US Airways will stop direct flights to Baltimore and four other cities it serves from Pittsburgh International Airport and also plans to reduce service to 10 other cities.
The airline also says that service to San Diego and Seattle will not return on a seasonal basis as it has in the past.
Starting in July, the airline will eliminate nonstop service between Pittsburgh and Altoona, Baltimore, San Diego, Seattle and Buffalo, New York.
source: wusa9.com
Aer Lingus Group PLC said it is launching six new routes for this coming winter and adding capacity to some existing routes.
The Irish flag carrier said new services from Dublin to Helsinki, Bucharest, Agadir and Funchal will begin at the end of October, in addition to the restart of services from Dublin to Copenhagen and Cork to Munich.
source: Forbes
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
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
Airline operator SAS AB said it will downscale its Danish operations by letting its Norwegian and Swedish units handle all flights between the three Scandinavian capitals, daily Boersen reported.
The decision comes after SAS’ Danish cabin crew launched a three-day wildcat strike two weeks ago, and implies 20 daily flights will be moved from SAS Denmark.
source: Forbes
Air France–KLM said yesterday it would raise its fuel surcharge on long-haul flights due to the rise in oil prices.
The airline said Air France would increase its fuel surcharge by five euros. The rise would not apply to short-haul and medium-haul flights.
“‘Valid on tickets issued in France as from May 3, 2007, this increase will be withdrawn as soon as the price of the barrel drops below $65 for 30 consecutive days,”‘ the airline said in a statement.
TAM and TAP Portugal, a Star Alliance member, are executing yesterday a Memorandum of Agreement establishing a comprehensive alliance that comprises several areas, taking advantage of the synergies arising from their respective networks, products and services in the routes connecting Brazil and Portugal.
By next July, the companies will implement a code share, which will translate into a significant increase of flight options for passengers, as well as into the linkage of the companies` mileage programs, TAM`s Fidelidade and TAP`s Victoria.
source: Mercopress
Spanair is continuing its international expansion with this new route which has been offering daily flights both ways between the cities of Munich and Bilbao since April 15. The carrier has strengthened its presence on the German market by offering more direct flights between Germany and Spain. Spanair is also offering daily flights both ways between the Bavarian capital and Barcelona.
source: Easier
A three-day strike by Danish cabin crew members that forced Scandinavian air carrier SAS to cancel nearly 700 flights from its main hub in Copenhagen ended late Thursday, the airline said.
SAS said it aimed to resume services as soon as possible but estimated that at least 30 to 40 flights would be delayed or possibly cancelled on Friday. Late Thursday, the cabin crew union announced they would be returning for work Friday morning.
Passengers were advised to check company websites or the Copenhagen airport’s website for information on their respective flight.
source: bangkokpost.com
British Airways is in negotiations with private equity about a potential €5bn (£3.39bn) takeover offer for Iberia but has ruled out making a solo bid for the Spanish flag-carrier.
It is understood that Apax Partners is one of three private equity houses in talks with BA and is negotiating to bring Spain’s Gestair on board. In an announcement to the Stock Exchange yesterday, BA said it was considering how to use its 10 per cent stake holding in Iberia after US private equity house Texas Pacific Group (TPG) made an indicative offer of €3.60 a share for the carrier last month. This valued the Spanish airline, whose shares have doubled in the past six months on the expectation of further consolidation in the sector, at €3.4bn.
source: independent.co.uk
