entered service with the airline in 2001 and from flying millions of passengers across the Atlantic over its 15 years of commercial service, it will in the future facilitate a new generation of small satellites which will help us in Virgin Galactic’s mission to open space for the benefit of life on Earth.
Under development for 12 years, the first production 90-seat ARJ21 airliner has now been officially delivered to launch customer, Chengdu Airlines, arriving at the carrier’s Shuangliu International Airport base on November 29, 2015 following a 2 hour 48 minute delivery flight from the COMAC facility in Shanghai.
Although this will not immediately impact international air services from Thailand as Thai Airways International recently closed its flight between Bangkok and
