CZECH AIRLINES DROPS BAKU PLAN
Eastern European national carrier and SkyTeam alliance member Czech Airlines has dropped plans to inaugurate flights between Prague and the Azerbaijani capital Baku. The company was due to start flights on June 6 but originally delayed the launch until June 27. However, it has now emerged that Czech Airlines has no plans to inaugurate the service and will instead enter into a codeshare arrangement with Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) which already offers two flights per week between the two destinations. An estimated 11,000 O&D passengers made the journey between the two capital cities in the past year, up from 2,000 in the previous 12 month period, following AZAL’s arrival on the route. It now has an 83 per cent share of this traffic with the remaining passengers flying on indirect flights via other European and CIS cities.
THY ADDS SECOND PAKISTAN ROUTE
Turkish Airlines (THY) is to inaugurate flights between Istanbul and Islamabad next month; its second destination in Pakistan. The carrier will introduce a three times weekly rotation on the route from July 21 using a Boeing 737-800. THY already provides a four times weekly link between Istanbul and Karachi, a route that it uses widebodied equipment in the form of Airbus A330s and A340s. An estimated 43,000 O&D passengers travelled between Turkey and Pakistan in the last year. THY currently dominates the market with a 34.1 per cent share followed by Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) with a 22.0 per cent share. The latter already provides flights between Islamabad and Istanbul (via Abu Dhabi), an estimated O&D market for 10,000 travellers in the last year.
S7 AIRLINES BOOSTS WINTER LINKS TO BEIJING
Russian carrier S7 Airlines is to increase the frequency of its flights to Beijing from three Russian cities from the end of October. The oneworld alliance member will double capacity from Khabarovsk with a second weekly flight and introduce two additional weekly rotations from Irkutsk and Novosibirsk this winter when compared to last year’s schedule. The flights will all be operated using Airbus A320 Family Jets. Alongside these three routes, S7 Airlines also offers links to the Chinese capital from Krasnoyarsk and Vladivostok. It is currently the largest carrier flying into Beijing Capital International Airport from Russia, although Aeroflot Russian Airlines, Air China and Hainan Airlines all offer more weekly seat capacity by operating widebody equipment on some of their services. S7 Airlines competes directly with Hainan Airlines on the Irkutsk – Beijing and Novosibirsk – Beijing routes holding dominating52 per cent and 68 per cent shares of the 33,000 passenger and 40,000 passenger O&D traffic, respectively. On the Khabarovsk – Beijing link it competes with Vladivostok Air.
EGYPTAIR LAUNCHES ALEXANDRIA – DUBAI CONNECTION
EgyptAir has inaugurated a daily connection to Dubai from the ancient Egyptian city of Alexandria, supplementing its existing flights into the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from the country’s capital Cairo. The airline has a double daily service to Dubai, ten flights per week to Abu Dhabi and a daily rotation to Sharjah and accounts for 40.3 per cent of the 1.34 million O&D passengers that travel between Egypt and UAE every year. The new flight will launched on June 20 and is being flown by an Airbus A320. While a large number of airlines have now transferred their operations in Alexandria to Borg el Arab Airport, EgyptAir continues to fly from El Nozha, currently offering domestic links to Cairo, Hurghada and Sharm el Sheikh, alongside international services to Beirut, Dammam, Jeddah, Kuwait, Madinah and Riyadh. An estimated 332,000 O&D passengers travelled between the two Alexandria airports and UAE in the past year. Flydubai currently offers a twice daily service from Borg el Arab to Dubai, while Air Arabia Egypt has five flights per week to Abu Dhabi and Etihad Airways four. Air Arabia also offers up to three flights per day from El Nozha to its Sharjah hub. “EgyptAir considers the UAE as one of the most important markets in the Middle East; also Dubai embraces a great number of expatriate Egyptians,” said Ashraf Hassan, Dubai District Manager, EgyptAir. “On the other hand, Alexandria is one of the major touristic and travel places in Egypt and as well being a fertile market for Arab and Foreign investments.”
TRANSAERO TO ADD LINKS TO LISBON AND MADRID
Expanding Russian operator Transaero Airlines is to add two further European Capital cities to its network this summer with new links from its Moscow Domodedovo base to Lisbon and Madrid. The Portuguese capital will be served weekly from July 2 with a Boeing 737-300, while Spain’s capital will see a twice weekly service with effect from September 22, again using a 737-300. The carrier will face competition on both routes, its first destination in Portugal and fifth in Spain. TAP Portugal currently offers ten flights per week between Moscow and Lisbon, a market of around 61,000 O&D passengers in the past year. Meanwhile, Iberia (16 flights per week) and S7 Airlines (three flights per week) serve the Moscow Domodedovo – Madrid route, with Aeroflot Russian Airlines also providing 13 flights per week to the Spanish capital from Sheremetyevo. In total, an estimated 122,000 O&D passengers flew between Madrid and the Russian capital.
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