Emirates Airlines, Etihad Airways and Oman Air Propel Global Flight Capacity to Record

Propelled by Emirates, Etihad Airways and Oman Air, global flight capacity is poised to soar to “unprecedented” levels in April, according to new figures released by a key data and analysis provider for the aviation industry.

The three carriers operating from the Middle East — the fastest growing market in terms of capacity — are due to deliver an 11 per cent increase in capacity for the region in April, said the UK-based Official Airlines Guide, or OAG, in its monthly snapshot of airline activity.

Other carriers driving the region’s capacity growth are Qatar Airways and low-cost carriers Air Arabia and flyDubai.

The capacity growth forecast for the Middle East far exceeds the five per cent global flight capacity growth expected in April.

The unprecedented capacity surge comes at a time when world’s airlines continue to adjust their schedules and capacity daily to meet fluctuating demand in the wake of Japan’s devastating earthquakes and tsunami.

The report showed that airlines around the world will provide 317.4 million seats to passengers during the month of April in 2011. “This figure is five per cent higher than at the same time in 2010, or 13.9 million more seats, and represents the highest capacity ever provided by the industry,” the OAG said in its April Frequency and Capacity Trend Statistics report.

Frequencies have also been rising, up three per cent, or 80,653 more flights scheduled to operate worldwide in April 2011 compared to April 2010.

The Asia-Pacific region will be served with an extra 6.2 million seats by airlines during the month of April this year. Europe will see a three per cent increase in the number of seats offered by budget carriers in April, compared with the same month last year.

“The fastest-growing market by volume of seats is to and from the Middle East, with an 11 per cent increase in capacity year on year. However, political events in the region will likely have an effect on sustaining this level of scheduled capacity,” the report observed.

Giovanni Bisignani, director general of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), said air passenger traffic was picking up in the Middle East after the region was torn by instability but warned airlines would have to wait until after the summer for a recovery in Japan.

IATA, which represents the majority of world airlines, said the industry was also reeling from a $30 billion rise in its fuel bill this year due to the Arab unrest. IATA had previously said the March 11 Japanese earthquake and subsequent nuclear crisis would cause a major slowdown from which airlines would not recover before the second half.

“We will have to see the numbers for April because March is not a big indicator, but there will be a big effect,” Bisignani said.

The Association of British Travel Agents, or ABTA, said Dubai and Florida holidays are among the popular travel destinations along with Spain, the most popular destination for Britons, with the ever-popular Costa del Sol and the Canary Islands attracting large throngs of holidaymakers.

ABTA said travellers in the UK are taking advantage of the extra bank holiday provided for the royal wedding, with workers only needing to take three days off to enjoy an 11-day holiday. Two million holidaymakers in the UK will be heading for holidays abroad over the Easter period.

OAG said in terms of absolute growth, the intra-Asia Pacific region is the clear leader with more than 6.2 million additional seats and 40,203 more published flights this month against April 2010.

Over the last five years, figures within the Asia Pacific region have shown average capacity growth of seven per cent compared to the global average of four per cent.

Analysis of the European market reveals marginal growth of 0.3 per cent in frequencies and two per cent in capacity for services within the region.

Get JetBlue Partner Airlines Ticket on JetBlue Dot Com

JetBlue Airways is making it even easier to travel on its interline partners with today’s announcement that tickets that include travel on Aer Lingus, American Airlines and Cape Air are now available for sale on jetblue.com. Aer Lingus and American Airlines tickets that include travel on JetBlue are already available on aerlingus.com and aa.com.

“Our growing presence in New York, Boston, and San Juan has positioned us to take advantage of important partnership opportunities,” said Robin Hayes, JetBlue’s Chief Commercial Officer. “This ability leverages our jetblue.com platform to drive even more benefit from our interline partnerships, while adding tremendous advantages to our customer, with more options and flexibility.”

For years, JetBlue’s website has made it easy for customers to book travel anywhere within the JetBlue network in just a few clicks. With this website enhancement, JetBlue is expanding the geographic reach of the site, allowing customers to book travel from within the JetBlue network to new international markets in Europe, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean – still with just a few easy clicks (a).

Aer Lingus

“Today’s announcement marks the continued development of Aer Lingus’ partnership with JetBlue, with a focus on providing customers with increased options from more U.S. markets to Ireland and other European destinations,” said Jack Foley, Aer Lingus’ Executive Vice President, North America. “Moreover, it reaffirms Aer Lingus’ commitment to providing low fares access for customers from new markets across the U.S.”

