Finnair launches new routes to San Francisco and Alicante from 2017

In line with its growth strategy, Finnair has today announced that it will open a new seasonal route from Helsinki to San Francisco in June 2017.

The airline will operate three weekly flights between both cities from June 1 to September 30. The flights will be operated on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays.

Thanks to Helsinki’s geographical location, Finnair’s new northern route to San Francisco will offer competitive travel times for customers from Scandinavia, the Baltics, Russia as well as from many European cities. San Francisco will be Finnair’s fourth US destination, along with New York, Chicago and Miami. The new San Francisco flight will be operated within the Atlantic joint business between Finnair, American Airlines, British Airways and Iberia. The joint business offers customers additional flight choices, better connections and better pricing on transatlantic routes. Currently, the four airlines operate over 100 daily return flights between Europe and North America.

“We are very pleased to be taking another step forward in the growth of our airline as San Francisco is an exciting new destination for all of our customers,” says Juha Järvinen, Chief Commercial Officer at Finnair. “In the same way as when Finnair flies to Asia, the northern position of our Helsinki hub will also present a quick alternative for our connecting European customers flying to North America’s West Coast.”

Finnair will also add capacity to Spain, by opening a new route to Alicante with up to four weekly flights between March 26 and October 27. In addition, Finnair will also increase its flights to Malaga with two additional weekly flights between June and July, increasing frequencies to a total of eleven weekly flights. Last month, Finnair also announced new routes to Ibiza and Menorca for the summer 2017 season.

Aviation Tribune

Aeromexico outlines new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner operational plans

AeroMéxico has outlined its B787-9 operational schedule, set to launch on November 18. 

According to Airline Route, XA-ADL (msn 43859) will enter commercial service between México City and Paris CDG. It will operate selected flights on the route between November 18 and December 17, after which it will be utilised daily. The aircraft will also be deployed on the domestic Mexico City – Tijuana service on selected days between November 26 and January 4, 2017. Effective December 4 the Dreamliner will be used on a number of flights to New York JFK through to March 25, 2017, while the aircraft will start daily operations on the flagship Mexico City-Madrid Barajas service from January 6, 2017.

The Mexican carrier has a further five B787-9s on order from Boeing and already operates nine B787-8s.

ch-aviation.com

Asiana plans A380 to Frankfurt from 26Feb17

Asiana Airlines in recent schedule update has moved forward planned Airbus A380 operation on Seoul Incheon – Frankfurt. The Super Jumbo aircraft is now scheduled to enter service on this route from 26FEB17, 3 days earlier than planned. 

Previously reported on Airlineroute, this route is currently served by Boeing 747-400 until 25DEC16, its last scheduled 747-400 long-haul service. Boeing 777-200ER will operate this route from 26DEC16 to 25FEB17.

OZ541 ICN1250 – 1630FRA 388 D
OZ542 FRA1830 – 1240+1ICN 388 D

Routesonline

Air India launches Delhi-Madrid from 01Dec16

Air India in this week’s schedule update has filed operational schedule for Delhi – Madrid route, as the airline plans 3 weekly operation. Using Boeing 787-8 aircraft, this route will commence on 01DEC16.

AI135 DEL1425 – 2020MAD 788 246
AI136 MAD2150 – 1110+1DEL 788 246

Routesonline

Thai revises Bangkok-Melbourne route

Thai Airways International (THAI) has further delayed planned Airbus A350-900XWB debut on Bangkok – Melbourne route, currently scheduled to enter service on 01OCT16. Latest update sees A350 operates on TG465/466 service from 01OCT16, while TG461/462 service will continue to be operated by Boeing 777-200ER/-300/-300ER until 28OCT16 inclusive.

TG465 BKK0015 – 1305MEL 359 D
TG461 BKK0810 – 2100MEL EQV D

TG462 MEL0030 – 0600BKK EQV D
TG466 MEL1615 – 2145BKK 359 D

Routesonline

Uzbekistan adds new 787 Dreamliner Dubai/Tel Aviv limited-time service in Sep 2016

Uzbekistan Airways in last week’s schedule update has filed additional Boeing 787-8 international operations for the month of September 2016. Latest update as follow.

