WESTJET BEGINS PRINCE GEORGE – LAS VEGAS FEASIBILITY TRIAL
Canadian low-cost carrier WestJet Airlines inaugurated flights from the British Columbian city of Prince George to Las Vegas on September 10, currently the only scheduled air service to the US. The twice weekly link is being flown for an eleven-week trial period, according to the airline to test the feasibility of the route. Horizon Air had previously offered flights from Prince George to Seattle in 2008, however, over the past couple of years passengers have had to fly on the multiple-daily services of Air Canada and WestJet to Vancouver to connect to the US and other destination. "As announced back in July, we had a window of additional flying time over an 11-week period and we knew there was demand for service to Las Vegas from Prince George," said John MacLeod, Vice-President, Network Management and Alliances, WestJet "So, we are taking the opportunity to test the feasibility of this service.” WestJet is currently the largest operator (according to capacity) at Prince George with three flights per day to Vancouver, as well as seasonal flights to Puerto Vallarta in Mexico. Air Canada offers a more frequent service on the domestic route but uses smaller regional jet and turboprop equipment.
FLYDUBAI TO BEGIN GEORGIAN ADVENTURE
United Arab Emirates (UAE) low-cost carrier Flydubai is to inaugurate a twice weekly flight between Dubai and Tbilisi, the capital of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Republic of Georgia. The new service will commence from November 4 and will represent the first time a UAE carrier has provided a non-stop link between the two countries. “Flydubai's entry into Georgia is a momentous step in UAE-Georgia relations and I am sure the connection between Tbilisi and Dubai will help to establish and strengthen ties between the countries,” said George Karbelashvili, Deputy Minister of Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development in Georgia. There is actually a lot of business links between the two countries with a number of common areas of interest such as banking, real estate, oil and gas and tourism; and air service connectivity will provide the opportunity to step-up collaboration in these sectors while exploring new relationship avenues. An estimated 19,000 O&D passengers travelled between the UAE and Georgia in the past year, up 9.2 per cent on the previous 12 month period. The majority of these (around 95 per cent) flew on the Dubai – Tbilisi route, making use of the flights of Georgian Airlines – the carrier offers two rotations per week. “We are grateful to the Georgian authorities for welcoming flydubai into Tbilisi. As Georgia's largest city as well as its industrial, social, and cultural centre, Tbilisi is gaining prominence in the Middle East both as a business and leisure destination,” said Ghaith Al Ghaith, Chief Executive Officer, flydubai. Located at the crossroads of West Asia and Eastern Europe, Georgia has one of the strongest and fastest developing economies in the region and in recent years has made foreign investment more attractive through reduced regulation and taxes. It is also one of the members of the GUAM Organisation for Democracy and Economic Development along with Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova. There are estimated to be more than 55,000 expatriates from Georgia and the neighbouring region residing in the UAE and more than a million tourists visit the emirates from this area every year. “Improving air links between Dubai to Central and Eastern Europe is of great strategic importance to us,” added Ghaith Al Ghaith, noting the airline’s expanding network in this part of the world. Flydubai currently operates five routes to former Soviet states, namely: Yerevan (Armenia) Baku (Azerbaijan), Ekaterinburg and Samara (Russia) and Ashgabat (Turkmenistan) and will be launching two additional routes to Russia - Kazan from September 14 and Ufa from September 17. It is also preparing for its expansion into the Ukrainian market with new links to Kiev and Kharkiv beginning on September 16 and Donetsk from September 17.
ROYAL JORDANIAN RETURNS TO LIBYA
Royal Jordanian Airlines will resurrect links to Libya by the end of this week, according to its President and Chief Executive Officer, Hussein Dabbas. The company suspended its operations to the country after turmoil erupted in Libya last February, but Dabbas confirms the airline is ready to resume flights from Amman to Tripoli and Banghazi “once all the necessary approvals are obtained from the concerned authorities — expected soon — and the readiness of the Libyan airports to receive flights is ensured”. Royal Jordanian expects to return to Benghazi by the end of this week with flights to Tripoli starting immediately after. It is expected to initially offer a frequent, probably daily, schedule to accommodate the strong demand on travel between the two countries, especially on the part of businessmen, students and Jordanian workforce in Libya, as well as Libyan citizens who come to Jordan seeking medical treatment. The carrier previously offered five weekly flights to Tripoli and two weekly flights to Benghazi before the unrest erupted in Libya, carrying an estimated 42,000 and 8,000 O&D passengers on the two routes, respectively. Libyan Airlines had also served both routes carrying around 41,000 and 13,000 O&D passengers.
HAWAIIAN AIRLINES TO OFFER MAUI - SAN JOSE FLIGHT
Hawaiian Airlines has confirmed it is to introduce a direct flight to San José from the island of Maui from January 10, 2012. The announcement follows just a week after the carrier revealed it would offer year-round flights to Oakland from Maui’s Kahului Airport. The new link, its first ever non-stop service between the two destinations will operate three times weekly and will be flown using a 264-seat Boeing 767-300ER, which offers an 18-seat First Class cabin. An estimated 80,000 O&D passengers travelled between San José and the Maui in the past year, around 37 per cent of these travelling on Hawaiian Airlines’ existing flight via Honolulu. Alaska Airlines already offers a daily direct flight on the route and carried around 25,000 O&D passengers in the past year, a 31 per cent share of the total market. “We know how popular Maui is for South Bay residents so our new non-stop service from San José will let them make the most of their visit,” explained Glenn Taniguchi, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Sales, Hawaiian Airlines.
AIR NIGERIA DEVELOPS REGIONAL LINKS
Air Nigeria has confirmed it will strengthen its position in the local African market with the extension of its international route network to also cover Freetown in Sierra Leone and Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It will also improve connectivity between its existing ten regional destinations by introducing new sectors and increasing frequencies on current routes. The African flag carrier offers flights from Lagos to Abidjan, Accra, Banjul, Brazzaville, Cotonou, Dakar, Douala, Libreville and Monrovia and recently introduced a link to Sao Tome & Principe. The new services to Freetown and Kinshasa will commence in November and will be supported by additional frequencies on routes to Accra and Douala. Air Nigeria plans to develop Accra as a mini-hub for flights around the West African region and Cotonou for flights to the Central African region. The carrier will also reintroduce long-haul flights later this year, although a new link to London Gatwick due to commence on September 1 has been delayed. According to the airline, its plans include extending its network “to more African destinations, Europe, Asia and the Americas in the near future”.
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