OAG Travel News

If you plan to travel outside the U.S. this summer, there are new passport rules that you should be aware of. Effective June 1st, that any individuals crossing the borders over the age of 16 need to have a passport or passcard. The changes were made to tighten security at the borders. A passport is needed if you travel internationally by air, but if you decide to travel by land, by driving to Canada or Mexico, you can apply for a Passcard instead.

Australian government will conduct an inquiry into security at the nation's airports amid allegations that it is well below recommended standards. Federal Home Affairs Minister Bob Debus said the inquiry will be independent of the Australian Federal Police, who are responsible for airport security, and initially will focus on the events surrounding the brutal killing of a man at Sydney Airport on March 22 in what appears to have been part of a feud between two biker gangs. The Police Federation of Australia union said that according to the Australian Federal Police annual report, staffing numbers at airports are up to 35% fewer than recommended.

The world's airlines have scheduled 4.9 percent fewer flights for March 2009 compared with the same month last year, with a 3.3 percent drop in seat capacity, according to the latest statistics from OAG (www.oagaviation.com), the world's leading aviation data business. According to OAG, this is the eighth successive month of declines, and represents a reduction of more than 122,000 flights and 9.8 million seats year on year. The total number of flights scheduled to operate worldwide this month is 2.38 million, offering 289.8 million seats to travelers around the globe. The figures are revealed in the March 2009 edition of OAG FACTS (Frequency & Capacity Trend Statistics), the dynamic monthly market intelligence tool providing the latest data on current passenger airline activity around the world. Global airline schedules for the first quarter 2009 have dropped by 6.7 percent, or 491,000 fewer flights. This is the first time we have seen a downturn in Q1 figures since 2002, when the industry was absorbing the double impact of 9/11 terrorist attacks on the US and an economic meltdown from the burst of the dot.com bubble. Capacity for this quarter also has fallen by 4.4 percent, representing a reduction of 38.6 million seats.

Aeroflot has officially registered its interest in Czech Airlines' privatisation, joining fellow SkyTeam member Air France which confirmed its intent to participate in the process earlier today. Sheremetyevo-based Aeroflot, which has previously shown an informal interest in the Czech carrier, says it has submitted its paperwork ahead of the tender closure deadline later today. Aeroflot CEO Valery Okulov says: "Czech Airlines is the largest and most stable airline in central Europe in economic and market terms. By joining and mutually expanding their route networks, Aeroflot and Czech Airlines will be able to become more profitable.

Air France began testing its "smartboarding" automated boarding system last week on flights from CDG to Amsterdam. Test will run until 2010 and feature a personal card containing biometric, RFID and thermal printing technology, allowing passengers to board through a dedicated portal at their convenience. Program was developed in conjunction with Citizengate.

The national carrier of Seychelles, Air Seychelles, now has a direct flight linking Seychelles and Moscow. The official launching of this flight was held last week in the Russian capital at a press and tourism trade function. The event, held as part of the MITT trade fair, was also attended by members of the Seychelles delegation at MITT.

AirAsia is planning to establish hubs at Phuket in Thailand, Penang in Malaysia and Medan and Bandung in Indonesia to aid its expansion. The low-cost carrier's spokesman in its Kuala Lumpur headquarters says the group is taking delivery of 14 Airbus A320s during the remainder of this year. Most will be for its Indonesian and Thai affiliate carriers, he adds. He says as a consequence the group is planning to establish hubs at Phuket in Thailand, Penang in Malaysia and Medan and Bandung in Indonesia. These are likely to be established this year and it means the carrier will have aircraft, pilots, cabin crew and ground staff stationed in those places, says the spokesman. He also says it will be launching new international services from these places but he was unable to elaborate. AirAsia currently has bases in Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok and Jakarta as well as a hub in Denpasar Bali in Indonesia and hubs in Johor Bahru and Kota Kinabalu in Malaysia.

AirAsia will increase its four-times-weekly Kuala Lumpur-Guilin service to daily on May 1.

AirTran Airways announced today that it will expand its service to Orlando International Airport with new nonstop flights from Atlantic City International Airport in Atlantic City, New Jersey; Asheville Regional Airport in Asheville, North Carolina; and McGhee-Tyson Airport in Knoxville, Tennessee. New nonstop flights to Asheville, North Caroline, will begin June 11, 2009, and new nonstop flights to Knoxville, Tennessee and Atlantic City, New Jersey will begin June 12, 2009.

