Oman Air announces major Asia expansion plans

Oman Air has officially revealed expansion plans for its Southeast Asia route network effective 01MAY17. The main highlights are as follows:

BKK - frequencies increased from double daily to 18 weekly operated exclusively by the B787 

CAN - frequencies increased from 3 weekly to daily i.e. new 4 weekly via SIN + 3 weekly nonstop

CGK - frequencies increased from 3 weekly to daily nonstop

Air China announces USA expansion

Air China has officially announced its North America expansion plan from the on set of the IATA S17 season which is as follows:

*All flights to operate nonstop from its primary Beijing (PEK) hub

IAD - frequencies increased from 5 weekly to daily using a B77W

YUL - frequencies increased from 4 to 6 weekly using a B789 & B77W

EWR - frequencies increased from 4 to 5 weekly using a B77W

IAH - frequencies reduced from daily to 5 weekly using a B77W

Cathay Pacific to suspend Riyadh

Cathay Pacific has disclosed via filing on Sabre GDS that it will be suspending all flights to RUH-Riyadh, Saudi Arabia effective 05MAR17 as the airline is feeling the pinch of low oil prices hurting corporate travel demand to/from KSA bound to Austral-Asia. 

CX currently operates 4 times per week nonstop to RUH using an A333 with MNL being its top feeder market on this flight.

Australia and Rome increased by Singapore Airlines

Singapore Airlines has officially announced that it will be increasing its presence in FCO-Rome, Italy effective 03JUL17. It currently operates 3 times per week using a B772ER which shall now be increased to 4 times per week nonstop using the same aircraft type.

P2P demand between SIN and FCO has increased to 58,000 passengers over the past year and its main feeder markets are Australia, MNL, BKK, KUL and Indonesia.

As far as its Aussie bound services are concerned, SQ disclosed the following:

SYD - frequencies increased from 4 to 5 daily effective 19JUN

MEL - frequencies increased from 4 daily to 31 weekly effective 17JUL

BNE - frequencies increased from 3 to 4 daily effective 22AUG

Emirates upgrades Casablanca to a daily A380

Emirates has officially announced that CMN-Casablanca shall be its newest Airbus A380 destination operated on a daily basis effective 27MAR17.

EK had originally planned to boost its CMN-DXB service to double daily B77Ws from September 2016 but that plan was axed as part of major cost cutting initiatives undertaken by the carrier due to heavy drop in profits. 

The O&D demand between DXB and CMN in 2016 was 106,000 passengers alone with CMN being a very popular destination amongst GCC residing Arabs during the summer holiday season especially.

Singapore Airlines announces Stockholm

Singapore Airlines has officially disclosed that it shall be launching new 5 weekly services to Stockholm (ARN), Sweden effective 30MAY17.

All flights will be operated via DME-Moscow using their new A350-900. ARN is a secondary hub of fellow Star Alliance member SAS and it has high demand to SE Asia especially Thailand and China.

Melbourne new Qatar Airways A380 destination

Qatar Airways has officially announced that due to strong demand for its Melbourne bound flights, it shall be increasing capacity on this sector effective 30JUN17 onwards.

Currently, it operates a daily B77W between DOH and MEL however effective 30JUN this shall be upgraded to a daily A380. In turn it results in a daily capacity increase of almost 50% in the passenger cabin. 

QR will be banking on good feed from its new route i.e. Dublin to provide value able support from next summer onwards on these upgraded MEL flights as well as more from LHR, MAN, DXB, BEY, IKA, AMM, ATH, CDG etc.

Oman Air announces Nairobi

Oman Air has officially announced that it will be launching new flights into NBO-Nairobi, Kenya effective 27MAR17. 

WY will fly 4 times per week nonstop to NBO using a B738 with the below mentioned schedule:

Days - 1/2/4/6

WY 721 Dep MCT 1450 Arr NBO 1855
WY 722 Dep NBO 0045 Arr MCT 0650

The above schedule allows good connections primarily to GCC, India, Bangkok and Guangzhou in both directions via MCT.

Cathay Pacific increases Manchester and Gatwick

Cathay Pacific has officially announced that due to strong performance especially for its Manchester bound service, it shall be boosting its presence on the route effective 02JUN17. Currently, CX operates 4 times per week nonstop from HKG to MAN using a B777-300ER (77W), however from 02JUN17 onwards it will be increased to 5 times per week operated with their new A350-900 (359).

