News BUILDING BRIDGES?
Ryanair has announced it will be reducing its presence at Alicante by 80% from this winter.
The airline said this was the result of a dispute with operator AENA over the use of airbridges, which Ryanair says would increase its handling costs by over €2 million per year. From October 2011, Ryanair plans to reduce its number of aircraft based at Alicante from 11 to two, and reduce routes from 62 to 31 and from 600 weekly fl ights to fewer than 200. Ryanair’s CEO, Michael O’Leary, said: “It is time that the AENA monopoly airports in Spain stopped abusing their dominant position to force airlines like Ryanair to use unnecessary (airbridge) facilities which we neither want, nor are willing to pay for. “We hope that the Spanish Government and the EU Commission will support our complaint against this abusive behaviour by AENA Alicante and we have assured Spain’s Transport Ministry that if AENA Alicante reverse this foolish decision to force Ryanair to pay €2 million per year for airbridges (which aren’t necessary), then these deep cuts in routes, traffi c and jobs can be reversed.”
The airline added that it remains the largest airline at Alicante and remains committed to serving the Spanish gateway.
TAPPING INTO BRAZIL
TAP Portugal is to launch fl ights between Lisbon and Porto Alegre, the capital city of Brazil’s southern state of Rio Grande do Sul, on June 12. The route will initially operate four times a week but will reduce to thrice-weekly from October. The city will be TAP’s 10th destination in Brazil. TAP Portugal already accounts for more than a quarter of the total weekly seats available between Europe and Brazil, with 63 weekly fl ights to Belo Horizonte; Brasília; Campinas;
Air France will start serving Cape Town directly from Paris Charles de Gaulle from November, with three weekly B777-200 fl ights. “Following Air France’s introduction of its A380 service on the Johannesburg route in February 2010, the launch of non-stop fl ights to Cape Town illustrates Air France- KLM’s desire to continue its expansion policy in South Africa by offering customers 24 weekly services from its two hubs at Paris Charles de Gaulle and Amsterdam Schiphol
10
Fortaleza; Natal; Recife; Rio de Janeiro; Salvador; and São Paulo. Traffi c at Porto Alegre is currently dominated by domestic connections, although international fl ights do operate to Argentina, Guyana and Uruguay.
Porto Alegre is the 10th most populous municipality in Brazil and the city is an important shipping, industrial and commercial centre.
to South Africa as of winter 2011,” says Pierre Descazeaux, senior vice president Air France-KLM Africa & Middle East.
Assistant vice president of air service development
at Dallas/Fort Worth
International Airport (DFW), Bill Frainey, passed away in March while on a business trip in Sydney, Australia. DFW’s CEO, Jeff Fegan, said: “Bill is known throughout the aviation industry as a tireless advocate for
the airport and for the Dallas/Fort Worth region. He has been instrumental in growing the cargo business at DFW. I am extremely saddened by this tremendous loss, and I will ensure that we offer every support to Bill’s family during this diffi cult time.”
KLM continues to grow its presence in the northern UK city of Leeds by adding a fourth daily frequency to Amsterdam. Henri Hourcade, Air France-KLM, general
www.routes-news.com
BERLIN CONNECTION FOR SKYWAYS Swedish airline Skyways launched a new service from Jönköping, in the Småland area in southern Sweden, to Berlin (TXL) in late March. The fi ve-times weekly fl ight will be operated with an Embraer 145 aircraft. Jönköping is located in the centre of southern Sweden, with four million people living within a 2.5-hour car journey of the airport. Skyways will also cooperate with Air Berlin, allowing passengers to check in to their fi nal destinations when travelling through Berlin. Celebrating the new route is: (From left) Hazze Sandström, Jönköping’s airport manager, Lars-Åke Bertilsson, CEO of Skyways, and Sten Norinder, CEO Jönköping Airport and head of Destination Jönköping.
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