AirTran Airways today announced that beginning June 11, 2009, the airline will begin two daily nonstop flights between General Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Washington, DC. With the additional service to Washington, AirTran Airways will offer 33 daily departures from Milwaukee to 19 non-stop destinations. The additional flights increase the low-fare airline's Milwaukee growth to over 55 percent.

AirTran Airways will operate twice-daily Atlanta-Atlantic City flights beginning June 11.

 
Alaska Airlines resumed flights in and out of Alaska this afternoon following the clearing of ash clouds from Mount Redoubt. Scheduled service will operate through Friday evening so long as ash clouds stay out of the area. However, flights to Nome and Kotzebue have been canceled due to the safety risk posed by volcanic ash that remains in those areas. Twenty-eight flights to Alaska were canceled today and many others were delayed after Mount Redoubt erupted again at 8:40 this morning. Since the volcanic eruptions began Sunday, March 22, the airline has canceled more than 150 flights affecting an estimated 10,000 passengers.

 
Alaska Airlines says it's resuming flights to and from Alaska after ash clouds cleared from the most recent eruption of Mount Redoubt. Thirty-five flights were canceled through early Tuesday morning because of six eruptions from the volcano about 100 miles southwest of Anchorage. The airline's jets at the Anchorage airport were wrapped in a protective plastic sealant and unsealed Tuesday morning. The airline says the sealant protects aircraft from the abrasive ash particles, which post a significant danger to engines. Further eruptions could alter scheduled flights.

 

Alaska Airlines will not operate in or out of Petersburg, Alaska, from March 23 to April 21, 2009, due to the State of Alaska, Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (DOTPF) closure of the Petersburg runway to jet aircraft operations. The closure is necessary to replace several culverts that span the runway. While the Petersburg runway is closed, flights will spend additional ground time at the Wrangell airport to accommodate Petersburg customers and cargo traveling to Wrangell. The temporary flight schedule is as follows: Flight 65 arrives in Wrangell at 9:19 a.m. from Seattle and Ketchikan; Flight 65 departs Wrangell at 11:04 a.m. to Juneau and Anchorage; Flight 64 arrives in Wrangell at 2:47 p.m. from Anchorage and Juneau; Flight 64 departs from Wrangell at 4:35 p.m. to Ketchikan and Seattle. www.alaskaair.com.

American Eagle will launch service from Dallas/Fort Worth to Santa Fe (daily aboard an ERJ-140), Tallahassee (frequency not announced), Montgomery (twice-daily on an ERJ-145), Brownsville (thrice-daily on 140/145s) and Lake Charles (twice-daily on 140/145s) on June 11 and to Manhattan, Kan., on Aug. 25.

Athens Airways launched thrice-daily Athens-Thessaloniki service.

Baltia Air Lines, a New York JFK-based startup, was allocated one weekly frequency to St. Petersburg from JFK by the US Dept. of Transportation for service to begin by Sept. 30.

British Airways. After a long trial period at London Heathrow, British Airways has gone fully operational with microwave landing system approaches there and hopes to eventually see the capability offered at Gatwick. The carrier says approach patterns will not change, but MLS permits a 20% increase in the landing movement rate that can safely be achieved in poor visibility, considerably reducing delays and cancellations during fog or heavy rain.

Continental Airlines received tentative approval from the US Dept. of Transportation to operate daily Houston Intercontinental-Rio de Janeiro Galeao service beginning this summer aboard a 174-seat 767-200. It currently serves GIG via Sao Paulo Guarulhos.

Continental Airlines, US Airways. The U.S. Department of Transportation is proposing to award Continental Airlines and US Airways new rights to fly to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. If the decision is finalized, Continental could operate a new daily nonstop roundtrip flight from Houston as early as June 1 and US Airways could begin a new daily nonstop roundtrip flight from Charlotte, NC on Oct. 1. In its preliminary decision, the DOT noted that US Airways, the only applicant not currently serving Brazil, would inject new competition into the market as well as provide the first direct Brazil service from Charlotte, where US Airways has a significant connecting hub. www.dot.gov.

Delta Air Lines is offering summer discounts of as much as 57 percent to destinations including Venice, Italy; Zurich, Switzerland; and Prague, Czech Republic. Sample one-way fares based on roundtrip purchase are: Atlanta, Ga.-Barcelona, Spain, $409, a 50 percent discount; Chicago-Rome, $429, a 44 percent discount; and New York-Zurich, $329, a 46 percent discount. Discounts are on nonrefundable peak travel roundtrip economy fares with a 14-day, 7-day or 0-day advance purchase that require a Saturday night stay. The Zurich service starts June 8 and ends Oct. 23. For more information, visit www.delta.com.