Tashkent – Dubai 21SEP16 / 24SEP16
HY333 TAS0825 – 1100DXB 787
HY334 DXB1245 – 1700TAS 787

Tashkent – Tel Aviv 27SEP16
HY303 TAS1850 – 2225TLV 787
HY304 TLV0020 – 0720TAS 787 (28SEP16)

Routesonline

Dragonair begins Hong Kong-Kuala Lumpur service from 01Mar17

Dragonair starting March 2017 is starting Hong Kong – Kuala Lumpur service, gradually replacing existing operation by parent Cathay Pacific. From 01MAR17, Dragonair and Cathay Pacific will each operate 2 daily flights, with Airbus A330-300 aircraft.

CX723 HKG0830 – 1230KUL EQV D
KA725 HKG1250 – 1650KUL 333 D
KA729 HKG1605 – 2000KUL 333 D
CX791 HKG2020 – 0015+1KUL 333 D

KA726 KUL0900 – 1255HKG 333 D
CX790 KUL1030 – 1440HKG 333 D
CX722 KUL1330 – 1725HKG EQV D
KA724 KUL1755 – 2150HKG 333 D

From 01MAY17, all 4 daily flights will be operated by Dragonair, with following schedule.

KA723 HKG0835 – 1220KUL 333 D
KA725 HKG1250 – 1640KUL 333 D
KA729 HKG1600 – 1950KUL 333 D
KA727 HKG2020 – 0010+1KUL 333 D

KA726 KUL0855 – 1305HKG 333 D
KA728 KUL1030 – 1435HKG 333 D
KA722 KUL1320 – 1725HKG 333 D
KA724 KUL1740 – 2140HKG 333 D

Routesonline

Air France starts Boeing 787 Dreamliner operations on 09Jan17

Air France has announced it will begin scheduled commercial B787-9 operations on January 9, 2017 with Paris CDG-Cairo Int'l, Egypt the type's maiden route.

Prior to its entry into regular service, Air France says it will four special welcome flights on January 7 and 8 from Paris to Paris, lasting 2 hours 30 minutes. Tickets for the flights will go on sale in early December.

Air France-KLM Royal Dutch Airlines has nineteen B787-9s and six B787-10s on order from Boeing with an additional twelve B787s to be leased from AerCap. According to the ch-aviation fleets database, KLM currently operates seven B787-9s of which six are leased from AerCap.

Air France's first B787-9 (msn 38769) will feature 225 seats in Economy, 21 in Premium Economy and 30 in Business Class.

ch-aviation.com

Virgin Australia resumes Melbourne-Los Angeles route from 04Apr17

Virgin Australia has announced that it will resume longhaul operations out of Melbourne Tullamarine during the second quarter of next year.

Effective April 4, 2017, the carrier will operate a 5x weekly Melbourne-Los Angeles Int'l, United States service using B777-300(ER) equipment.

The route, a codeshare with transpacific partner Delta Air Lines, will complement Virgin Australia's other Los Angeles flights from Sydney Kingsford Smith and Brisbane Int'l.

However, Virgin has noted that in order to resume the Melbourne-Los Angeles route, it will have to cease its current 3x weekly Sydney-Abu Dhabi Int'l, United Arab Emirates (UAE) service from February 4, 2017. In addition, it will also have to reduce Brisbane-Los Angeles flights from the current 7x weekly frequency, to 6x weekly from April 7, 2017.

In addition, Virgin Australia will launch its first long haul service from Perth Int'l, from where it will operate a three times weekly A330-200 service to Etihad Airways (EY, Abu Dhabi Int'l)'s hub in Abu Dhabi sarting June 9, 2017, subject to government approvals.

ch-aviation.com

Ryanair adds Newcastle-Madrid service in summer 2017

Ryanair further extended its Newcastle summer 2017 schedule with a new route to Madrid starting in March, in addition to three new routes to Faro, Girona and Palma, five new summer services to Gdansk, Lanzarote, Tenerife, Warsaw and Wroclaw, and more flights to Alicante, Dublin (double daily) and Malaga.

In Newcastle, Ryanair’s Head of Communications, Robin Kiely said:

“We are pleased to further extend our Newcastle summer 2017 schedule, with a new route to Madrid, in addition to our three new routes to Faro, Girona and Palma, the continuation of our new services to Gdansk, Lanzarote, Tenerife, Warsaw and Wroclaw into summer, and more flights to Alicante, Dublin and Malaga, which will deliver over 750,000 customers p.a. and support 560 jobs at Newcastle Airport”.

