This week: HK Express is resuming service to Thailand’s capital city Bangkok and Avianca Argentina is to open a new international service to Sao Paulo in Brazil.
The carrier will start operating the A350 XWB commercially in January 2016 between Sao Paulo and Manaus, Brazil, as part of continued training and crew familiarisation. This will be followed by operations from Sao Paulo to Miami in March and then to Madrid in April.
North African carrier Royal Air Maroc (RAM) is to further expand its long-haul network from next year with the launch of flights between its Mohammed V International Airport hub in Casablanca and Washington Dulles Airport in the United States and Rio de Janeiro’s Galeão International Airport in Brazil.
The new arrangement will initially debut in the final quarter and will enter service from December 1, 2015 on both the Dubai – Bangkok and Dubai – Copenhagen routes, and will also serve Dubai – Kuala Lumpur and Dubai – Manchester from January 1, 2016.
The carrier is reducing its capacity into Brazil this winter through route switches, frequency reductions and aircraft changes in preparation for what its vice-president of Latin America, Mexico and Caribbean, Nicolas Ferri describes as a “long cycle” economic slowdown in the country, in an interview posted on the airline’s website.
This is actually the third time that Star Alliance has welcomed a major Brazilian carrier into the grouping having previously had Varig alongside TAM Airlines as a former member and will once again open up Latin America’s largest country to the international flights of its member airlines with new connection opportunities via São Paulo’s Guarulhos International and Rio de Janeiro’s Galeão–Antonio Carlos Jobim International airports.
In its formal application, Delta plans to introduce a four times weekly service on the route, with its strategic alliance with GOL Linhas Aereas Inteligentes extending the reach of this service to 20 interior Brazil destinations via Guarulhos International Airport. The flight is due to commence from December 19, 2015 and will be operated by a Boeing 767-300 aircraft, with 35 seats in Delta One, 32 seats in Delta Comfort+ and 143 seats in the Main Cabin.
Over a twelve-month period, preliminary data shows a growth rate of 5.1 percent year over year, with both international and domestic traffic posting strong growth rates of 5.8 percent and 4.5 percent respectively.
Guarulhos International Airport (GRU), formerly known as São Paulo/Guarulhos–Governador André Franco Montoro International Airport, has signed the two-year deal. The new licence agreement includes access to OAG’s Schedules Analyser, Connections Analyser, Traffic Analyser and OAG Mapper products, which will be used to strengthen the airport’s marketing and route development programmes.
GOL is the largest low-cost airline in Latin America and offers around 910 daily flights to 69 destinations, 15 international, across South America, the Caribbean and the United States, using a modern fleet of Boeing 737-700 and 737-800 Next Generation aircraft.
American Airlines will offer a three times weekly link between New York and Viracopos from December 1, 2014 and a daily link between Miami and Viracopos from December 2, 2014, subject to government approval, complementing its existing flights from both US destinations to Sao Paulo Guarulhos International Airport.
LAN Airlines welcomed its first 787 in August 2012 and has a total of 22 787-8s on order and a further four larger 787-9s. It currently operates a fleet of six examples all configured in a two-class arrangement with 217 seats in Economy and 30 in Premium Business.
The introduction of flights to Rio de Janeiro has been on Air Canada’s radar for a while, but with the loss of Brazil’s largest carrier TAM Airlines as an alliance partner from April this year, it has become a higher priority for the Star Alliance member.
