West United States

Sister airlines Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air will kick in new services out of Portland International beginning January 28. Service will be provided with the 70-seat CRJ-700.  Horizon Air for its part will operate two more services between PDX and McCarran International in Las Vegas, giving the existing run a daily total of five flights. There will also be a sixth daily RT from PDX and Oakland International; a second daily PDX and Palm Springs Regional. A fourth daily PDX-San Diego International and the run to LAS will be operated by Alaska Airlines after June 2. Those other new flights will be discontinued after that date… While start of the new daily nonstop service between Denver International and Vancouver International by Frontier Airlines isn’t until May 5, introductory fares must be purchased by January 31. Lowest tab is $109 each way with the usual restrictions—21-day advance purchase; roundtrip required and travel must be completed by October 15. Service will be with the A319 departing DEN at 10 a.m. arriving at YVR at noon…Swiss International Airlines is on its way to offering daily service between Los Angeles International and Zurich Airport. Starting February 20, SWISS adds a Tuesday frequency that brings its weekly total to six. And then on June 15, a Sunday run will be added giving the city-pair daily departures. SWISS operates the run with the A340 configured with eight in First, 48 in Business, and 172 in Economy.

 

Midwest United States

 

Virgin Atlantic hasn’t touched down at Chicago O’Hare since shortly after September 11. That’s about to change. VS returns to ORD April 23 with daily nonstop A340-300 service to London Heathrow. Competition ‘twixt Chicago and London should sizzle with Virgin’s entry. Consider: American, United, British Airways and Air India already ply the route…More international routes out of O’Hare. South African Airways introduces one-stop service to Johannesburg come May. An A340-300 will make this run too, four times per week. There’s an en-route touchdown in Dakar…Delta’s doubling up service from Chicago to New York February 15. By laying on new Midway – LaGuardia flights, Delta Connection and Delta will loft a dozen daily nonstops ‘twixt the two cities. There will be seven daily MDW – LGA flights; five daily ORD – JFK nonstops. The LaGuardia flights are new Embraer 170s, and pull up to the gate not at the main terminal but at the convenient, easier-to-deal-with Marine Air Terminal…February 7 is the start date for AirTran’s new nonstops from Midway to West Palm Beach and Miami. There will be a single daily roundtrip on each route…Southwest Airlines may not have any blockbuster route announcements in the immediate offing, but it is beefing up existing runs. The carrier is adding a fifth daily Chicago Midway – San Diego nonstop March 11.

 

Southwest United States

 

This is significant. Competition between Phoenix and Atlanta is about to become decidedly more robust. AirTran launches nonstop service on the route February 15. Initially there will be but one daily nonstop. By February 22 there will be two, and by March 6 a trio. This is a 737-700 run. Delta and US Airways—based in Atlanta and Phoenix respectively—have had the route to themselves for years, US Airways under the guise of then America West…American has been doing a DFW bypass for several years by successfully flying Austin – San Jose nonstop. Now comes word the carrier is about to launch AUS – Seattle/Tacoma, another high-tech, business-oriented run. Look for a single daily MD80 to start plying the route April 10. “We’ve done very well with our other flights from Austin to the West Coast,” Henry Joyner, AA’s senior vice president for planning, says. “We expect this one to be a success as well.”…More departure options ‘twixt Tucson and Los Angeles. Southwest Airlines adds a sixth daily nonstop March 11.

 

South United States

 

Ah, commerce. It trumps politics almost every time. Case-in-point: DOT has given its blessings for Spirit Airlines to launch nonstop Fort Lauderdale – Caracas service in April. The move comes at a time when diplomatic relations between the United States and Venezuela are at an all-time low…More Latin leanings, this time from Delta, and to less volatile destinations. The carrier began nonstop service from Atlanta to Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic and Fort de France, Martinique in mid-December…Delta is delving deep into the heart of US Airways territory, launching nonstop Charlotte – Salt Lake City service March 1. US was—as of this writing—waging an unwelcome (on Delta’s part anyway) campaign to take over the larger carrier. Seen in that light, the thrust into US Airways’ Charlotte hub is intrusive. Delta will fly a 737-800 from CLT to SLC, and do it just once daily…A new way to get from south Florida to Chicago. AirTran launches once-daily nonstops from both Miami and West Palm Beach to Midway Airport on February 7…With the winter come some more Caribbean sojourns. Consider: American Eagle has laid on three more daily San Juan – St. Thomas flights, and one additional departure each from SJU to St. Croix, and Antigua. There’s also a fourth weekly San Juan – Anguilla nonstop. 

