Delta Airlines, attempting to increase its share of lucrative international corporate travel, announced a new round of expansion to emerging markets, including flights to Dubai and to Bucharest, Romania, while laying the groundwork for future expansion to Asia.
source: The Wall Street Journal
Click Mexicana, Grupo Mexicana’s first low-cost carrier in Mexico, announced the beginning of its services between Los Angeles and Las Vegas to Torreon, Coahuila, Mexico. The airline is currently the first low-cost Mexican carrier to offer service outside the Republic.
“We are proud to provide our U.S. customers with this new destination,” said Isaac Volin, CEO, of Click Mexicana. “During its first year of operation, Click Mexicana achieved our goal of fulfilling traveler’s needs and expectations, resulting in high levels of satisfaction when it comes to price and service,” he added.
source: Yahoo! finance
A single-engine plane carrying Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle smashed into a high-rise building on the Upper East Side of Manhattan yesterday, killing Lidle and his flight instructor, authorities said.The afternoon crash beneath overcast skies sent debris clattering hundreds of feet to the sidewalk and started a fire that destroyed several apartments and left a charred smudge on the face of the building.
source: Berkshire Eagle
Startup airline Virgin America Inc. said Wednesday it signed deals with several major entertainment companies to show movies during flights.
Virgin America executives said they have agreements with Walt Disney Co., Fox, Paramount Pictures and Warner Brothers. The airline, based in Burlingame, said it will offer pay-per-view movies, live TV programming, a broad music playlist and a selection of video games to each passenger.
source: SF Business Times
Delta Air Lines Inc. said Tuesday it planned to begin introducing lie-flat seats in business class in 2008 as the bankrupt carrier works to lure high-end international travelers.
“We think (the new seats along with improved food, wine, and in-flight entertainment features) will attract more premium customers,” said Delta spokeswoman Betsy Talton.
In-flight amenities have become a hot battleground, especially for Delta and other traditional U.S. airlines, which are expanding international routes in the face of intense competition domestically from low-cost carriers. But this in turn has created an arms race for cabin comforts.
source: CNN
Four low-cost companies had already declared their intention to start flying to Bulgaria after January 1 2007 when the country joins the EU and the aviation market will be liberalised.
Italian Myair announced on October 10 that it would fly from Sofia to Bologne. Irelandâ??s Ryanair, the UKâ??s Easy Jet and Germanyâ??s GermanWings already presented a flight schedule to Sofia airport, Dnevnik said. A number of air companies have applied to fly to Bulgariaâ??s Bourgas airport.
source: Sofia Echo
Ryanair named Madrid as its eighteenth European base on Tuesday, and said it would start flying from the Spanish capital from mid-November.Ryanair, which launched a 1.48 billion euro (1 billion pounds) bid for Ireland’s Aer Lingus last week, said it expected to fly 1 million passengers a year on the new routes.
The Irish low-cost carrier said in a statement it would fly from Madrid to 14 destinations including Dublin, Paris, Brussels, Oslo, East Midlands and Bournemouth in the UK and Gothenburg and Malmo in Sweden.
source: Scotsman.com
AirTran Airways, whose aggressive expansion in 2005 and early 2006 bucked an industry trend toward capacity cuts, is scaling back its growth strategy because of uncertain market conditions.Although the low-cost carrier, a unit of AirTran Holdings, remains one of the fastest growing U.S. airlines, factors such as volatility in jet fuel prices have caused it to trim its 2007 growth outlook, according to a senior company executive.
source: Reuters
Wizz Air, Central and Eastern Europe’s largest low fare – low cost airline announced that it would significantly expand its operations from Katowice International Airport with the launch of 6 new routes in Summer 2007 and a major capacity increase of 50% versus 2006. The airline will also deploy an additional aircraft in its first and largest base, increasing local employment and contributing to the region’s economic development. The new Airbus A320 will be delivered in May 2007.
source: Easier
Italian Premier Romano Prodi said Tuesday that the situation at state-controlled Alitalia SpA was “out of control” and promised a new plan by January to save the cash-strapped airline from bankruptcy.
Prodi and key ministers were meeting with union leaders to discuss the airline’s future amid widening financial losses and a series of wildcat strikes that have forced Alitalia to cancel scores of flights in recent weeks.
source: Herald Tribune