Now both jetblue.com and aerlingus.com, successful partners since 2008, offer customers the option to purchase tickets that include space on both carriers. Customers can fly from points within the JetBlue network to Boston or JFK, connect to Aer Lingus’ transatlantic service to Ireland, and then to over a dozen destinations across Europe.

American Airlines

“Our successful partnership with JetBlue has given our customers more travel options and has allowed us to grow in new markets,” said Virasb Vahidi, American’s Chief Commercial Officer. “With this new milestone of selling our tickets on each other’s website, our customers will benefit more from the strong networks of both airlines.”

Now, an American customer can buy AA tickets at jetblue.com, and a JetBlue customer can purchase JetBlue tickets at aa.com – giving customers of both carriers new sales channels from which to purchase tickets. The two carriers launched their partnership in March 2010 with an enhanced interline agreement, slot exchange and employee travel program. To date, the carriers have added new interline routes, instituted benefits to members of both carriers’ frequent flier programs and, with today’s announcement, allow customers to buy tickets on each others websites. To learn more about this partnership, go to: http://www.jetblue.com/flying-on-jetblue/airline-partners/american-airlines.asp.

Bookings are available to and from any of the 26 domestic JetBlue cities, and the 15 international American Airlines cities that are included in the carriers’ interline agreement. Furthermore, TrueBlue members are now able to rack up points on American’s flights between New York’s Kennedy Airport and Barcelona, Spain; Brussels, Belgium; Buenos Aires, Argentina; London, England; Madrid, Spain; Manchester, England; Milan, Italy; Paris, France; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Rome, Italy; Sao Paulo, Brazil; Tokyo (Narita), Japan; Tokyo (Haneda), Japan; and Zurich, Switzerland, as well as American’s new non-stop service to Budapest, Hungary. Customers flying or connecting through Boston can also earn points when flying to London, England and Paris, France.

Cape Air

“The timing is perfect,” said Cape Air President Dave Bushy. “As our busy summer season approaches on Cape Cod and the Islands, as well as the Caribbean and Florida, the ease of booking the entire trip on-line, with direct baggage transfers, is a huge convenience for our passengers.”

Cape Air was JetBlue’s first airline partner dating back to 2007 when JetBlue began to market and sell Cape Air flights between Boston and Nantucket, Martha’s Vineyard, Provincetown, Hyannis and Rutland, Vermont under a codeshare agreement. Today’s announcement of the interline capabilities of jetblue.com will provide customers with access to an expanded list of destinations in Cape Air’s Northeast U.S. network, as well as to its Caribbean network via San Juan, P.R. and to Key West, Florida via Fort Myers.

Other Interline Partners

JetBlue has interline agreements in place with six other airlines: EL AL Israel Airlines, Emirates, LAN Airlines, Lufthansa, South African Airways, and Virgin Atlantic Airways. Although customers cannot yet use jetblue.com to book tickets that include space on those airlines, it expects to add more partners to the website over the coming year.

Florida Children Take 600-Mile Flight to Visit Dollywood Theme Park

Young travellers used $700 savings to pay for trip to Nashville.

Getting past America’s rigid airport security can frustrate even seasoned travellers. So a US airline is struggling to explain how three bored Florida children were allowed to take a 600-mile flight without their parents’ permission in a spontaneous pilgrimage to a Dolly Parton theme park.

With little to do on a hot summer day, Bridget Brown, a 15-year-old from Jacksonville, co-opted her 11-year-old brother, Cody, and a 13-year-old friend, Bobby Nolan, into a trip to Nashville, Tennessee, using $700 (£450) of savings.

They took a cab to the airport and were able to buy tickets from a Southwest Airlines sales desk without any raised eyebrows from the cashier.

“He said OK and told us how much it would be and then we paid him,” said Brown. “Then he put the flight things on our bags, and then he said ‘You better run because you might miss your flight’.”

At a security checkpoint, the children were not asked for any form of identification because, under a quirk of US airline policy, under-18s require only a boarding pass on domestic flights.

“We just took our stuff out of our pockets, took off our shoes and walked through,” Nolan told NBC television.

Unfortunately, the trip ended in disappointment as the intrepid trio realised, on arriving in Nashville, that they were 200 miles from their intended destination, a park named Dollywood dedicated to America’s queen of country music.

Suddenly scared at their predicament, the young travellers phoned their startled parents, who had no idea that their children had left Florida. “I never would have dreamed my kid would have got on an aeroplane without me or their mom,” said Brown’s father, James. “It was very scary.” Southwest Airlines insisted it had done nothing wrong, as it permits unaccompanied minors to travel over the age of 12. The Transportation Security Administration said there was no security risk because the children had been “screened thoroughly”.