Newcastle Airport’s Aviation Development Manager, Leon McQuaid said:

“We are delighted to see Ryanair continue to expand their summer17 offering from Newcastle with these exciting flights to Madrid. Madrid is a leading European city and another excellent addition to our flight programme as we continue to explore and add further city destinations accessible from Newcastle. With twice weekly flights conveniently timed, we expect this service to be extremely popular with both business and leisure travellers throughout the region.”

Aviation Tribune

Wizz Air announced new route from Sofia to Catania

Wizz Air today announced a new route from Sofia to Catania on the island of Sicily as well as a domestic service connecting the capital with Varna.

The new services will commence on 26 March 2017. Catania flights will be operated with two weekly frequencies on Wednesdays and Sundays while Varna will be a daily service.

Since its first flight in 2006, Wizz Air has continuously expanded its operations in Bulgaria. The airline currently operates from three airports: Sofia, Varna and Bourgas and offers flights on 33 routes to 17 countries from Bulgaria. The airline recently announced further expansion plans on deploying a seventh aircraft, arriving to its Sofia base in December. The additional aircraft means a 42% in seat capacity year on year which will be deployed on new routes announced today as well as earlier announced services to Nuremberg, Basel and Doncaster Sheffield.

Speaking at a press conference in Sofia George Michalopoulos, the Chief Commercial Officer of Wizz Air said:

“Today’s announcement once again underlines our commitment to Bulgaria. We brought our service to Bulgaria 10 years ago and remain highly committed to bringing more routes, developing infrastructure and further investing in our Sofia base. Let me also take this opportunity to announce the deployment of our brand new A321 to Sofia from 2017 and remind you our recent route launches which will start in coming weeks and months connecting Sofia with Kutaisi, Budapest, Doncaster and Basel. All the above simply reaffirms our commitment to Bulgaria.”

Aviation Tribune

Austrian begins flights to Los Angeles from 10Apr17

Austrian Airlines will add a new long-haul destination in North America to its flight schedule in the summer of 2017.

Starting on April 10, 2017, a Boeing 777 will take off for Vienna bound for Los Angeles, the largest city in California, up to six times each week.

“After Chicago, Newark and Miami, L.A. is now the fourth new flight destination and the so far biggest leap into the USA. We will fly to the West Coast with our existing fleet and are already very excited about this new venture”, says Austrian Airlines Chief Commercial Officer Andreas Otto.

In an initial step, the Vienna-Los Angeles route will be served seasonally in the summer 2017 flight schedule. The metropolis of Los Angeles with its millions of inhabitants is not only interesting for point-to-point but especially for transfer traffic. About two-thirds of the passengers will transfer flights at the Vienna flight hub.

In its summer 2017 flight schedule, Austrian Airlines will offer a total of up to 44 weekly non-stop flights to North America. This will encompass up to five times per week to Miami, a maximum of six weekly flights each to Los Angeles and Toronto, and up to one flight each day to Washington and Chicago. Austrian Airlines will continue to offer thirteen weekly flights to New York. However, flight times to New York JFK will be adjusted as of March 27, 2017. Of the six weekly flights to New York, four of the departures will be shifted from the morning to the afternoon. Flight schedule changes such as these will enable Austrian Airlines to free sufficient capacity in its existing aircraft fleet to offer flight service to Los Angeles and thus add another long-haul destination. Thanks to the new flight times, customers will have the advantage of being able to choose between a morning flight to Newark and an afternoon flight to New York JFK, and thus the opportunity to travel to New York at different times of day.

Aviation Tribune

Meridiana adds Recife/Fortaleza service from 03Nov16

Meridiana in Northern winter season plans to launch new destination in Brazil, currently scheduled 1 weekly flight to Recife. From 03NOV16, the airline will operate Milan Malpensa – Recife – Fortaleza – Milan Malpensa route on Thursdays, with Air Italy Boeing 767.

