JetBlue adds Long Beach flight

JetBlue Airways on Wednesday said it’s expanding service from Portland International Airport with a new daily nonstop flight to Long Beach, Calif.

The first JetBlue flight from Long Beach Airport is scheduled to arrive at PDX on Thursday at 7:15 p.m., with the first southbound flight taking off at 7:15 a.m. Friday. Fares start at $99 each way.

New York-based JetBlue will add a second daily departure from PDX to Long Beach starting Nov. 2. Those flights will take off daily at 2:15 p.m.

JetBlue, which already offers non-stop service from PDX to New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, will be using 100-seat Embraer 190 aircraft for the Long Beach flight. From Long Beach, the airline offers connections to Austin, Texas; Boston; Chicago (O’Hare); Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; Las Vegas; New York (JFK); and Washington, D.C. (Dulles).

Aer Lingus deal opens up US routes

From next month Aer Lingus customers will be able to use American routes and networks under a new agreement with United Airlines.

 

Aer Lingus and the American carrier have begun a code-sharing agreement, enabling Aer Lingus customers access to United Airlines’ network in North America from November 1.

From April 2009, Aer Lingus will also place its code on United’s domestic flights, giving customers access to United’s entire North American network.

The codeshare agreement will cover all six of Aer Lingus’ US gateways, including New York-JFK, Boston, Orlando, Chicago-O’Hare, San Francisco, and Washington DC.

Aer Lingus customers will have access to almost 200 additional destinations in the US through United’s hubs in Chicago, San Francisco, and Washington.

United customers will also benefit from greater access to destinations in Ireland and to destinations in the UK and in Europe through Aer Lingus’ extensive short-haul network.

EasyJet axes ski charges

EasyJet will carry passengers skis for free with a special code – but the airline has said it may pull the offer early.The offer, which was supposed to be available until next Tuesday, can be accessed using the code detailed in the story below – originally sent out via its newsletter.

But it has proved so popular that the airline is considering closing it early.

For skiers considering taking advantage of the offer, or just looking for to save money on their ski trip, with the pound at a low against the euro visiting the traditional Alpine resorts of France and Italy may leave them feeling the pinch.

EasyJet CEO sees tough environment in 2009

British low-cost airline easyJet Plc expects the industry to face a “very tough” consumer environment next year, Chief Executive Andy Harrison said on Thursday.

Carriers will face higher fuel costs as the U.S. dollar strengthens against the euro and airlines which do not hold enough cash to foot the bill “will not survive,” he said.Nonetheless, easyJet had no plans to cancel orders for new planes it has placed with Airbus he said. The company still aimed to grow and increase its number of planes to 200 by 2011.

In the upcoming winter season, Harrison said he expected airlines to cut the number of seats they sell by 8 to 10 percent, though that figure could rise as more airlines go out of business.

 

EasyJet would keep its capacity stable from the year-earlier period, Harrison said. The load factor, or the average percentage of seats filled on each flight, in coming months would be “very similar” to last year, he said.

Aegean launches new Athens-Paris CDG Service

Aegean Airlines will start a new daily Athens – Paris CDG flight from 26 OCT 08 on its new A 321. The timings are :

A3610 ATH1040 – 1310CDG
A3611 CDG1405 – 1820ATH

Aegean Air 3rd Daily to London

Aegean Airlines from 15DEC08 will begin 3rd Daily Athens – London Stansted service. The new timings are as follows.  From 01JAN09, all service on this route will be operated by A320

A3600 ATH0740 – 0930STN 
A3602 ATH1300 – 1500STN 
A3604 ATH1710 – 1910STN

A3601 STN1020 – 1610ATH 
A3603 STN1550 – 2135ATH
A3605 STN2000 – 0145+1ATH

AirAsia triples KL – Singapore flight

As per AirAsia timetable on the airlines’ website, the largest LCC in Asia will triple the number of flights it operates on the Kuala Lumpur – Singapore route from 01DEC08.

It will offer up to 6 daily flights

AK121 KUL0730 – 0820SIN
AK123 KUL1000 – 1055SIN
AK129 KUL1245 – 1335SIN
AK125 KUL1500 – 1550SIN
AK131 KUL1700 – 1750SIN
AK127 KUL1950 – 2050SIN

AK122 SIN0855 – 0945KUL
AK124 SIN1130 – 1225KUL
AK130 SIN1405 – 1455KUL
AK126 SIN1615 – 1705KUL
AK132 SIN1820 – 1910KUL
AK128 SIN2140 – 2240KUL

Thai to cut flights from next week

Thai Airways stated it would suspend services to unnamed destinations in China, India, South Korea and Japan from next week, due to a sharp fall in passenger numbers, as a result of political unrest in Thailand and the global financial crisis. The airline will review other network plans later this month. Thai has also deferred remaining investment under a USD87 million plan covering the second half of this year.

Thai Airways: “The global financial crisis has caused passenger numbers to fall below our target. In this period, cabin factors normally are around 70-80%, but currently it is only 50-60%. It is hard to give a projection on whether we will have a loss or profit for this year, as a decline in world oil prices helped reduce fuel costs, but the global economic slowdown might hit tourism”, Apinan Sumanaseni, President. Source: Reuters, 08-Oct-08.

Jet Airways Suspends BOM-SFO from Jan13th

In light of very poor loads and high operational costs, Jet Airways has decided to suspend its Mumbai-Shanghai-SanFrancisco flights from 13th Jan 2009. No official word is out on the matter yet. Stay tuned for more updates

Air New Zealand suspends Hamilton Tasman route in 09

In the Northern Summer season of 2009, Air New Zealand is suspending service on the Hamilton – Gold Coast and Hamilton – Sydney route. The Northern Summer schedule spans from 29MAR09 to 24OCT09.

Virgin Atlantic reduce Orlando in Winter 08/09

Virgin Atlantic is reducing London Gatwick – Orlando service from 2 Daily to 1 from 11JAN09 to 28MAR09.

VS027/028 will not be operating during this period

Air France to start London – New York from 2009

As a result of the cancellation of London Heathrow – Los Angeles service from 26OCT08, which frees up a pair of slot in London, Air France plans to start Daily London Heathrow – New York JFK service in addition to existing DELTA’s 2 Daily flights, from 29MAR09

Turkish opens ticket sales to Baghdad

As of 08OCT08, Turkish Airlines’ new Istanbul – Baghdad flight is now available for sale.

Turkish Airlines’ current air fare from New York is USD2520, tax is approximately USD570-580.