EasyJet was forced to cancel 12 flights last week when French air traffic controllers went on strike. A national one-day walkout resulted in cancellations at Paris's two largest airports, Orly and Charles De Gaulle. Services to Berlin, London, Liverpool, Geneva, Milan, Toulouse, Porto, Rome, Biarritz and Nice were affected. Passengers were given the option to re-route their final destination or fly on another date for free, or cancel and receive a full refund. easyJet apologised to customers but said it had no control over the "extraordinary circumstances." www.easyjet.com

EL AL Israel Airlines announced the start of third frequency from London to Tel Aviv. The additional 6 times a week service will fly from London Luton Airport from Sunday 3 May* and is timed ideally for both business and leisure travellers.

FedEx, Boeing. Tokyo's Narita airport reopened its main runway earlier today following yesterday's fatal accident in which a FedEx Boeing MD-11 freighter crashed and burst into flames. A spokesman in Narita airport's international affairs division says the 4,000m-long runway, 16R/34L, reopened today at 09:10. He says the first arrival was at 09:24 and it was a Lufthansa passenger flight from Frankfurt. Yesterday at around 07:00 a FedEx MD-11F on a flight from Guangzhou, China crash landed on runway 34L, before bursting into flames and its wreckage coming to a rest upside down. The two pilots on board both died.

Frontier Airlines. In response to a forecast for significant snow in the Denver Metro area on Thursday, March 26, 2009, Frontier Airlines has put the following travel policy guidelines into place for all customers scheduled to travel on March 25 to 27, 2009, who purchased tickets on or before March 24, 2009. Customers scheduled on the above dates may elect to stand-by free of charge on an earlier date or time. Origin and destination cities must remain the same. For customers who have already started their travel, rules and restrictions regarding standard change fees, advance purchase, day or time applications, blackouts and minimum or maximum stay requirements have been waived. Origin and destination cities must remain the same. Changes must be made by midnight, March 27, 2009, and travel completed by April 8, 2009. For more information, visit www.FrontierAirlines.com.

Icelandair is announcing new scheduled service between Seattle, Wash., and Reykjavik, Iceland, beginning July 22 aboard 757-200ERs. Icelandair will offer four flights a week departing Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) at 4:30 p.m., arriving in Reykjavik at 6:45 a.m. the following morning. Flights on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays will connect with Copenhagen, Oslo, Stockholm and London, offering up to four hours faster connection times from Seattle to Scandinavia than possible through other European hubs. Flights to Helsinki, Frankfurt, Amsterdam and Paris will also be available via Reykjavik. Connecting flights returning via Reykjavik arrive in Seattle at 5:45 p.m., just in time for dinner at home or easy connections throughout North America. Additionally, Icelandair will work in cooperation with Alaska Airlines to provide passengers with convenient connections to a host of cities across the West Coast, including San Francisco, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Anchorage and San Jose. For more information, call 877-I-FLY-ICE or visit www.icelandair.com.

 
JetBlue Airways Corporation has begun Orlando's only daily nonstop service to San Jose, Costa Rica's Juan Santamaria International Airport (SJO), the carriers first Central American destination and ninth country in its route network. Costa Ricans traveling through Orlando will also have seamless one-stop connections to New York's John F. Kennedy as well as Newark, New Jersey and San Juan, Puerto Rico. To celebrate its new service, sale fares as low as $69 are available between Orlando and San Jose each way for travel purchased by April 8 at www.jetblue.com. Travel must take place between April 14 and June 17, 2009. Average everyday fares will start at $139 each way. For more information, visit www.jetblue.com.

Jetstar Airways plans to operate four-times-weekly Cairns-Osaka Kansai service beginning in December aboard an A330. The airline said launch is subject to completing negotiations with KIX and that it has "alternative international capacity options" from Cairns.

Kingfisher Airlines announced the following new services: Twice-daily Mumbai-Vadodara, daily Mumbai-Thiruvananthapuram (both aboard Kingfisher Red), daily Hyderabad-Aurangabad and daily Mumbai-Bhuj starting March 29; daily Mumbai-Patna-Ranchi from April 6.

Lufthansa will increase its frequencies on the Muscat-Frankfurt route at the beginning of the summer schedule 2009. Effective March 29th, Lufthansa passengers can avail of daily flights from Muscat to Frankfurt with connecting flights onwards to 107 destinations in Europe and 23 cities in the US. The aircraft operated is the Airbus A340-300 and A330-300 with a three-class onboard product and 211 seats total, 8 in First Class, 48 in Business and 165 seats in Economy Class.

