OAG Travel News

New York (AirGuide - Airport News)

Air Arabia
Air Arabia yesterday launched twice-weekly Sharjah-Medina service.

Air Canada
Air Canada will launch summer seasonal service to Athens and Barcelona from Toronto and Montreal next year. Subject to government approval, service will be operated June 3-Oct. 18 using 244-seat 767-300ERs. Both routes will be operated six days per week, with half the flights originating in Toronto and half in Montreal.

Air France, China Southern Airlines
Air France and China Southern Airlines announced an expansion of their codeshare agreement covering China Southern's flights from Guangzhou to Kunming, Xiamen and Wenzhou and AF's service from Paris Charles de Gaulle to Madrid, Milan Malpensa and London Heathrow.

AirBaltic
AirBaltic yesterday launched twice-weekly Riga-Pskov service aboard an Fokker F50.

AirBerlin
AirBerlin will operate seasonal weekly service from Nuremberg to Araxos and Kalamata beginning May 4.

Airtran Airways
US regulators have approved new service by AirTran Airways from Atlanta and Orlando to Aruba as part of the carrier's push to launch three new Caribbean destinations.In its application for approval to serve Aruba from Atlanta and Orlando, AirTran told regulators it aimed to launch daily roundtrip 737 service in each market starting 15 December.On 25 August AirTran unveiled plans to seek the necessary authority to launch the Atlanta/Orlando-Aruba routings as well as new service from Atlanta, Baltimore and Orlando to Nassau, Bahamas and Montego Bay Jamaica.AirTran exited Freeport, Bahamas in 2007, but later added Cancun, Mexico to its route network. The carrier has been studying several destinations in Canada and the Bahamas.

AirTran Airways
AirTran Airways released schedules for new service to Nassau, Bahamas, and Montego Bay, Jamaica. Pending final government approval, AirTran Airways will begin flights to Nassau on December 17, 2009 and to Montego Bay, Jamaica on February 11, 2010. Both destinations will feature nonstop flights from Atlanta, Baltimore/Washington, and Orlando, and connecting service from over 40 other AirTran cities.

AirTran Airways
AirTran Airways has put fares on routes to all of its destinations on sale, with lowest fares staring at USD 39. Fares are available for purchase through Sept. 17 for travel that must be completed by Jan. 27. Sample one-way fares are: Atlanta-Cancun, USD 99; Atlanta-Los Angeles, USD 134; and Atlanta,-New York, USD 89. For more information, call 800-AIR-TRAN or visit www.airtran.com.

Alaska Airlines
Alaska Airlines launched daily Portland, Ore.-San Jose-Austin service Tuesday aboard a Wi-Fi equipped 737-700. Route becomes twice-daily on March 14.

Alaska Airlines
Alaska Airlines resurrected the popular "nerd bird" route, providing nonstop service between San Jose, California and Austin, Texas. The flight will originate in Portland, Oregon, and the airline will add another daily flight between the three cities starting March 14, 2010. Alaska will inaugurate the new route with its "Wi-Fi One" aircraft, a specially-equipped Boeing 737-700 offering inflight broadband Internet access. Customers will be able to connect to Alaska Airlines Inflight Wi-Fi using any Wi-Fi enabled device, such as a laptop, smart phone, or portable media player.

Avianova, Airbus
Avianova, a new Russian LCC, launched operations from Moscow Vnukovo with two A320s serving Sochi, Krasnodar, Rostov-on-Don and Samara. RIA Novosti said the airline's fares start at RUB250 (USD 7.88) excluding taxes and fees. Avianova Director Vladimir Gorbunov said the carrier hopes to add two aircraft in time for the winter schedule, The Moscow Times reported.
he current aircraft are on lease from ILFC for five years each. Avianova's main shareholders are Alfa Group and Indigo Partners.

Bmi
Bmi is reducing its network with limited changes coming into effect with the new winter timetable. As of Nov. 3, the London Heathrow to Palma route will end, with the London Heathrow to Venice route ceasing operations from Nov. 15. Bmi will start re-accommodating already booked passengers with immediate effect. The two route closures are the only international closures the airline has made this year despite exceptionally challenging trading conditions. Bmi has, however, continued to invest in both service in the air and on the ground, enhancing its network and ensuring that it remains the airline of choice for the frequent business traveler. For more information, visit www.flybmi.com.