03NOV16 – 15DEC16
IG3740 MXP1100 – 1705REC1915 – 2040FOR2210 – 1155+1MXP 767 4

22DEC16 – 23MAR17
IG3740 MXP0900 – 1505REC1635 – 1800FOR1930 – 0915+1MXP 767 4

Routesonline

Air Berlin launches Dusseldorf–Geneva service from 14Nov16 - Increase frequency to Barcelona, Rome & Zurich

Air Berlin from November 2016 is introducing Dusseldorf – Geneva service, currently scheduled 3 times a day on weekdays, 1 on weekends. Service will commence on 14NOV16 with Dash8-Q400 aircraft.

AB8622 DUS0950 – 1125GVA DH4 x67
AB8626 DUS1410 – 1545GVA DH4 x67
AB8620 DUS1910 – 2045GVA DH4 D

AB8621 GVA0630 – 0805DUS DH4 D
AB8623 GVA1205 – 1340DUS DH4 x67
AB8627 GVA1655 – 1830DUS DH4 x67

From Dusseldorf, the airline also plans frequency increase on selected European markets from 30OCT16:
Dusseldorf – Barcelona Increase from 10 to 14 weekly
Dusseldorf – Rome Increase from 7 to 14 weekly
Dusseldorf – Zurich Increase from 29 to 36 weekly

Routesonline

Qantas adds new route Melbourne-Tokyo Narita from 16DEC16

Qantas will launch daily direct flights between Melbourne and Tokyo’s Narita Airport from 16th December 2016,* responding to growing demand and marking the next step in its Asian growth strategy.

The new route will be operated by an upgraded, two-class A330-300 with 297 seats – the aircraft widely seen as best in class for the business market.

It adds to Qantas’ popular Sydney-Tokyo (Haneda) and Brisbane -Tokyo (Narita) services, launched in 2015, and will connect travellers with the broader Qantas Group network – including Jetstar’s extensive domestic network within Japan and the Group’s services across the Tasman.

The number of visitors to Australia from Japan grew by 17 per cent in 2015/16 financial year, with those travellers spending $1.5 billion – up 14 per cent on the previous year.  Outbound travel by Australians to Japan is also growing rapidly, having seen a 24 per cent increase in 2015.

Qantas and Jetstar will both operate flights from Melbourne to Tokyo (Narita) during the December 2016-February 2017 holiday peak.  Jetstar will then cease flights on the direct route after the 25th February, 2017.

Chief Executive Officer of Qantas International and Freight, Gareth Evans, said the new service built on Qantas’ long history of flying to Japan and significant expansion in the market over the past year.

“We’re delighted to be stepping up our commitment to the Japanese market at a boom time for tourism and business travel,” Mr Evans said.

“The Qantas Group is perfectly placed to support the resurgent growth we’re seeing, with the biggest Australia-Japan network, the biggest domestic network in Australia, and the biggest low-cost carrier network in Japan through Jetstar.

“Our dual-brand strategy and the size of our fleet means we have the ability to move quickly to meet demand where it’s strongest, putting the right aircraft on the right route. We have received great feedback on the world-class product we’ve created for our Airbus A330 fleet, and now even more customers flying to Japan will be able to enjoy the reconfigured aircraft.

“We lifted Qantas’ capacity on Asian routes by 17 per cent last financial year, so this is very much part of a larger pivot to Asia.”

Fares for Qantas’ new Melbourne-Tokyo (Narita) service will be available for sale today for travel from 16th December 2016.

Existing customers booked on Qantas’ Sydney-Tokyo (Haneda) and Brisbane-Tokyo (Narita) services wanting to change their flight to the new Melbourne-Tokyo (Narita) direct service can contact Qantas customer care.

Jetstar customers who are booked on Melbourne-Tokyo (Narita) flights from 26th February, 2017 onwards will be reaccommodated on Qantas’ Melbourne-Tokyo (Narita) flights.

Jetstar continues to operate direct international services from the Gold Coast and Cairns to Tokyo (Narita) and Cairns to Osaka.

* Subject to government and regulatory approvals

QANTAS SCHEDULE (effective 16 December 2016; no service on 24, 25 and 31 December)

MEL-NRT QF79 09:15/17:30 D
NRT-MEL QF80 19:00/07:30 D + 1

Qantas

Flybe adds new route from London City to Düsseldorf

Flybe has announced that it will operate up to three conveniently timed flights a day between London City and Düsseldorf from October 30th.

