easyJet, the UK’s largest airline, announced today it would introduce a new route from Newcastle to the Spanish city of Murcia this spring. The new three times weekly service will commence on 17 May 2008.
This new destination will be particularly popular as a family hotspot and a mini break destination and easyJet expects to carry 41,000 passengers on this new route in the first 12 months of operation.
source: Easier
Low-cost airline Zoom has upped its North American flights servicing ski resorts this winter to cope with increased demand for ski holidays.
The company has added a third weekly flight from London Gatwick to Vancouver in British Colombia, and a second weekly flight from the UK airport to Montreal.
There is also a new route from the Northern Irish capital Belfast to Vancouver “‘to tap into the localised and thriving snow sports market'” the airline said.
One flight per week from Glasgow and Manchester airports to Vancouver will be continuing over the winter schedule, which runs from November to the end of April 2008.
source: travelbite.co.uk
Low-cost air carrier Wizz Air announced that it would start new domestic flights from Bulgaria’s capital to the sea-side city of Varna. The company said it planned to operate four flights per week between Sofia and Varna.
The plans would make it the first low cost airline to operate domestic flights in Bulgaria, a Wizz Air media statement said.
Introduction of the domestic flights was part of a series of new flights that were being introduced, including flights to Milan-Bergamo, Valencia, Barcelona and Izmir.
source: Sofia Echo
The European Union removed Pakistan International Airlines and Surinam’s Blue Wing airlines from its safety blacklist on Wednesday.
The two carriers were allowed to resume flights to destinations in the 27-nation bloc after meeting European safety and maintenance standards. The decision was made during a regular review of airlines on the list, EU officials said.
source: Business Week
EasyJet threw down the gauntlet to arch-rival Ryanair today, declaring that its profits will grow 20% over the next year on top of the 50% increase in earnings it has posted for the last 12 months.
That compares with Ryanair’s own estimated profit growth of about 17% as it expects to have to ramp up its ticket giveaways this winter to keep passengers flying.
Increasing ancillary revenues such as charging passengers extra for speedier boarding and persuading them to book hotels when they are booking their tickets, helped easyJet to record pre-tax profits of £201 million in the year to the end of September, up from £129 million last time.
source: ThisisLondon.com
Korean Air is to launch a new low-cost airline that will serve destinations across south-east Asia.
The airline, known for now as Air Korea, is expected to start services in May 2008, with routes to Shandong and Hainan Provinces in China.
After the China flights, Air Korea plans to run flights to destinations in Japan (excluding Tokyo), Thailand and Malaysia, with further short and mid-haul routes to follow.
Flights will operate out of Incheon International Airport, South Korea’s biggest airport located in the country’s capital, Seoul.
source: travelbite.co.uk
The South West based airline Flybe has announced expansion plans as part of a bid to strengthen its position as a regional hub.
The airline company has said seven new routes are scheduled for its two airports in Cornwall and Devon.
New services to Glasgow, Birmingham and Southampton will be on offer from Newquay.
Passengers from Exeter will be able to travel to Aberdeen, Dubrovnik, Inverness and Brussels.
All the flights are expected to start in the spring next year.
source: BBC
The merger plans of Lufthansa’s Germanwings unit and of TUI’s TUIfly division are set to include Eurowings too, people familiar with the talks told Reuters on Thursday.
The parties plan to build a larger alliance that also involves Eurowings as a third airline, the people said.
Building entrepreneur Albrecht Knauf, who holds a majority stake in Eurowings, may also take a stake in the possible new entity, the people said. Lufthansa owns 49 percent of Eurowings but has all the voting rights and operates the regional airline.
source: Reuters
A Frenchman who weighs 170 kilograms (375 pounds) has won a court case against Air France after it made him buy a second seat on a flight from New Delhi to Paris, he told AFP.
Jean-Jacques Jauffret, a 43-year-old screen-writer, said he was deeply humiliated when airline staff measured his girth with wrapping tape in front of other passengers at New Delhi airport.
source: Forbes
As of April 2008, Finnair and Aeroflot will cooperate on flights between Helsinki and Moscow that will run four times a day, a total of 28 times a week. The development represents a breakthrough in long negotiations to add capacity to flights between the two capital cities.
source: Boarding.no