British Airways, Airbus
British Airways took delivery of the first of two A318s equipped with steep approach capability. The CFM56-5B9/3-powered aircraft will operate on the carrier's twice-daily (except Sunday) London City-New York JFK service scheduled to launch Sept. 29, featuring an all-business-class cabin with 32 seats. Route will be twice-daily in mid-October. 

British Airways. Airbus
British Airways is conducting steep-approach training at the UK Royal Air Force base at Lyneham ahead of placing its first all-business Airbus A318 into transatlantic service.

China Airlines
Chinese and Taiwanese carriers earlier launched scheduled services across the Taiwan Strait, marking the first time in 60 years there have been scheduled non-stop flights between China and Taiwan.Taiwanese carrier China Airlines (CAL) says its first scheduled passenger flight took off earlier today from Taipei Taoyuan airport to Beijing.CAL had already been operating on the route on a charter basis.

Delta Vacations
Delta Vacations is offering savings of USD 100 on all European destinations with an air and hotel vacation of USD 999 or more, with no black-out dates. Plus, travel agents can help their clients save an additional USD 50 with a Hertz car rental. Book by Sept. 12, 2009, to take advantage of this offer. Delta Vacations is a brand of MLT Vacations, one of the largest providers of vacation packages in the United States. Delta Vacations offers customizable vacations with the lowest available packaged airfares via scheduled air service on Delta Air Lines, Northwest Airlines, Delta Connection carriers and Delta Worldwide Partners to more than 200 of the world most appealing leisure destinations. Its marketing alliances allow travelers to earn bonus miles, credited flight miles and Elite Qualifying Miles on either the SkyMiles or WorldPerks programs via more than 16,000 daily flights offered by SkyTeam alliance carriers. For more information, visit www.worldagentdirect.com. 

Eastern Airways
Eastern Airways will launch five-times-weekly flights to Bergen from both Newcastle and Aberdeen on Oct. 5.

EasyJet
UK budget carrier EasyJet is to axe its East Midlands Airport base and cut its flight program at London Luton by 20 percent.The carrier is reducing the Luton services after failing to secure better charging terms, while it says its East Midlands base has "remained stagnant for many years". EasyJet says it will shift most of the spare capacity created to continental Europe. It has three aircraft stationed at East Midlands and around 16 at Luton.

Emirates Airlines, Airbus
The top executive at Dubai-based Emirates airline said Monday that he expects that the carrier's Airbus A380 superjumbo flights will return to New York in the first six months of 2010, because passenger demand should be recovering by then.The airline started New York service with the double-deck aircraft in April of last year, but pulled it two months later and replaced it with the smaller Boeing 777. Emirates has stretched its network as demand sank in the recession, especially in the U.S. Emirates currently has five A380s in its fleet.

Etihad Airways
Etihad Airways yesterday launched thrice-weekly Abu Dhabi-Chicago O'Hare service aboard an A340-500, increasing to six-times-weekly on Oct. 31 and daily from the beginning of 2010.

Etihad Airways
Etihad Airways introduced its new first class suite on an A340-600 operating between Abu Dhabi and London Heathrow. Suite includes an 80.5-in. lie-flat leather seat, a 23-in. LCD screen, a wooden table and a changing room with full-length mirror, sink and a fold-down seat. A second -600 equipped with the suite will enter the fleet next month. Five A330-300s will be delivered with the suites over the next two years, starting in December. Nine A340s will be retrofitted by December 2010.

Etihad Airways
Etihad Airways is to open a new premium lounge in Terminal Four at Heathrow Airport at the end of the month.The national carrier for the United Arab Emirates is moving its operation to T4 from Terminal Three as part of the major re-organisation of the airport.Facilities in the lounge will include massage services, a prayer room, dining facilities and work stations.www.etihadairways.com

Garuda Indonesia
Australia's competition watchdog is taking Garuda Indonesia to court for alleged price fixing on air cargo, making the Indonesian national carrier the 10th airline to face legal action.The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), in a case before the country's federal court, says that Garuda "entered into arrangements or understandings with other international air cargo carriers" between 2001 and 2006.