This new route joins those existing Flybe services to Amsterdam and Paris Charles de Gaulle as the airline’s third year-round service to continental Europe from London City airport.

Flybe chief revenue officer, Vincent Hodder, said: “Our new route between London City and Düsseldorf is the latest example of Flybe’s commitment to providing convenient connections for business and leisure travellers from regional markets, providing added opportunity for customers to travel to the broadest range of destinations from their local airport.”

Hodder added: “We look forward to welcoming many new passengers aboard this new multi-frequency daily service that offers good timings for direct flights between the heart of London and Düsseldorf.

“The German city forms a key hub of the Rhine-Ruhr economic region and the destination also provides quick and easy access to the Rhine River, with lots to do and see in and around the area for leisure travellers.”

Breaking Travel News

EVA Air cancels Istanbul Ataturk route

EVA Air in this week’s schedule update has removed planned Taipei Taoyuan – Istanbul Ataturk schedule, as the airline no longer plans to operate this route in Summer 2017 season. The Star Alliance member previously planned to resume operation initially with 3 weekly flights from 27MAR17, 4 weekly from 11APR17.

This route was cancelled in July 2016.

Previously planned schedule as follow.

BR079 TPE0030 – 0730IST 77W x357
BR080 IST1330 – 0525+1TPE 77W x357

Routesonline

Eurowings adds new routes to Cyprus & Greece for summer 2017

Eurowings in recent weeks has opened reservation for additional new routes for summer 2017. Latest roaster of newly added routes covering Greece and Cyprus, 1 weekly each. These new service will be operated by germanwings, under 4U-coded flight numbers on Saturdays.

eff 02MAY17 Dusseldorf – Chania
eff 06MAY17 Cologne – Zakinthos 
eff 06MAY17 Dusseldorf – Chania 
eff 06MAY17 Hanover – Chania 
eff 06MAY17 Stuttgart – Larnaca  

As the airline’s schedule on/after 01MAY17 is now published in the GDS, previously reported new routes without specified frequencies as follow. These service also operating under germanwings’ 4U-coded flight numbers:
eff 05MAY17 Berlin Tegel – Mykonos 1 weekly (Day 5)
eff 06MAY17 Dusseldorf – Pula 2 weekly (Day 26)

Routesonline

Belavia has launched service to Moscow Zhukovsky

Belavia this week has launched new service to Zhukovsky, 40 km southeast of central Moscow. From 12SEP16, the airline operates Minsk – Zhukovsky service once a day, with Embraer ERJ175 and Boeing 737-300 aircraft. Planned schedule as follow.

B2971 MSQ0815 – 0940ZIA E75 356
B2971 MSQ0815 – 0940ZIA 733 1
B2973 MSQ1805 – 1930ZIA E75 24
B2973 MSQ1805 – 1930ZIA 733 7

B2972 ZIA1020 – 1145MSQ E75 356
B2972 ZIA1020 – 1145MSQ 733 1
B2974 ZIA2005 – 2130MSQ E75 24
B2974 ZIA2005 – 2130MSQ 733 7

Routesonline

Interjet launches new routes to US - Las Vegas, Los Angeles & Chicago

Mexican airline Interjet announced today that it will begin non-stop service between Mexico City and Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Chicago.Mexico-Los Angeles flight will start October 20th, Mexico-Las Vegas will start November 10th, while the flight from Mexico to Chicago will begin on November 17th. This represents an offering of 5,250 weekly seats to these destinations.

These new flights are in addition to the 14 routes the airline currently operates between Mexico and the U.S.: Dallas- Fort Worth, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Antonio and Orlando-Sanford. Interjet currently flies to Los Angeles from Guadalajara.

Mexico-Los Angeles and Mexico-Chicago will have two daily flights, and Mexico-Las Vegas will operate one daily flight.

“We are very pleased to inaugurate these flights within the framework of the Bilateral Air Transport Agreement with the U.S. which, as we have said, benefits the sector by offering new opportunities, encouraging business and tourism traffic between the two countries and above all increasing supply and fostering competitiveness to the benefit of travelers”, said Interjet CEO, Jose Luis Garza.

The flights will be operated with 150-seat capacity Airbus A-320s equipped with the latest technology and more legroom because they are configured with a 34 inch (86 cms) pitch between rows.

Aviation Tribune