BRITISH AIRWAYS ADDS SIXTH WEEKLY FLIGHT TO SHANGHAI
British Airways (BA) is to add a sixth weekly flight on the London Heathrow – Shanghai Pu Dong link from April 28. The additional rotation will be operated on Thursdays; the route being one of those being flown by the airline’s new four-class Boeing 777-300ERs. BA competes with China Eastern Airlines and Virgin Atlantic Airways, the latter operating a daily schedule using Airbus A340-600s and holding the leading share of the traffic with a 49 per cent stake of the 297,000 passenger O&D market last year.
KLM SCALES BACK WINTER CAPACITY
It appears that KLM Royal Dutch Airlines is to reduce frequencies on some of its long-haul routes after preliminary information on its Northern Winter 2011/2012 schedules was uploaded into the GDS. Its current daily Amsterdam – Osaka Kansai route will be reduced from a daily to a six-times weekly schedule. KLM is the only airline flying the route, an O&D market of over 26,000 passengers in 2010. Air France, Alitalia, Finnair and Lufthansa also provide non-stop links from Europe, but the Dutch flag carrier currently holds the largest share of the traffic, accounting for almost 18 per cent of passengers. KLM will also reduce flights from Amsterdam to Paramaribo from five a week to four, while plans to add a fourth weekly rotation to Abuja and Kano in Abuja appears to have been cancelled. Further information is expected to be released in the coming months.
OLYMPIC AIR DROPS EUROPEAN ROUTES AND SHIFTS CAPACITY TO DOMESTIC MARKET
Greek carrier Olympic Air is to scale back its international activities this summer, suspending flights on five routes and cutting frequencies on four more. The additional capacity will be deployed in the domestic market with two new routes from Athens and four from Thessaloniki, although some international destinations will also see frequency increases. From March 27, Olympic will suspend its activities between Athens and Brussels, London Heathrow, and Vienna and between Thessaloniki and London Gatwick, while from May 3 its Athens - Paris CDG route will also be suspended – together these routes were due to be served 63 times weekly. Its frequencies on flights from Athens to Bucharest (from 12 to nine), Larnaca (17 to 14), Sofia (12 to nine) and Tirana (12 to ten) will be decreased with effect from the start of the Northern Summer schedules at the end of March. Some of this capacity will be redeployed onto the Amsterdam and Cairo routes from Athens, where frequencies will increase to nine- and six-times weekly, respectively. New domestic routes will also be added from Thessaloniki to Chania, Heraklion, Mytilene and Rhodes, and from Athens to Alexandroupolis and Corfu.
JAT AIRWAYS TO SERVE GIRONA
Serbian flag carrier JAT Airways is to begin flights between Belgrade and Girona this summer. The airline is understood to have selected the smaller facility as an alternative to Barcelona El Prat to cater to both business and leisure traffic needs. The twice weekly link will be launched from June 4 and will be operated using a Boeing 737-300. Spanair already offers a three-times weekly link between Belgrade and Barcelona, a market of around 30,000 O&D passengers in 2010.
ADRIA AIRWAYS RESUMES SEASONAL FLIGHTS
Slovenian flag carrier and Star Alliance member Adria Airways is to resume a number of European flights this summer, although previous links from the country’s capital Ljubljana to Madrid and Tel Aviv will not be resurrected. The airline will offer twice-weekly flights (rising to three-times weekly during set periods) to Athens from April 21, Barcelona from April 24 and Kiev from June 5 using a mix of Bombardier CRJ200s and CRJ900s on these new services. Adria Airways dominates scheduled traffic at Ljubljana Brnik Airport accounting for over 80 per cent of the flights from the Slovenian capital. The three new routes will mainly target business and leisure traffic, although the is also a strong ethnic demand to Ukraine.
BLUE ISLANDS LAUNCHES ‘EXECUTIVE SERVICE’ TO JERSEY FROM LONDON CITY
A new link between London City Airport and Jersey will be established by regional carrier Blue Islands Airline this summer. The Channel Islands-based operator will launch an eleven-times weekly service on the route from April 18 with two flights every weekday and a single Sunday evening rotation. It has acquired an ATR 42-500, configured with 48-seat for the service. The flight will provide a ‘club class’ style travelling experience with a standard fare of £85 one way, inclusive of taxes, with all passengers enjoying complimentary refreshments onboard and use of a dedicated executive lounge at Jersey Airport. Blue Islands also offers a unique ‘no hidden charges’ pricing policy, which includes free changes to all tickets, with no charges for baggage or debit and credit card usage. Derek Coates, Chairman, Blue Islands, says the new route will allow passengers to avoid what London City describes as “all the hassle and long check-in times of Gatwick.“ London City is a dream airport - with a check in time of only 20 minutes, this new service means that business traveller, whose time is valuable, can make the most of a day trip to Jersey. It’s also great for colleagues in Jersey who want a full day in London and for every executive who appreciates that time is money!” he said. Jersey is known for its picturesque old-world charm mixed with buzzing nightlife, elegant seafood dining in its capital St Helier and tax free shopping. It remains an excellent all year round destination for both leisure and business travellers.
NIKI UPS VIENNA – COPENHAGEN FREQUENCY
Austrian carrier Niki is to increase capacity on its Vienna – Copenhagen link with a second weekday rotation. The airline will operate eleven flights per week using a mix of Airbus A320s and Embraer 190s. It competes directly on the route with flag carrier Austrian Airlines which will offer up to 28 flights per week this summer. Niki had an eight per cent share of the 202,000 O&D passenger market in 2010 – when Norwegian and airberlin also served the route. Interestingly, the data highlights that its average fares were actually higher than those of all its rivals suggesting that it was attracting a good mix of business and leisure travellers.
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