Thai Airways has officially announced that it has placed a mega order with both Boeing and Airbus for 37 new aircraft that will be delivered to the carrier from 2014 onwards for to meet both its short haul and long haul requirements. The break down of the order is 6 B 787-800s + 2 B 787-900s + 6 B 777-300ERs + 11 A 320-200s + 12 A 350-900s. The B 787s will be used to entirely replace its AB6s on short/medium haul services within the Asian continent where as the A 320s will be used to fully replace its B 737-400s and lastly, the A 359s shall be used to gradually replace its A 333 and B 772A fleet. It is expected down the road, that many more B 773ERs will be ordered by TG to replace a part of their B 744 fleet.
Egypt Air has officially announced that it will be launching new services to Iraq effective 16JUL 2011. MS will be operating to both Erbil and Baghdad with 3 and 4 weekly flights respectively using an Airbus A 320. The timings for EBL are meant specifically to connect its European flights in particular via its main CAI hub in both directions.
Etihad Airways has officially revealed many changes to its long haul route schedule for the IATA Winter 2011-12 season of which the main highlights are as follows:
MNL - frequencies increased from 12 weekly to double daily nonstop flights using a 412 seater B 773ER.
FRA - capacity increased to double daily A 333s from double daily A 332s.
ORD - capacity increased from daily A 346 to daily B 773ER i.e. a daily increase of 240 seats round trip.
ICN - capacity increased with all flights operating with A 333s rather than A 332s.
JKT - capacity increased with all flights operating with 412 seater B 773ERs rather than 262 seater A 332s.
Turkish Airlines has officially announced that it will be launching new flights to KBL-Kabul, Afghanistan effective 09JUL 2011. TK will be operating 3 flights per week on WED/SAT/SUN using a Boeing 737-800. Flights will depart IST at 2350 and arrive back by 1135 which is ideally suited to connect JFK and its entire European network in both directions via IST conveniently.
Emirates has officially announced that it will be launching new nonstop daily flights to LED-St Petersburg, Russia effective 01NOV 2011. LED is Russia's second largest and most prosperous city with huge demand primarily for Far East Asia and O&D to UAE itself. For this route, EK will be utilizing 6 times a week an A 332 and once a week an A 343. In addition, EK has also confirmed that it will be launching new 4 weekly nonstop flights to BGW-Baghdad, Iraq effective 13NOV 2011. EK will be deploying a 3 class A 332 for this new service.
KLM has officially announced that it will be launching new nonstop flights to GIG-Rio De Janerio, Brazil effective 01NOV 2011. Services will be flown 3 times per week using a Boeing 777-200ER. Other major changes announced by KLM for its long haul route network for the IATA Winter 2011-12 season are as follows:
DMM - frequencies increased from 5 to 6 times per week using an A 332.
YYZ - frequencies reduced from 10 weekly to daily nonstop flights.
DFW - all flights suspended.
DOH - frequencies increased from 5 to 6 times per week using an A 332.
CTU - frequencies increased from 2 to 3 weekly flights using a B 744 Combi.
DEL - capacity increased from daily B 773ER to daily B 744.
IKA - frequencies reduced from 6 to 5 times per week using a MD 11.
British Airways has officially announced major changes to its long haul route network for the IATA Winter 2011-12 season. The main highlights are as follows:
BAH - capacity increased from daily B 772ER to daily B 744.
HKG - capacity reduced from double daily B 744s to daily B 773ER + daily B 744.
CPT - capacity increased from daily B 744 + daily B 772ERs to double daily B 744s.
DEL - capacity increased from daily B 773ER + daily B 744 to double daily B 744s.
DOH - capacity increased from daily B 772ER to daily B 744 operated via BAH.
JFK - capacity increased with all 7 daily flights operated with B 744s rather than a mixture of B 773ERs and B 744s.
Kuwait Airways has officially announced that due to sliding demand for its DAM-Damascus route, it shall be reducing frequencies effective immediately. Flights will be cut from daily nonstop services to 4 weekly nonstop only using a mixture of A 320s (2 weekly) and A 310-300s (2 weekly). This downgrade is due to the ongoing civil unrest in Syria which has caused a major dip in travel to the country.
Sri Lankan Airlines has officially announced that it will be launching new services to ZRH-Zurich, Switzerland effective 23DEC. UL will be operating the flights via MLE-Maldives from its Colombo home base twice a week. An A 340-300 has been designated for this new route.
Continental Airlines has officially announced that it will be increasing capacity to MUC-Munich and GVA-Geneva for the IATA Summer 2012 season in the following manner:
GVA - capacity increased from daily B 764ER to daily B 772ER.
MUC - capacity increased from daily B 764ER to daily B 772ER.
In a move that shocked the entire aviation fraternity, Malaysia Airlines officially announced last week that it will be joining the ONE WORLD alliance led by BA-AA. Due to its extremely close relationship with KL-NW-DL for many years, it was expected to lean more so towards SKY TEAM but that seems to have changed. With its neighbors i.e. SQ in STAR and GA in SKY TEAM, MH seemed to have no choice but to accept the offer of ONE WORLD to further its global brand positioning and sales distribution.
Korean Air has officially announced all the routes that its initial batch of 5 Airbus A 380s will be operating on out of its ICN-Seoul hub base airport effective 17JUN 2011. They are New York JFK, Bangkok, Paris and Tokyo Narita. KE however has not disclosed how many frequencies operated by the A380 each route shall receive.
Bahrain Air has officially announced that in order to generate cash and minimize losses, it has sub leased out two A 320s to interested airlines and suspended routes for the on going IATA Summer 2011 season until its very end. As a result, BN announced that they are suspending all flights to Riyadh, Dammam, Damascus, Kathmandu and Dhaka effective immediately.
Other main highlights of its S11 schedule are as follows:
IST - frequencies reduced from the planned 5 to 4 weekly flights.
AMM - has been increased to 4 weekly versus 3 earlier.
BEY - frequencies reduced from planned daily to 5 weekly flights.
