In the face of increasing competition from the new generation of all-Business Class carriers, both British Airways and Virgin Atlantic have announced plans to launch similar operations. BA says that it aims to start services from continental Europe to the US in the next year or so. Industry reports suggest it is likely to be all-premium – probably a combination of existing Club World and World Traveller Plus products. Virgin Atlantic is planning an all-Business Class airline “within the next 12 to 18 months”, initially flying from cities including Paris, Frankfurt, Milan and Zurich non-stop to New York and other US destinations. It will also launch new services from London to the US, competing head-to-head with Eos, Silverjet and Maxjet. What is not clear at this stage is whether the new operation would use existing bases at Heathrow or Gatwick, or one of the other London gateways. Says a spokesperson for Virgin Atlantic: “The new airline, which may also use the Virgin Atlantic name, will offer better quality than existing all-Business carriers at the same, or lower, prices.” Lufthansa, Swiss and recent start-up L’Avion already offer all-Business services to the US from Europe. It seems probable, however, that both BA and Virgin will be targeting US-based business travellers who are already familiar with their existing transatlantic services. New Nairobi link
Virgin Atlantic has launched a daily link between London Heathrow and Nairobi, with a daylight service on the outward leg, and an overnight flight in the reverse direction.
The route is operated by A340-300s, with 34 seats in Upper Class, 35 in the Premium Economy cabin, and 171 in Economy. It is the airline’s 28th destination. Baltic and beyond
KD Avia has introduced the first direct service between the UK and the Baltic seaport of Kaliningrad, a gateway to a further 10 cities in the Russian Federation and one in Kazakhstan. Flights from London Gatwick are being operated three times a week with a Boeing 737-300 to the Russian airline's own terminal at Khrabrovo Airport. Round-trip fares from Gatwick start at £208 (€310) to Kaliningrad, £218 (€325) to Moscow(Domodedovo) and £398 (€590) to Astana,including taxes and charges. Travellers should be aware that accommodation has to be pre-booked before entering Russia and they will need to obtain a Russian visa. News in brief... - Delta Air Lines is dropping its flights between Atlanta and Edinburgh at the end of October but is replacing them with a new, year-round service from New York JFK from May next year. The airline is claiming it will be the only scheduled non-stop service between Scotland and JFK.
- Saudi Arabian Airlines has established the first direct link between Manchester and Jeddah/ Riyadh. Previously, passengers had to route via London Heathrow or airports elsewhere in Europe or the Middle East. The Boeing B777 flights will operate twice weekly, on Monday and Friday, to both Jeddah and the Saudi capital of Riyadh.
- Etihad Airways brought forward the launch of flights from Dublin to Abu Dhabi to July 2, a month ahead of schedule. It is operating four non-stop flights a week between Ireland and the UAE, with convenient connections for onward services to other destinations in the airline's growing network.
- Virgin Atlantic has added a second daily service from London Heathrow to Washington Dulles International.
- Emirates is offering a waterborne limousine airport transfer service in Venice for passengers using its new non-stop service to and from Dubai, launched on July 1.
- Lufthansa has completed its takeover of Swiss International Air Lines with the acquisition of all the remaining shares. The integration has been achieved more quickly and successfully than had been anticipated. Synergies generated by the merger, totalling more than Û200 million during 2006, are said to be far higher than initially planned.
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