 

Northeast United States

 

If time is money know that scheduled helicopter service is once again shuttling flyers from Manhattan to area airports. The newest US Helicopter route: the Downtown Heliport at Wall Street to the secure side of Continental’s Terminal C at Newark. Read between the lines here for a moment. That means you clear security in Lower Manhattan, not at EWR. Saves significant time. Oh yeah, the trip time. The run takes about eight minutes. Everything, of course, comes at a price. And the tab for this time machine runs $159 one-way…Delta’s doubling up service from New York to Chicago February 15 by laying on new LaGuardia – Midway flights. Delta Connection and Delta will loft a dozen daily nonstops ‘twixt the two cities. There will be seven daily LGA – Midway flights; five daily JFK – ORD nonstops. The Midway flights are new Embraer 170s, and depart LaGuardia not from the main terminal, but the convenient, easier-to-deal-with Marine Air Terminal…Hartford’s been doing all right of late. First, there was word Northwest is launching nonstop BDL – Amsterdam service later this year. Now, Frontier is carving out a piece of Connecticut with nonstop Hartford – Denver service. Once-daily A319 service begins March 2...Got to get from Pittsburgh to Salt Lake City fast? Consider Delta’s new nonstop. It’s set to take wing March 1. Delta Connection carrier SkyWest will make the run once daily, using a new CRJ900, the ultimately stretched varient of the ubiquitous Bombardier regional jet. Rest easy, however. On this CRJ you can upgrade. It’s fitted with 10 First Class, and 60 Coach seats…JetBlue will ply the Boston – San Juan route daily through April 30. Then, the route goes away for the summer…Now that JetBlue and AirTran have moved into town, Allegiant Air is axing all service from Newburgh, New York to Florida. January 11 is the last day to catch an Allegiant jet from the mid-Hudson Valley to Orlando Sanford or St. Petersburg/Clearwater.

 

Worldwide

 

Now that there’s a new trade agreement between Mexico and Japan, Aeromexico has launched Mexico City – Tokyo Narita service. 777s make the run twice weekly—Mondays and Thursdays. Know that there’s an en route stop. It’s in, of all places, Tijuana. Really. Aeromexico’s triple-sevens are fitted for three classes of service: First, Business and Economy…TAM is taking control of the Brazilian market these days, eclipsing a reconstituted version of Varig, once one of the classiest airlines on the planet. TAM’s latest foray is Sao Paulo – Milan, and it’s due to launch in the first half of this year…. Everyone wants to do business with China, and Chinese airlines are gearing up to accommodate. Air China just forged an important new Brazilian connection, with new Beijing – Madrid – Sao Paulo service. Thus, Air China lays claim to the planet’s only direct, same-plane service from China to Brazil. That service slices significant time off the journey, which used to entail a connection and take some 30 hours. Ouch. This is a twice-weekly affair, with departures from PEK on Thursdays and Sundays. The return flight departs the same days…Connectivity is key, and that’s why Asiana and ANA plan to code-share on all 18 of their Korea – Japan routes by February…Dragon Air starts Hong Kong – Busan service January 19. A320s will make the trip thrice weekly…Here’s an important code-share: India’s Kingfisher Airlines now code-shares with Delta on domestic flights out of Mumbai (Bombay). You can catch Kingfisher from BOM to Bangalore, Chennai, Ahmedabad and Delhi. Delta recently started flying from New York JFK to Mumbai…Austrian Airlines now code-shares Vienna – Nis service with JAT Airways. Flights depart Mondays and Fridays…Look for SAS to fly from Stockholm to Bergen, Lyon and Bristol beginning this summer. Bergen starts June 25, Lyon June 28, and Bristol June 29.