But the jaunt prompted criticism of slack policies towards children. Richard Bloom, a security expert at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Florida, said terrorist groups could take note of any loopholes: “In other parts of the world, young people are engaged in weapons, planting bombs, testing security.”

Mark Orwoll, an aviation commentator at Travel and Leisure magazine, wrote on his blog: “Alarm bells should have been ringing like Notre Dame cathedral on Bastille Day.”

Iceland Express Plan More Cheap Flights to USA from 2010

Good news for anyone planning USA holidays in 2010 and 2011 thanks to cheap fares airline Iceland Express. From October onwards, the carrier will be launching three new US routes, with cheap flights to Orlando, Chicago and Boston.

The Orlando route runs from 2-24 October only as Iceland Express tests customer response, and will see flights leaving London Gatwick Airport every Saturday and return flights from the Florida city on Sundays.

From 10 June next year, the airline will begin offering weekly cheap flights to Chicago from Gatwick, leaving on Fridays. Three days later the cheap flights to Boston will begin operating four times a week on Mondays through Thursdays.

Iceland Express chief executive Matthias Imsland commented: “Orlando has always been a very popular destination for Icelanders as well as travellers from across Europe. Boston and Chicago are also great destinations for these markets as they are quick to get to and we are able to offer very competitive rates, allowing our customers to see a lot more of America for a fraction of the cost.”

In the same month, Mr Imsland’s airline will increase the frequency of its existing cheap flights to New York to seven times a week. All USA flights will involve a stopover at Reykjavik Airport, giving travellers the chance to enjoy a city break in the fascinating Icelandic capital.

Iceland Express also announced this week that it will be reinstating its cheap flights to Canada from London Gatwick on 12 June next year. The London-Winnipeg route was trialled this June and proved successful enough to return next summer.

Aviation Services on Europe Expected to Recovered Next Week

Icelandic volcanic eruption forced the entire European aviation services halted and thousands of passengers stranded at various international airports waiting for the scheduled departure.

The mood among passengers was one of cautious optimism. After days of endless waiting, many reserved their celebrations for when they were airborne.

“I think when we land down in America, then we’ll know we’re there. But at the minute, we’re a bit cautious,” said Georgina Evett.

She was part of a group trying to fly from Manchester, England, to Florida for a world cheerleading championship this week. Read more

Virgin America Adds Flights Services to Orlando, Florida and Toronto

Virgin America, the low-cost U.S. carrier that is partly controlled by British entrepreneur Richard Branson, said on Thursday that it plans to start flights to Orlando, Florida, and Toronto later this year.

The San Francisco-based airline said it will add daily nonstop flights to Orlando from Los Angeles International (LAX) and San Francisco International (SFO) airports beginning Aug. 19.

Daily service to Toronto’s Pearson International Airport from LAX and SFO could start as early as June, should the U.S. Department of Transportation approve its application, Virgin America said in a statement.

Virgin America, whose main rivals include Alaska Airlines and other low-cost carriers, said it plans to announce at least three more new destinations this year.
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Airtrans Airways Ticketing Service Summer Travel to All Destinations

AirTran Airways, a subsidiary of AirTran Holdings, Inc., today launched a sale for travel to all of the airline’s destinations with fares starting as low as $44*. Travelers may purchase these sale fares at airtran.com or via AirTran Airways’ reservations system at 1-800-AIR-TRAN. For Spanish, call 1-877-581-9842.

These special fares are available for purchase through March 16, 2010, and are good for travel March 26, 2010, through November 16, 2010. Travel to Florida, San Juan, Aruba, Montego Bay, Jamaica and Cancun, Mexico is available April 6, 2010, to November 16, 2010. Lowest fares are available for travel on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Saturday. Additional sale fares are valid for travel Monday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday.

Like all AirTran Airways fares, prices included in this sale are available for one-way travel and do not require a roundtrip purchase or an overnight stay. Read more

John Weikle Plans Launch New Airlines to Fly With $9 Seats

Aviation entrepreneur John Weikle isn’t afraid of a stiff headwind. He plans to launch a new airline in July, modeled after Irish discounter Ryanair, with super-low fares and designs on customers who don’t mind driving a little farther to get a good deal. Tickets went on sale Wednesday.
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America airline industry needs more travelers, Airports Competition growing

America’s struggling airline industry needs more travelers in more seats going to more places.

That eventually could determine success of Northwest Florida Regional Airport, Pensacola Gulf Coast Regional Airport or Panama City-Bay County International Airport.
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