Japan Airlines and American Airlines Increase International Cargo Flight Destination and Cargo Capacity

Airlines to Utilize Worldwide Networks to Offer Customers More Routing Choices and Increased Cargo Capacity Between Asia and the Americas.

Japan Airlines (JAL) and American Airlines (American) have embarked on a closer cooperation aimed at strengthening international cargo operations for the two airlines. Their agreement, concluded in April this year, provides cargo customers with more routing choices, new destinations, and increased cargo capacity by more effectively utilizing the combined worldwide network of both airlines, covering some 300 distinct destinations worldwide, while maximizing the value of their combined routes between Asia, the United States, and Latin America.

The two airlines have begun using Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth, New York and Honolulu as key transfer points for cargo traffic in the United States and Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya as transfer points in Japan. The agreement enhances the significance of Honolulu as an important transfer point for cargo between Asia and the Americas. The tighter cargo relationship is expected to enable both airlines to provide their respective customers with additional value, while maximizing the utilization of cargo capacity for both airlines.

In addition, new synergies between the carriers’ express products will now provide seamless transfer of express shipments between the airlines. Shipments which do not exceed 100kg will now receive immediate confirmation of space on both airlines, when customers select JAL’s J-PRIORITY and American’s EXPEDITE(SM) product for the routing.

The joint business agreement between JAL and American which began April 1, 2011, is expected to benefit customers on many levels, including cargo. Both airlines continue to explore ways in which closer cooperation can bring increased benefit to customers.

About JAL Cargo

JAL Cargo, a division of Japan Airlines Co., Ltd., (JAL), provides cargo transportation services within Japan and to 17 countries and regions or 33 overseas airports utilizing the airline’s operations of approximately 1,000 flights a day on 109 domestic routes and 47 international routes (as of May 1, 2011). JAL, awarded the most punctual major global airline in 2009 and 2010, is a member of the oneworld® Alliance and has a global passenger network reaching more than 225 airports in 38 countries and regions together with its codeshare partners. With a fleet of some 220 aircraft including Boeing 777s, 767s, 737-800s, and Brazilian-made regional jets, Embraer E170, JAL serves destinations in Asia, Europe, and Oceania, as well as in North America including New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Honolulu and Vancouver. JAL CARGO, which carried 897 thousand tons of payload in fiscal year 2010, offers a series of high-quality, tailored services collectively known as J Products that cater to the unique needs of various shipment that make all kinds of transportation possible. For more information, visit: www.jal.co.jp/en/jalcargo/.

About American Airlines Cargo

American Airlines Cargo(SM), a division of American Airlines, Inc., provides over 100 million pounds of weekly cargo lift capacity to major cities in the United States, Europe, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, Latin America and Asia. American, American Eagle and the AmericanConnection® regional airlines serve more than 250 cities in over 50 countries with more than 3,600 daily flights. The combined network fleet numbers more than 900 aircraft. American provides one of the largest cargo networks in the world, with cargo terminals and interline connections available across the globe.

Southwest Airlines to Acquire AirTran Airways for $1 billion

Southwest Airlines continues to dominate its presence at Chicago’s Midway Airport and will soon expand even more.

Southwest has announced that they will purchase AirTran Airways for nearly $1 billion.

The acquisition will allow Southwest Airlines to fly into smaller cities in the United States that they do not currently fly to, as well as begin service to Mexico and the Caribbean.

The purchase of AirTran will not affect travelers yet.

The airlines will operate separately until receipt of the Single Operating Certificate, and for now, customers will continue to interact exclusively with their ticketed carrier.

Southwest will begin painting the AirTran planes the famous orange and blue colors next year.

The purchase has Southwest employees excited for the change.

“The successful closing of this transaction is a significant accomplishment and marks a great day in the history of Southwest Airlines,” said Gary Kelly, CEO, chairman and president of Southwest Airlines.

“The acquisition of AirTran represents a unique opportunity to extend our network into key markets we don’t yet serve such as Atlanta and Washington D.C. via Ronald Regan National Airport,” Kelly added.

“Today’s closing is an important first step to fulfilling our mission to spread low fares farther and increase competition throughout the airline industry,” Kelly said.

Southwest Airlines currently has just under 4,000 employees at Midway Airport.

