news air
In brief
■ AirAsia in deal with Vietnam no-frills airline
Malaysia’s AirAsia has strengthened its partnership with the company that is launching Vietnam’s first no-frills airline. AirAsia has signed a strategic partnership with Vietjet Air, a company in which it took a 30% stake earlier this year. The new airline is likely to be called VietJet AirAsia.
■ Vueling resumes Edinburgh summer service
Spanish no-frills airline Vueling will resume the summer-only Edinburgh-Barcelona route formerly operated by Clickair on June 24. Vueling merged with Clickair last July. Flights will operate three times a week until September 12. One way fares are from £45.
■ Don Hunter takes over at Oman Air
Oman Air has appointed Don Hunter as chief officer, airport operations. Hunter has spent 41 years in aviation, including 19 years with Cathay Pacific Airways and four years with Virgin Atlantic.
■ TAM Airlines makes £470m profit for 2009
Brazil’s TAM Airlines has reversed a steep loss in 2008 to make a healthy profit last year. The airline made a surplus of £470 million last year, compared with a £550 million loss in the previous 12 months. However, TAM said the 2009 result was mainly due to favourable fuel hedging and exchange rates.
■ Air Malta adds Gatwick flight to fill BA gap
Air Malta has added an extra weekly flight from Gatwick to Malta for summer 2010 following British Airways’ decision to drop its service to the Mediterranean island. The additional flight means that Air Malta is now operating a twice- daily service on the route. Air Malta’s summer schedule, which runs until October 2010, also includes new flights to Turin and Genoa in Italy as well as increased capacity to Munich, Vienna, Dusseldorf and Paris Charles de Gaulle.
■ Bournemouth gets go ahead for arrivals hall
Bournemouth airport has been given planning permission for a new arrivals hall which should be open to the public by summer 2011.
■ Carr named managing director at bmibaby
Julian Carr has been appointed managing director of bmibaby, replacing Crawford Rix. Carr joined bmibaby in May 2008 as commercial director, and had previously worked for Iata and Jet2.com, where he was involved in the launch of the airline.
ttglive.com
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32
16.04.2010
ttglive.com
Bristol in challenge to fill axed US route
Gary Noakes.
BRISTOL AIRPORT is facing an uphill struggle to secure a replacement for its only scheduled transatlantic service following the decision by Continental Airlines to axe its New York route. Continental will cease flying
from Bristol to JFK on Novem- ber 7 after five and a half years, blaming an inability to attract high fare-paying business passengers from the south-west. Bristol airport aviation director Shaun Browne (pictured) claimed there was still demand, saying: “The past five years have demonstrated there is a market for transatlantic flights to and from the south-west and we will leave no stone unturned in our efforts to fill the gap left.” However, potential replacements for Continen-
tal are limited because the only suitable aircraft for the route is a narrow-bodied Boeing 757. Delta and American Airlines, which both operate
the 757 to the UK, have both ruled out replacing Continen- tal in the short-term. “We have no plans to serve Bristol at the moment,” said a Delta spokeswoman. “We are currently reinstating some of the services we suspended during the recession, such as Manchester-JFK, but we have not yet looked at 2011.” American Airlines is also
reintroducing a Manchester- JFK flight in May and said this would be its only UK route
launch this year. British Airways is phasing out the 757 and has no interest in operating to the US from the regions, while Virgin Atlantic operates wide-body aircraft only. A Continental Airlines spokesman claimed the Bristol route had not been viable even on a seasonal basis. “While load factors in economy have been rel-
atively strong during peak periods, we have not been able to fill enough seats in business class.”
FAB FOUR: KLM recently celebrated the launch of its fourth daily flight between Liverpool John Lennon airport and Amsterdam, as well as the first anniversary on the route. From left, doing their best impressions of The Beatles, are: Neil Pakey, managing director of John Lennon airport; Liverpool player Dirk Kuyt; Anko van der Werff, KLM head of commercial; and Henri Hourcade, Air France-KLM UK general manager
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