Lufthansa and Brussels Airlines today announced they are expanding their partnership. The two carriers will offer code-share services on flights between Germany and Belgium and other European destinations when their summer timetable comes into effect on March 29.

Manchester Airport in the UK is about to begin operational tests of a system which uses an aircraft's existing avionics to warn of an imminent runway incursion. The Ground Marker system being offered by Axis Electronics of Bedford, UK makes use of the marker beacon receiver fitted to virtually all airliners to give pilots an aural warning if they cross a microwave detector fitted on the taxiway. The marker beacon receiver is normally used to detect markers on the final approach to airports although its operational use has declined in an age of increasingly sophisticated navigation. Ground Marker's developers believe that using the marker beacon system makes the system a cheaper and simpler solution to the runway incursion challenge than its rivals.

Mokulele Airlines. Mesa Air Group, which ended its codeshare agreement with Mokulele Airlines earlier this week, forged a new agreement with another Hawaiian carrier, Island Air. Mesa subsidiary go! yesterday began marketing services by Island Air, which operates a fleet of 37-seat Dash 8s between Honolulu and Molokai, Lanai, Maui (Kapalua and Kahului), Kauai (Lihue) and the "Big Island" of Hawaii (Kona and Hilo).

Paris Roissy Charles de Gaulle Airport. Thirty-five years after handling its first passenger, Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport is ranked as the fifth-busiest airport in the world, according to the 2008 preliminary airport ranking by Airports Council international (ACI). For the second consecutive year, Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport wins a position in the global ranking of airports. In 2008, it was ahead of Los Angeles International Airport. Paris-Charles de Gaulle handled nearly 61 million passengers in 2008, an increase of 1.6 percent year on year. A total of 950 million passengers have traveled through Paris-Charles de Gaulle since its opening in March 1974. Paris-Charles de Gaulle has become the most dynamic economic area of the Ile-de France region in terms of job creation with 90,000 direct jobs on the airport site. Between 1995 and 2007, 10 jobs a day on average were created on site. For more information, visit www.aeroportsdeparis.fr.

Porter Airlines is significantly increasing flight frequencies on its Toronto-Montreal and Toronto-Ottawa routes, further improving competition on Canada's busiest airline routes. Flights between Toronto City Centre Airport (TCCA) and Montreal will double by May 6, to as many as 18 roundtrips each weekday from the current level of nine. An initial increase to 14 daily roundtrips takes place April 14. On the TCCA-Ottawa route, the number of roundtrips increases to 14 from 10 on April 30. Weekend service is also increasing on both routes. The Porter experience is redefining short-haul air travel with a commitment to speed, convenience, and service that is becoming widely known among travelers. All Porter passengers have access to a private area in the terminal with leather lounge seating, snacks, beverages, WiFi and computer workstations, all at no additional cost. The onboard offering continues to provide complimentary premium snacks, wine, beer, and extra legroom. Its TCCA base is one of the most convenient urban airports in the world, just minutes from downtown. Its location saves passengers up to two hours or more on roundtrip travel.

Qantas has extended its travel stimulus offer for North American travelers flying to Australia and New Zealand until March 31. Starting at just $299 each way in economy (based on round trip purchase, plus tax and fees), travelers can fly from Los Angeles and San Francisco to Auckland, Brisbane, Melbourne or Sydney from now until October 24, 2009. From New York, economy fares are $399 each way to Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney. Economy air fares from New York to Auckland start at $399 each way (with roundtrip purchase) for travel from June 10, 2009 to October 24, 2009. For travelers departing Mexico City, fares are $499 each way and are valid from now until October 24, 2009. Other restrictions apply. For more information, visit www.qantas.com.

Ryanair will launch thrice-weekly flights from Nottingham East Midlands to Reus and Palma in July. It will cease serving Paris Beauvais from EMA. It also said all Beauvais service will be suspended June 3-10 as the airport closes to upgrade its landing systems. The LCC said the upgrade will enable more flights "to land safely in adverse weather conditions." It also announced the launch of flights to Limoges from Edinburgh (twice-weekly on March 30), Bournemouth (twice-weekly on April 2), London Luton (thrice-weekly on May 3), and Bristol (thrice-weekly on July 2).

Ryanair and EasyJet have welcomed the Dutch government's decision to scrap its air passenger tax. Europe's two largest low cost carriers both claimed the "unfair" tax had resulted in falling traffic through Amsterdam Schiphol, the Netherland's main airport. "Ryanair has campaigned against high airport tax and so called "eco" tax which deter visitors and has cost the Dutch tourism industry millions in lost revenue," said Ryanair spokesman Daniel de Carvalho. "Today's decision to abolish this tax is a sensitive step to reverse the steep decline in traffic that the Netherlands has suffered."