British Airways Increase Frequent Cheap Flights to Florida

Flag carrier British Airways has increased the frequency of its cheap flights to Florida from London’s Gatwick Airport in a bid to become the dominant airline providing long-haul services at the busy hub.

Previously, BA offered cheap flights to Tampa in the Sunshine State just five times a week, but at the start of this month, the airline announced that this has now become a daily service. This should provide British families seeking cheap flights to their Florida holidays this year with even more options.

BA pointed out that as the only international carrier offering direct cheap flights to Tampa, Britons will benefit from a swifter experience at their destination, with far shorter queues for immigration. It also pointed out that Tampa’s airport is far smaller and quieter than the equivalent hub in Florida’s Orlando, so it could be a perfect alternative for families taking Orlando holidays who fancy the quiet life.

The airline went on to point out the “incredible scenery and attractions” to be found in the region, with cheap car hire making attractive locations along the Gulf Coast available, such as Clearwater, St Petersburg and Sarasota, plus many more. When it comes to the seaside city of Tampa itself, BA said that it is blessed with a “distinct” Caribbean influence due to the legacy of immigration from the islands across the water and a similar cultural influence from Latin America, seen most strongly in the city’s Latin Quarter in the Ybor City district.

British Airways is moving to become the premier long-haul carrier at Gatwick, with enhanced services and new routes, such as the recently instituted cheap flights to Cancun in Mexico. Currently, it operates some 47 routes from Gatwick – 14 of which are long-haul destinations.

American Eagle Airline Add Flights Services to Mexico

More flights to Mexico, to the sort of smaller cities that make up an important part of trans-border traffic between the United States and its southern neighbor.

American Eagle just launched daily service from its Dallas/Fort Worth megahub to Veracruz on the deep Gulf Coast. The airline also now flies to Queretaro, Mexico’s fastest-growing city. It’s located in the interior of the country.

The airline flies 50-passenger ERJ-145 regional jets to Veracruz, and 37-seat ERJ 135s to Queretaro.

Eagle timed both flights to facilitate fast connections at DFW. The southbound Dallas/Fort Worth to Veracruz flight departs at 6:50 p.m. and arrives at 9:35 p.m. The northbound return leaves Veracruz at 7:30 a.m. and arrives DFW at 10:15 a.m.

American Eagle’s new Dallas/Fort Worth to Queretaro flight leaves at 10:30 a.m., and gets to the central Mexican city at 1:20 p.m. The return Queretaro to Dallas/Fort Worth flight departs at 2:10 p.m., arriving at American Airlines’ largest hub at 4:35 p.m.

The upshot for flyers looking for more cheap flights to Mexico: between them, American and American Eagle offer 50 daily departures to the country, and serve 16 total destinations.

Heretofore, if you wanted to fly nonstop from Texas to either Veracruz or Queretaro there was but one way: via Continental Express from Bush Houston Intercontinental Airport. American Eagle’s move serves to further heighten the already robust competition between American’s DFW hub and Continental’s Houston hub. And that’s good for seekers of cheap flights.

source : cheapflights.com

Frontier Airlines Adds New Nonstop Flight Service Between San Diego and Omaha

Starting January 16, 2011, Frontier Airlines will add nonstop flights between San Diego and Omaha. Scheduled flight service three times a week with Embraer 190 aircraft.

Vice president of planning and strategy of Frontier Airlines said, “With the addition of this service, our guests in Omaha and beyond can now enjoy the superb service and affordable rates Frontier even more prominent tourist destination.”

Aircraft Embraer 190 (E190) that will be used to serve the flights are equipped with Wi-Fi facilities, all-leather seating in the configuration of two-by-two, and four-row seat “STRETCH”, which provides five inches extra legroom.

About Frontier Airlines

The original Frontier Airlines was Denver’s hometown carrier for 40 years before it was purchased in 1986. The airline carried 87 million passengers over the years and was known for great service and an outstanding safety record.

In 1993, executives from the original Frontier Airlines, as well as some newcomers to the industry, gave the old Frontier a fresh start. They were looking to fill gaps in Denver’s mainstream hub-and-spoke system.

We launched on July 5, 1994 with 180 employees and two Boeing 737-200s on routes between Denver and Bismarck, Fargo, Grand Forks and Minot, N.D.

