Southwest Airlines has as many as 50 additional opportunities to expand its route map in North America and parts of South America as the US low-cost carrier prepares to launch services to four destinations in Hawaii.
Airbus enjoyed a late flood of orders in 2017, including the finalisation of a record deal for 430 single-aisle aircraft. Southwest Airlines has also announced an increase to its Boeing order book.
US airlines are projected to carry more than 50 million passengers over the winter holiday travel period, with 91,000 additional seats per day on offer.
Routesonline analyses the North American aviation industry, taking a monthly look at the top routes served and revealing the airlines that are dominating the market. We also rank the top ten airports by available departure seats.
Global airlines carried 3.8 billion passengers on scheduled services last year, an increase of 7 percent on the previous 12 months, representing an additional 242 million air trips.
Southwest’s expansion into the international market from Oakland International comes as the airport enhances its facilities to handle a significant increase in international traffic during 2017. Work is well underway to modernise and expand the International Arrivals Building for US Customs & Border Protection services, and is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2017.
US airlines are in a period of surging profits due to low oil prices, consolidation and strong demand. But with the arrival of a new US administration, long-standing issues such as infrastructure and a failure to develop secondary and tertiary airports, is everything positive?
The US DOT formally instituted a slot assignment proceeding earlier this month to allocate a total of 28 slot pairs at the two airports. These are being released in a two phase process for operations from summer 2017 and summer 2018 and will be provided exclusively to low-cost carriers, which it believes exert the greatest competitive impact when entering slot-constrained markets.
Southwest Airlines will launch daily flights into Northern Kentucky International Airport from Chicago Midway and Baltimore Washington International from June 4, 2017. The no-frills operator has been keeping a close eye on the Cincinnati market since Delta Air Lines started to downsize its own operations from the city.
Southwest Airlines will launch a daily flight between Kansas City and Austin from March 13, 2017 using a Boeing 737. Ranked by daily passengers, Austin is the largest destination from Kansas City without non-stop air service, with 98 passengers per day each way.
Following years of losses, lack of investment and the consolidation of carriers, US airlines are once again making money and better positioning themselves for when the next downturn comes, as Routes News discovered.
With only 110 daily flights to Cuba on offer, some of the biggest players in the US market are fighting for the coveted spots. Thirteen carriers will go head to head for the slots, with American Airlines leading the requests, hoping to cater to the vast Cuban-American population of Miami
The Gulf carrier is both the world’s strongest and most valuable brand, with an increase of 17 percent from 2015. Emirates brand value is weighted at $7,743 million.
Andrew Watterson, Senior Vice President Network and Revenue Management, Southwest Airlines, believes sustained, coordinated support for new routes can make all the difference.
With Southwest Airlines announcing at Routes Americas the launch of a new daily non-stop service between Fort Lauderdale and Nassau in The Bahamas starting on August 7, 2016 Routesonline takes a closer look at how Lynden Pindling International Airport is driving growth.
To cheers from the airports included in the latest growth, David Harvey, Managing Director Business Development revealed additional daily frequencies on six domestic routes, seasonal extensions in six markets and the launch of flights on seven new routes.
Should Southwest be granted permission to serve the Long Beach route, it would be the fifth airport in Greater Los Angeles on the airline’s route map. It currently flies to Los Angeles International, Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, John Wayne Airport in Orange County and Ontario International Airport.
A historic deal has been reached this week after three days of talks in Washington that opens the way for US airlines to negotiate with Cuba's government to operate up to 20 routes a day to Havana and ten too each of Cuba's other nine major airports, according to State Department officials. These will be in addition to the current limited charter programmes that have been serving the countries while hefty sanctions have been in place.
