On May 10, Bilbao played host to numerous events to celebrate the launch of the Spanair route linking the Biscayan and Bavarian capitals, which was inaugurated on the 15th of April.
The day commenced with the arrival at Bilbao airport of the “‘inaugural flight'” from Munich, transporting members of the German press invited to the event. On landing, the aeroplane was baptised in the presence of aviation and tourism authorities.
source: easier
ExpressJet Airlines will begin daily non-stop service from El Paso to Los Angeles/Ontario today, airline officials said.
In a press statement released this morning, ExpressJet President and CEO Jim Ream said the airline intends to save time for travelers by eliminating layovers in crowded hubs. “‘We intend to deliver our customers more convenience and more service in growing cities like El Paso with populations that are the right size for our 50-seat aircraft,'” Ream said.
source: El Paso Times
While the rest of Europe’s airlines are grounded, waiting for March 2008 to take advantage of the EU-US agreement to liberalise the transatlantic airline market, the Irish flag carrier is in full flight. Under an agreement negotiated with the US authorities, the airline has created its own open skies environment between Ireland and America a full year before its competitors.
By opening new routes, dropping out of the oneworld alliance and creating a link with JetBlue, the low-cost US carrier, Aer Lingus has a model for operating in a liberalised transatlantic environment that will be looked at, and possibly copied, by its European peers.
Given the relatively short head start Aer Lingus has over its European competitors it is perhaps no surprise that the company announced new routes to three US cities within an hour of the EU-US open skies agreement being ratified in March. Services to Washington Dulles will start in September, with San Francisco and Orlando being introduced in October.
source: telegraph.co.uk
Asia’s top budget carrier AirAsia will fly direct to Vientiane in Laos from Kuala Lumpur from July.
The airline’s chief executive Tony Fernandes said: “‘Our aim is to become an Asian airline. Without a doubt, the resumption of a direct air link after nearly a 10-year hiatus will spur economic benefits.’â€
“‘That is the beauty of a low cost carrier. We can fly to destinations which others don’t,’†he said.
fuente: Business Times
Rookie low-fare carrier Skybus Airlines earned final certification from the Federal Aviation Administration Thursday, clearing the way for its scheduled May 22 launch.
“‘FAA certification is the final hurdle,'” said Ken Gile, the president and chief operating officer of Skybus. “‘We are ready to take our place in the US airline community.'”
The carrier’s first scheduled flight is a 9:36 am departure May 22 from its hub in Port Columbus, OH to Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, CA.
The carrier will start by offering nonstop service from CMH to the Boston, Los Angeles, San Francisco Bay and Seattle/Vancouver areas, and to Ft. Lauderdale, Richmond, Kansas City and Greensboro/Winston-Salem with $10 tickets available on every flight.
Ryanair ticket promotions arrive so frequently that investors tend to ignore them. Sure, a £15 flight to Frankfurt sounds like suicidal economics but why worry if profits are soaring?
But this week was different. Europe’s largest budget airline launched its biggest ever fare sale, days after admitting it was struggling to fill its planes. Analysts were extremely surprised to see that the airline was discounting 10m tickets during its most profitable time of year. For all the regulation bluster from Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary about “kicking the competition”, something was wrong. Some analysts have also asked if the onslaught from environmental organisations is having an effect.
source: Guardian.co.uk
Southwest Airlines Co., the nation’s largest low-fare carrier, announced Friday it will begin service at San Francisco International Airport in August with 18 flights and cut-rate introductory fares on its initial departures to San Diego, Las Vegas and Chicago.
The 18 nonstop departures starting Aug. 26 represent the airline’s largest initial new-city schedule in its history, and beats its announcement in February to resume SFO service this fall with 14 flights. Southwest will resume SFO flights six years after it pulled out of the airport because of high costs, flight delays and restraints on growth.
“‘We’ve been longing to return to San Francisco,'” said Gary Kelly, Southwest’s chief executive. “‘We beat our promise of coming back in the fall.'”
fuente: insidebayarea.com
The low-cost airline, Ryanair, has announced that it expects to reach passenger volume of 285,000 through Málaga this year, thanks to three new routes brought in this year.
The latest will be in October, with four connections a week to Düsseldorf, expected to generate 60,000 passengers.
The airline introduced earlier in the year new routes to other cities in Germany: Frankfurt and Bremen. They also operate links from Málaga with Dublin, Shannon and Brussels.
source: typicallyspanish.com
A former Hawaiian Airlines flight attendant has been awarded $510,000 by a Circuit Court jury in a sexual harassment case involving a pilot and the airline.
The former attendant reported to her supervisors that the pilot, Gary J. Kissinger, grabbed her buttock while passengers were leaving the plane after an interisland flight.
According to the woman’s attorneys, Bruce Kim and Ronald Albu, her supervisors didn’t take any action to protect her. The attendant claimed the company failed to take her complaint seriously when she reported Kissinger had sexually harassed her and that he was not adequately reprimanded for his actions.
source: msnbc
The chief executive of Southwest Airlines Co. today said there is “‘growing evidence'” a slowing U.S. economy is dampening on travel demand, which will make it tough for the discount carrier to achieve its earnings target for the year.
Speaking at the Bear Stearns Global Transportation Conference, Southwest CEO Gary Kelly said the long-standing 15 percent earnings-growth target remains in place for this year. He added, however, the Dallas-based company may be forced to reevaluate targets for 2008 and beyond if the market continues to be sluggish.
source: Daily southtown