Today, Frontier Airlines is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Republic Airways Holdings Inc, an airline holding company that owns Chautauqua Airlines, Lynx Aviation, Midwest Airlines, Republic Airlines and Shuttle America.

Frontier is the second-largest carrier at Denver International Airport, employing approximately 5,000 aviation professionals. Frontier has one of the youngest Airbus fleets in North America offering 24 channels of DIRECTV® service in every seatback along with a comfortable all-coach configuration. Frontier offers routes to more than 50 destinations in the U.S., Mexico and Costa Rica. In addition, Frontier and Midwest have a codeshare partnership that allows passengers of both airlines access to 70 destinations in the U.S., Mexico and Costa Rica.

Southwest Airlines Cheap Flight Service to Mexico Connecting With Mexican Carrier Volaris

Travelers looking for cheap trips to Mexico will be able to book their flights through Southwest Airlines beginning Nov. 12, connecting with low-cost Mexican carrier Volaris through Los Angeles, Oakland and San Jose, officials announced Thursday.

The code-share agreement will allow airline passengers in 20 cities currently served by Southwest to directly book Volaris flights to Cancun, Guadalajara, Morelia, Zacatecas and Toluca for travel beginning Dec. 1.

“The objective of this partnership is to provide a convenient and affordable itinerary for our customers, while offering a higher level of service to both sides of the border,” said Enrique Beltranena, CEO of Volaris, which began offering flights out of Los Angeles International Airport in May 2009.

The move will create about 85 new flight itineraries for the carriers and is expected to help boost passenger traffic at LAX, one of the three California airports where travelers will catch connecting flights to Mexico.

“Volaris is one of the fastest-growing airlines at LAX, and today’s announcement of a partnership with one of our most popular carriers only means added benefits for LAX passengers,” said Michael Molina, deputy executive director of external affairs at LAX.

Southwest Airlines initially announced its intent to link up with Volaris two years ago, said Bob Jordan, the carrier’s executive vice president of strategy and planning.

Jordan said he hopes Southwest will eventually provide additional international destinations as Volaris, Mexico’s second-busiest carrier, continues to grow. The move also comes as Southwest is paying $1.41 billion to acquire Air Tran, which already offers flights to Mexico.

“We have worked diligently to create a unique product that will uphold our high levels of customer service, stimulate additional revenue for both carriers and offer great new destinations for both airlines’ customers,” Jordan said.

U.S. Airlines Converging on Suddenly Summer Season in Mexico

Leading American airlines are stepping up to give Mexico the airlift it needs as tourism increases and in the wake of Mexicana Airlines folding this past summer.

Continental Airlines, United Airlines and Delta Air Lines have all announced plans to launch a slew of new flights to Mexico from several important North American travel hubs. The flights come hot on the heels of Mexico Tourism’s announcement of a 19.2 percent increase in international tourist arrivals via air to Mexico from January to August of this year.

The new flights are a welcome addition to already planned flights by AeroMexico, British Airways, US Airways, Frontier Airlines, Virgin America and China’s Hainan Airlines.

From January to August of this year, the number of international tourists arriving in Mexico by air increased by 19.2 percent, in comparison to the same period last year and 6 percent in comparison to 2008, one of Mexico’s strongest tourism years on record. From January to August 2010, Mexican airports received 7.1 million foreign visitors. The U.S. continues to be the main market source for travelers into Mexico. In the first eight months of 2010, 4.33 million American travelers arrived in Mexico, a 15.7 percent increase in respect to the same period in 2009 and a 1.9 percent increase over 2008.

Approximately 61 percent of international tourists to Mexico are Americans, according to Mexico’s Tourism Secretariat (Sectur).

Flight Plans

In October, Continental announced its plans to launch a daily nonstop service between Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and Leon/Guanajuato, Mexico (BJX) beginning November 1, pending Mexican government approval. This new service will complement Continental’s existing service to Leon/Guanajuato from Houston. In fact, no other carrier offers more departures from the U.S. to the Leon/Guanajuato airport. In addition, Continental Airlines has filed an application with the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) for permission to launch weekly nonstop flights to Cancun from Austin and San Antonio in Texas and Raleigh-Durham in North Carolina. Once approved, this service would begin on February 19, 2011. Currently, Continental Airlines serves 30 Mexican destinations, more than any other American airline. The airline presently serves Cancun 76 times weekly from its travel hubs in Houston, Newark and Cleveland.

