SUN COUNTRY CONFIRMS LIBERIA LINK
US carrier Sun Country Airlines is to inaugurate flights between Minneapolis/St. Paul and Liberia, Costa Rica during the Northern Winter schedules, the only non-stop flights between the two cities. The new seasonal flight will operate every week between January 13 and April 13 using a two-class Boeing 737-800. The details of the new route were revealed as Sun Country announced its winter schedule, including flights to a range of leisure destinations including, Cabo San Lucas, Cozumel, Fort Myers, Harlingen/ South Padre, Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo, Mazatlan, Miami, Montego Bay, Palm Springs, Phoenix, Puerto Vallarta, Punta Cana, San Juan, St Maarten and St Thomas. “Liberia is a great winter destination and we are looking forward to providing Minnesota travelers with the only non-stop service,” said Stan Gadek, President and Chief Executive Officer, Sun Country Airlines. “We’re expanding our Hometown Airline this winter to give our customers a familiar, convenient and value-based choice to Costa Rica.”
AMERICAN TO OFFER ANTIGUA LINK FROM NEW YORK
US carrier American Airlines is to inaugurate flights between New York JFK and Antigua this winter. The carrier is planning to offer a four times weekly link with effect from November 17. It plans to use a Boeing 737-800 on the new service. The route is already served three times weekly by Delta Air Lines and twice weekly by Caribbean Airlines and an estimated 32,000 O&D passengers flew between the two destinations in the past year. Delta dominates the market with a 54 per cent share of this traffic, but American already accounts for around a third of the passengers with flights via Miami International and San Juan. The carrier has increased its traffic on the route by 13.9 per cent in the past year with stronger yields than both its rivals.
AZUL BOOSTS PRESENCE IN DOMESTIC BRAZILIAN MARKET
Brazilian carrier Azul has boosted its network within the country and plans further expansion next month. The airline is currently the third largest carrier in Brazil by domestic seat capacity, offering more than 185,000 seats to the market on more than 1,750 weekly domestic rotations. In the last week it has inaugurated daily flights from Sao Paulo Viracopos to Palmas and introduced a second daily rotation to Uberaba, while later this week (June 15) it will launch daily flights to Juazeiro Do Norte. There is currently no direct competition on any of these routes although Pantanal Linhas Aereas and TAM Airlines do offer flights to Uderaba from Aeroporto Internacional Guarulhos in Sao Paulo, a market of an estimated 5,400 O&D passengers in the past year. Further expansion is planned for July with a daily Rio de Janeiro Santos Dumont – Salvador da Bahia – Recife – Fortaleza – Belem – Manaus rotation commencing on July 1. This additional flight will mean service on the Rio de Janeiro Santos Dumont – Salvador da Bahia and Salvador da Bahia – Recife – Fortaleza will double from daily to double daily as well as the first flights on the Fortaleza – Belem – Manaus routing. From the same date, a third daily rotation between Sao Paulo Viracopos and President Prudente; Gol Transportes Aereos also serves the destination from Congonhas International Airport and Pantanal Linhas Aereas and TAM Airlines from Aeroporto Internacional Guarulhos.
INTERJET TO OFFER MEXICO CITY – GUATEMALA CITY LINK
Mexican low-cost carrier Interjet is to resume flights between Mexico City and Guatemala City on July 1, a route presently served twice daily by TACA partner LACSA; Aeromexico will also start a twice daily link between the two destinations from July 4. Interjet will initially offer a daily rotation but from July 20 will increase frequencies to 13 a week. An estimated 89,000 O&D passengers travelled between the two cities in the past year with LACSA carrying 57 per cent of this traffic. This route was one of a number that Mexicana held a strong presence and despite failing last year it still accounts for a third of the annual traffic up until the end of March 2011.
SOUTHWEST AIRLINES ADDS CAPACITY FROM MILWAUKEE
Southwest Airlines and its wholly-owned subsidiary AirTran Airways are to boost links between Milwaukee and Denver, Des Moines, Akron-Canton and St Louis from this September. According to Southwest, AirTran will add two daily flights to Akron-Canton and Des Moines, while it will initiate a twice service to St Louis, as well as offering a daily link to Denver, a route already served once daily by AirTran. These flights will all commence on September 6 when AirTran’s existing marketing partnership with SkyWest Airlines on all these routes ends. "As we continue to integrate AirTran into Southwest, we have the opportunity to provide new Customer itineraries out of terrific cities like Milwaukee," said Bob Jordan, Executive Vice President Strategy and Planning, Southwest Airlines and President of AirTran Airways. "In working together with AirTran, I think we have an excellent plan for providing more capacity and options to Milwaukee. AirTran and Southwest have each achieved great success in Milwaukee, and Southwest remains committed to that market with a combined total of more than 50 daily departures to more than 20 nonstop destinations." Frontier Airlines currently dominates capacity at General Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee and competes on routes to Des Moines, St Louis and Denver, with United Airlines also offering service to the latter. However, AirTran is currently the sole operator to Akron-Canton with 20 flights per week using a Bombardier CRJ200 of SkyWest Airlines. Southwest Airlines currently serves six destinations (Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall, Kansas City, Las Vegas McCarran, Orlando International, Phoenix Sky Harbor, Tampa International) from Milwaukee offering 77 flights per week.
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