Gulf Air
Gulf Air launched its five-times-weekly Bahrain-Baghdad service Monday and said it plans to launch flights to both Najaf and Erbil on Sept. 15. Routes to Basra and Solamnia will follow. It said it aims to be the "market leader" in Iraq.

Hawaiian Airlines
Hawaiian Airlines and Korean Air launched an expanded codeshare arrangement yesterday under which HA will place its code on KE's flights from Incheon to Busan and Honolulu.

IndiGo
IndiGo will launch twice-weekly Kolkata-Dibrugarh service on Sept. 16.

JetBlue Airways
JetBlue Airways announced that it will waive change fees and fare differences to allow customers booked to or from St. Maarten to postpone their travel plans due to the projected path of Tropical Storm Erika.JetBlue serves St. Maarten with nonstop flights from Boston and New York/JFK. Customers who are booked to travel September 4-5 to or from St. Maarten may opt to change to new flights - between the same cities - that depart anytime through September 8.All changes are subject to seat availability and must be made prior to the customer's originally scheduled departure. Customers may rebook their travel online at www.jetblue.com.To check on the status of flights or to check the availability of alternative flights, customers are encouraged to log on to www.jetblue.com or call 1-800-JETBLUE (538-2583). Customers with web-enabled cell phones and PDAs may also check the status of their flight via mobile.jetblue.com.

JetBlue Airways
JetBlue Airways is adjusting its schedule at San Diego International airport by transitioning flights to Seattle to seasonal service and eliminating service to Salt Lake City.New York-based JetBlue will discontinue its single daily flight between San Diego and Salt Lake City from 31 October. 

JetBlue Airways
JetBlue Airways will increase service from San Francisco to Long Beach (thrice-daily to five-times-daily), Boston (daily to twice-daily) and New York JFK (daily to twice-daily) in January.

JetBlue Airways, Embraer
JetBlue reports that no passengers were injured following an evacuation of an Embraer E-190 (N258JB) at the Lynden Pindling International airport in the Bahamas Thursday afternoon.Flight 1781, with 89 passengers and four crew, had departed Orlando for the Bahamas at 1234h local time, arriving at Nassau at 1335h. According to JetBlue, fire was visible "on the left-hand side of the aircraft near the engine" upon landing at Nassau.JetBlue says the twinjet "taxied under its own power away from the active taxiway, stopped and successfully deployed the evacuation slides on the right-hand side of the aircraft".

JetBlue Airways, Lufthansa
JetBlue Airways and Lufthansa, which owns 15.6 percent of the New York JFK-based LCC, yesterday announced a codeshare agreement. Subject to US Dept. of Transportation approval, LH initially will place its code on connecting flights from JFK and/or Boston to Austin, Buffalo, Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, New Orleans, Pittsburgh, Raleigh-Durham, Rochester, San Juan, Syracuse, Tampa and West Palm Beach. LH said JetBlue customers will have access to LH's "network of 180 destinations in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia." The airlines expect to make the flights available for sale by early October.

Jetstar Asia
Jetstar Asia could start long-haul low-cost services out of Singapore if it secures some of the Airbus A330-200s that Qantas Airways will take on lease from end-2010.Qantas, which owns 49 percent of the Singapore-based low-cost carrier, said in August that it would get the first leased A330 in November 2010 and three more in 2011. It could get a fifth leased A330 later if there is sufficient demand. It said then that these are for Jetstar, its Australian low-cost subsidiary that already has a fleet of six A330-200s.However, Jetstar Asia CEO Chong Phit Lian says that her carrier hopes to get some of the A330s so that it can emulate Australia's Jetstar and launch long-haul operations from Singapore.

KD-Avia. Boeing
Russian investigators have concluded that a KD-Avia Boeing 737-300 crew accidentally landed with the gear retracted after being distracted by an apparent asymmetric flap problem which, in reality, did not exist.The aircraft had been preparing to make a night approach to Kaliningrad in poor weather last October, when an attempt to extend the flaps from 2 to 5 resulted in a mismatch indication, suggesting the left-hand flaps were stuck in the 2 position.Russia's Interstate Aviation Committee (MAK) says its analysis of the aircraft's motion points to there being "no real disagreement", and that examination by Boeing pointed to a probable flap sensor failure from moisture, producing an incorrect indication to the crew.