In addition to the new flights planned by Continental, United Airlines is boosting service into Mexico City from hubs in Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles and San Francisco. United will launch a second daily flight from Los Angeles to Mexico City beginning October 15, and a third daily flight starting January 14, 2011. Starting November 4, United will up its current Saturday-only service from Chicago to Mexico City to twice-daily service and their daily service from San Francisco to Mexico City to twice-daily, as well. United will also begin offering once-daily service to Mexico City from Denver between December 16 and January 3, 2011, perfect for a holiday getaway. In regards to other Mexican destinations, United Airlines currently serves Cancun 31 times weekly from its hubs in Denver, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco and Washington-Dulles.

Rounding out the announcement of new flights is Delta Air Lines, who plans to launch new nonstop Saturday flights from Memphis, to Mexico City starting January 8, 2011, pending Mexican government approval. The short 3.5 hour flight will leave Memphis at 9:15 a.m. and arrive in Mexico City International Airport (Benito Juarez International Airport) at 12:40 p.m.

Return flights are scheduled to leave Mexico City at 1:42 p.m. and arrive in Memphis at 5 p.m. Mexico is currently the city of Memphis’ second-largest trading partner, and the new flight will not only be a hit with tourists, but with business leaders seeking to strengthen ties to Mexico. This new flight will add to Delta Air Lines’ already existing seasonal flights to the Mexican beach resort cities of Cancun and Cozumel.

British Airways, Iberia and American Airlines Sign Agreement

The long-awaited alliance between British Airways, Iberia and America Airlines is finally nearing. The carriers have signed the final agreement to start the venture, according to the British party on Wednesday, and they could start sharing revenue as soon as next week, though a specific date hasn’t been announced.

Under the terms of the deal, a share of the revenue for a booked transatlantic flight will rebound to each of the airlines, despite the fact that only one of them will ultimately operate the service. This co-operation will include all transatlantic services operated by the group of carriers on routes between the US, Mexico and Canada. It will also apply to counties in the European Union, as well as Switzerland and Norway. With their transatlantic businesses combined, the carriers estimate yearly revenues to be worth £4.4 billion.

This deal will help put the Oneworld Alliance, for which the 3 airlines are all part of, on an equal footing with the SkyTeam and Star Alliance groups. Both of these have already been given approval to operate a transatlantic consortium by the US Department of Transport, and they have been doing so for years. These partnerships, however, have been operating without European regulatory approval, as the deals are still be examined.

Oneworld, on the other hand, was given clearance from the Department of Transport in February this year. They have since gained clearance from other European regulators, with Brussels being the final one in July. At the same time, British Airways and Iberia were given approval to created a merged company.

Continental Airlines Flight Service Change Due Tropical Storm Hermine

Tropical Storm Hermine has been attacked several towns in the American territory. The storm is expected early from northeastern Mexico and crossed into Texas. Hermine came ashore Monday night in northeast Mexico. By early Tuesday, the National Hurricane Center said the storm was about 10 miles (15 km) south-southwest of Harlingen, Texas, and 20 miles (30 km) northwest of Brownsville.

Tropical Storm Hermine which hit several cities affect flight services at several airports and flight schedules of several airlines.

Continental Airlines has been announced, Tropical Storm Hermine to affect several flights schedule to and from Texas.

Several airports including those in Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, Fort Worth and Austin may cancel and delay flights. Continental advised travelers to delay flights and will allow a one-time date or time change through Sept. 8 to customer’s flying from or through the affected airports without penalty.

Tropical Storm Hermine Crosses Into Texas

Forecasters say Tropical Storm Hermine (hur-MEEN’) has crossed into Texas.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami says the center of the storm has crossed the Rio Grande.

Hermine came ashore Monday night in northeast Mexico. By early Tuesday, the National Hurricane Center said the storm was about 10 miles (15 km) south-southwest of Harlingen, Texas, and 20 miles (30 km) northwest of Brownsville.

Hermine has maximum sustained winds of 60 mph (95 km). It’s moving north-northwest at 14 mph (22 kph).

A tropical storm warning is still in effect for Rio San Fernando, Mexico, north to Port O’Connor, Texas.