S7 Airlines will launch weekly Moscow Domodedovo-Madrid service on June 6 aboard an A319 and weekly Novosibirsk-Alma Ata flights on April 3 aboard an A320-200.

Singapore Airlines has reacted to fierce price competition on its core routes out of the UK by cutting premium class fares by up to 50%. The biggest savings are for business class on flights out of London Heathrow and Manchester to Singapore, Australia and New Zealand. It means that a return business class ticket between London and Singapore can be booked through online agency Netflights for as little as £1,600 while tickets to SIA destinations in Australia are offered for £1,986 return. Business class returns to New Zealand start at £2,200. These rates are valid on A380 super jumbo, Boeing 777 and B747 flights. They include those flights which feature SIA's new and spacious four across (1-2-1) fully lie-flat seating.

Space Adventures, Ltd., the only company that provides human space missions to the world marketplace, said orbital client Charles Simonyi and his crew successfully launched aboard a Soyuz-TMA spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan en route to the International Space Station (ISS). Simonyi joins the Expedition 19 crew, which includes Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka and NASA astronaut Mike Barratt. Simonyi will be the first private explorer to complete a second mission to space. He previously flew to the ISS in spring 2007 as Space Adventures fifth orbital client. On his return mission, Simonyi aims to continue to make contributions toward space research, and advance civilian space travel while inspiring kids in their studies of science and math. www.spaceadventures.com.

Spain. Employees at Spain's 47 state-owned airports are set to strike on March 24, protesting against plans to privatise operator AENA. Air traffic controllers, firemen, maintenance workers, administrative staff and other workers will stage a walkout between 0800 GMT to 0900 GMT, trade union Comisiones Obreras (CCOO) said. An AENA spokesperson told Reuters minimum services would be maintained. It is unknown exactly how many unionised staff will strike. The protests are the result of government plans to privatise 30% of AENA, the world's largest airport operator.

Swiss International Air Lines offers a number of innovations in its 2009 summer schedules, which come into effect on 29 March. In addition to new non-stop services to Lyon and Oslo, customers will enjoy a wide choice of vacation destinations thanks to Swiss collaboration with Edelweiss Air. The summer timetable will also bring new codeshare services between Zurich and Malta and on the Geneva-Montreal and Geneva-Washington routes. The present non-stop Zurich-Tripoli service is withdrawn; and services between Sao Paulo and Santiago de Chile and to and from Singapore will now be operated by Swiss partner airlines.

Swiss International will be offering two new European destinations from Zurich - Oslo and Lyon - in its 2009 summer schedules.

Taca Airlines. Honduras said it will suspend Taca Airlines flights in the country if the company does not pay a $1.3 million debt to the government within a week.

United Airlines. As a result of forecasted snowstorms in Denver, United is encouraging customers to take advantage of its travel waiver and to consider their travel plans, as certain change fees have been waived for them. United advises customers to log on to www.united.com to make changes to their itineraries or to call United reservations at 1-800-UNITED-1 or their travel agency. All changes must be made by midnight of the customers original travel date. Rescheduled travel may be subject to higher fares if it does not meet original rule and booking-code restrictions or is a new itinerary. The revised ticketing policies apply to all tickets purchased March 25, or earlier, for travel between March 25 and 27, to, from and through Denver on any United, United Express or United code-share flight. Origin and destination cities must remain the same. Customers with canceled flights are eligible to apply for a full refund. Flights may be delayed or canceled in Denver as a result of the forecasted snow. To check flight status, visit www.united.com or call 800-864-8331.

US Airways was granted tentative route authority by the US Dept. of Transportation to operate a daily Charlotte-Rio de Janeiro Galeao service. US will use a two-class, 204-seat 767 on the route and plans to launch in the fall.

Virgin America will begin charging passengers $15 for their first piece of checked luggage on travel booked from May 5. The second through 10th checked bags also will cost $15 each, replacing VX's old policy of $25 for the second bag and $50 each for subsequent pieces. First class passengers will be permitted to check two bags for free, and those purchasing VX's Main Cabin Select product will get one free bag. "Because we fly to primary airports, we mainly compete with the large network carriers, all of whom already charge this fee," VP-Planning and Sales Diana Walke explained. In addition, the charge for nonpremium passengers canceling or changing a flight online dropped to $50 from $75.

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