Kingfisher Airlines
India's Kingfisher Airlines will cease daily flights on the London-Bangalore and Bangalore-Colombo routes from 15 September. The routes will be withdrawn "until further notice," says the carrier.Kingfisher operates Airbus A330 aircraft on the London-Bangalore route, according to Innovata. Its only competition on the route is British Airways, which operates seven flights a week, all with Boeing 747-400 aircraft.

Korean Airlines Cargo
Korean Air Cargo will increase twice-weekly Seoul Incheon-Toronto Pearson 747-400F service to thrice-weekly in September.

Lufthansa
Lufthansa will launch thrice-weekly Munich-Tashkent service March 28 to be operated by Swiss carrier PrivatAir aboard a 737-800.

Midwest Airlines
Midwest Airlines is offering bargain fares for travel Sept. 22, through Feb. 10. Travelers can purchase tickets through midnight, central time, Friday, Sept. 18 and at least 14 days in advance of travel. Sale fares are available to and from the airline hubs in Milwaukee and Kansas City, with easy connections to cities throughout the United States. Sample one-way fares based on roundtrip travel are: Milwaukee-Atlanta, USD 74; Milwaukee-Philadelphia, USD 99; and Milwaukee-New York Newark, USD 99. For more information, visit www.midwestairlines.com.

Nok Air
Thai low-cost carrier Nok Air is launching services to the southern Thai city of Surat Thani in late October.It will operate Boeing 737-400s on the twice-daily service from its base in Bangkok's Don Meung airport, says Nok Air's executive vice-president of marketing Sehapan Chumsai.The carrier has a fleet of five 737-400s, including two it recently added on lease from GE Commercial Aviation Services, he says. Its first three 737-400s are leased from Thai Airways, which owns 39 percent of Nok.

Norwegian Air
Norwegian will launch winter-season flights from Stockholm Arlanda to Barcelona and Tenerife (in October) and Salzburg (December) and from Copenhagen to Geneva, SZG and BCN, as well as Trondheim-Las Palmas service. It also will add third weekly flights to Dubai from CPH and ARN and a weekly service from CPH.

Oman Air
Oman Air will launch flights from Muscat to Frankfurt (four-times-weekly from Sept. 30) and Munich (thrice-weekly from Oct. 1) aboard A330-200s. Routes will be operated with A330-300s from December.

OneWorld
Members of the OneWorld airline alliance serving Barcelona El Prat airport are to move to the new Terminal 1 building on September 9.The airlines include Iberia and affiliate Air Nostrum, American Airlines, British Airways, Finnair and Royal Jordanian.Vueling, which is part-owned by Iberia but not itself a oneworld member, will also move to the building at the same time.oneworld's airlines will have adjoining check-in desks. Lounge arrangements are yet to be confirmed.London Heathrow will see a similar move this year when oneworld members go from using five terminals to just two.oneworld completed a similar move to Madrid's Terminal 4 in February 2006.www.oneworld.com

Pacific Blue
Pacific Blue begins operations on four new international services from New Zealand this week as part of its expansion plan.The carrier, a subsidiary of Australia's Virgin Blue, is launching its twice-weekly Sydney-Queenstown service tomorrow.

Philippine Airlines
Philippine Airlines yesterday launched daily Manila-Cebu-Davao-Manila service aboard an A330. PAL Express launched flights from Manila to Naga (twice-daily) and Surigao (daily) and added a second daily Cebu-Iloilo flight.

Qantas Airways, Virgin Blue, V Australia
Qantas Airways has applied for more traffic rights on the Australia-Fiji sector just days after Virgin Blue's V Australia applied for similar traffic rights.This is because from April Qantas' low-cost carrier subsidiary Jetstar plans to launch a seven-times-weekly service on the route using Airbus A321s, it says.

Qatar Airways
Qatar Airways will add a fifth-weekly Doha-Zurich A330 flight on Oct. 25.

