News
EASYJET CEO: “BRUTAL” ROUTE DECISIONS The rising price of fuel could lead a number of the world’s airlines to rein in their expansion plans and cancel some of their underperforming routes. That was the warning from easyJet CEO, Carolyn McCall, in late March, who said that “brutal” decisions would now need to be taken on network development. “You will see us being much more brutal about what routes work and what routes don’t,” she explained ahead of the launch of the airline’s longest route between London Gatwick and Amman on March 27. “We’re going to be very, very tough about routes that aren’t working.” Despite moving to cancel fl ights to the Finnish capital Helsinki later
this year, as well as ending a trial of London Luton fl ights to Belfast City George Best Airport, there is still room for growth.
The low-cost carrier will be adding a number of new routes, such as London Gatwick–Sicily, and expanding capacity from some centres, such as Manchester.
Its expansion into new markets is highlighted by the new Amman route. In the past year, around 10,000 O&D passengers travelled to the Jordanian capital from London. Amman has experienced strong growth in recent years, with Queen Alia International Airport experiencing a 40% growth in passengers to 3.8 million in 2010 and 65% rise in weekly fl ights over the past three years. Oneworld member, Royal Jordanian, has dominated the market at Amman but easyJet’s entrance is expected to result in lower, more competitive fares on the London route.
This story fi rst appeared on The Hub on March 31, 2011.
FINNAIR PREPARES FOR SINGAPORE Finnair is preparing for the launch of its new service from Helsinki to Singapore Changi at the end of May, as well as announcing a new seasonal destination – three times weekly to Murmansk in Northern Russia.
London Stansted has four new connections to Greece and Turkey this summer. Ryanair will operate a new service to Thessaloniki and Rhodes, while Turkey’s Pegasus and AnadoluJet will operate to Izmir and Ankara respectively. Stansted’s managing director, Nick Barton, says: “Links to Greece have always been extremely popular and Turkey continues to grow as one of the leading destinations for guaranteed sun on short-haul travel.”
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SKYWORK OPTIMISTIC ON LONDON CITY SkyWork Airlines of Switzerland has increased capacity on its new Bern–London City Airport service, from a 31-seat Dornier 328 aircraft to a 70-seat Bombardier Q400 turboprop, owing to the strength of forward bookings on the route. It is the only service between the two airports and the airline said traffi c is split 60% leisure and 40% business. Full story on page 68.
In addition, three leisure fl ights will become scheduled fl ights: Malaga and Toronto will become scheduled services fi ve days a week and Nice will be operated three times a week. The Northern European airline is also ramping up frequency to a number of destinations, including Ljubljana in Slovenia to four times a week and Gdansk in Poland to daily.
Airport Strategy and Marketing (ASM) now has a Cargo Consultancy, offering cargo route studies, expert analysis of market assessments, implementation plans and access to key decision makers in the cargo industry supported by data from OAG Cargo, another UBM Aviation business. “We’ve expanded our expertise, resources and contacts to provide our clients with the best knowledge and tools available with a reach into both cargo and passenger services,”
says Tony Griffi n, vice president and commercial director, ASM.
Helvetic Airways has begun a four-times weekly service from Zurich to Cardiff in Wales, operating a 100-seat Fokker aircraft. This is the fi rst time an airline has operated a direct service on the route. “Research conducted by the airport and the airline demonstrated that Zurich is a sought-after business destination from
www.routes-news.com
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