Rex Regional Express
Australian regional carrier Regional Express (Rex) will resume services on the Melbourne-Griffith route from 9 October.The carrier will operate six flights a week on the route using Saab 340 aircraft, says Rex.The carrier originally launched the route in October 2007, but a pilot shortage forced it to suspend the route in February 2008.

SkyEurope Airlines
After battling steadily waning passenger numbers and a critical lack of cash for most of the past year, SkyEurope Airlines AS, the operating unit of Vienna-listed SkyEurope Holding AG, Tuesday ceased all operations while the holding company initiated bankruptcy proceedings.The Bratislava-based airline - the first low-cost carrier in central Europe when it started eight years ago in the run-up to expansion of the European Union in 2004 - canceled all flights from its hubs in Bratislava, Vienna and Prague, leaving passengers stranded across Europe.It was unclear how many passengers were affected. SkyEurope couldn't be reached for comment.A slew of low-fare airlines including easyJet PLC, Ryanair Holdings PLC and Wizz Air PLC Tuesday offered stranded SkyEurope passengers discounted flight tickets. 

SkyEurope Airlines
Central European budget carrier SkyEurope Airlines has suspended operations with immediate effect.The airline, already under Slovak creditor protection, has been struggling to stay afloat in the face of heavy losses, defaults on payments and, lately, being barred from two major bases.

SkyEurope Airlines
Embattled budget carrier SkyEurope Airlines' operational situation appears to be deteriorating, with Bratislava Airport's timetable indicating a mass cancellation of its flights.Bratislava Airport is the carrier's home base. While SkyEurope could not be reached to clarify its position, the airport's live schedule lists all the carrier's arrivals and departures for the next 24 hours as cancelled.Having been barred from Vienna Airport, after claims of unpaid debts, the airline is also facing a handling ban at Prague from tomorrow. Prague Airport's operator says services to the carrier "will cease being provided" from 1 September, until regular payments restart.

Southwest Airlines
Southwest Airlines will temporarily halt flights on three routes early next year as it deals with a decline in air traffic and tries to bend its schedule to fit seasonal demand.The airline published a new schedule Tuesday that covers flights from next Jan. 9 to March 12.The airline will cut one flight per day on 92 routes and increase service on 42 routes, usually by one trip per day as well.Southwest also will suspend service between Albuquerque, N.M., and Portland, Ore.; and between Manchester, N.H., and Phoenix, with flights resuming in February. Flights between Kansas City, Mo., and Seattle will stop in January and resume in May, according to the airline.

Southwest Airlines
Southwest Airlines announced its newest product, EarlyBird Check-in, which gives customers the option to score an early boarding position by adding an additional USD 10 to the price of a one-way fare.The service automatically reserves a boarding position for customers prior to general check-in, allowing EarlyBird customers to begin boarding the plane after Southwest's Business Select and Rapid Rewards A-List customers.

Southwest Airlines
Southwest Airlines announced schedule adjustments for the Jan. 9-March 12, 2010, period featuring elimination of 92 individual flights and addition of another 42, including new service from St. Louis to Boston and Minneapolis-St. Paul beginning Jan. 10. It temporarily will suspend Albuquerque-Portland, Ore., Manchester, N.H.-Pheonix and Kansas City-Seattle service.

Turkish Airlines
Turkish Airlines intends to double its frequency in Asia within the next two years, starting with Tokyo Narita, from four weekly flights to daily operations to Bangkok, which will include an equipment upgrade to 2 daily flights, 3 days a week in December 2009, with 4 flights extensions probably to Saigon, while the additional 3 flights are intended as flight extensions either to Manila or Guangzhou, depending on the services agreement that will be discussed later between the Philippines.With today's flight to Jakarta as an extension of the flights to Singapore, Turkish Airlines is stepping up it’s efforts to fly to more Asian destinations. This is an attempt to bolster load factors on that under-performing sector, especially by attracting Muslim religious traffic from Indonesia, which may wish to transit via Istanbul.

Wizz Air
Central European budget carrier Wizz Air aims to capitalise on rival SkyEurope Airlines' collapse by stationing a third aircraft at Prague. Prague had been one of the main bases for SkyEurope, which folded on 1 September. Wizz Air established itself in the Prague market early in 2009 and has already laid out plans to base two Airbus A320s at the Czech capital.

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