Cathay's new service has stimulated demand on HKG-MAN which has seen 145,000 pax flying between the two cities on all airlines over the past 12 months versus 123,000 in the prior one year period (an increase of 17%).

In terms of capacity offered by CX on MAN present versus future planned:

4 wk B77W - 340 seats x 4 wk frequencies = 1360 seats per week per direction
5 wk A359 - 280 seats x 5 wk frequencies = 1400 seats per week per direction

In addition, CX too confirmed boosting its London Gatwick presence from the current 4 weekly nonstop to a daily service using a B77W effective 31MAY17.

Ethiopian increases Delhi capacity

Ethiopian Airlines has officially announced that it will be significantly increasing cargo and passenger capacity to Delhi from the on set of the IATA S17 season. 

Currently, ET operates a double daily B738 service nonstop from ADD to DEL, however from 26MAR17 both flights shall be upgraded to the B763ER. 

Other capacity changes for S17 revealed by ET are as follows:

ENU - capacity reduced from 3 weekly B763ERs to B738s

JNB - capacity reduced from daily B773ER to daily A359

CGK - new 3 weekly flights to be operated via BKK using a B788

MXP - frequencies increased to a daily service using a mix of B763s and B788s

FIH - capacity increased from daily B77L to daily A359

LAD - capacity increased from 5 weekly B788s to B773ERs

OUA - frequencies increased from 4 to 5 weekly nonstop flights using a B738

TAP announces Toronto

TAP Portugal has officially confirmed that it shall be launching new nonstop services to YYZ-Toronto effective 10JUN17. Flights are to be flown 5 times per week using an A330-200 using the below mentioned schedule:

Days - 1/3/5/6/7

TP 259 Dep LIS 1905 Arr YYZ 2220TP 258 Dep YYZ 0010 Arr LIS 1215 

Demand between LIS and YYZ increased greatly by 55% YoY (year over year) reaching 102,000 pax over the past 12 months but this market segment is seasonal to the core. 

Air Canada announces more long haul expansion

Air Canada has officially announced another round of long haul expansion for its route network from the on set of the IATA S17 season. The main highlights are as follows:

YVR/FRA - new daily nonstop flights to be operated using a B788

YVR/LGW - new 3 weekly nonstop flights to be operated using a B763ER

YUL/GVA - capacity increased to daily A333

YUL/CDG - capacity reduced from double daily B77W to daily A333 + daily B77W

YYZ/MAD - capacity reduced from daily B789 to daily B788

YYZ/MXP - capacity reduced from daily A333 to daily B763ER

YYZ/GRU - capacity increased from daily B763ER to daily B789

Turkish announces Phuket

Turkish Airlines has officially announced that it shall be launching new nonstop services to HKT-Phuket, Thailand effective 17JUL17 as the carrier looks to increase its foothold on high demand leisure markets in Asia gaining feed from Europe. 

TK will operate 4 times per week nonstop from IST using an A333 with the below mentioned schedule:

Days - 1/4/6/7

TK 172 Dep IST 1430 Arr HKT 0400+1
TK 173 Dep HKT 0530 Arr IST 1200

Above schedule connects with all the major EU cities conveniently via IST in both directions

Qatar Airways announces 8 new destinations

Qatar Airways has officially announced mega expansion plans to its route network for 2017-18 as the carrier revealed today 8 new destinations that it intends to launch. They are as follows for 2017 and 2018:

Dublin, Las Vegas, Medan, Rio De Janerio, Santiago, Yanbu, Canberra and Tabuk

http://www.qatarairways.com/ca/en/press-release.page?pr_id=pressrelease_2017destinations

Comments:

Out of the above mentioned destinations on the long haul side of things, the only ones that have a remote chance of succeeding from a seat factor point of view are Medan and Dublin.

Canberra market demand is extremely small to Europe/GCC and it will really struggle. The only way to get decent loads from here is to ensure that it’s a one stop service operated via KUL or BKK. Preferably, KUL should be chosen so that MH can code share on the route being a fellow OW carrier thus providing it with useful feed via KUL to other key Asian cities.

Few EU carriers have already announced pulling out of GIG and with the Brazilian economy still in tatters it is surprising to see QR take this initiative. The most promising new destination in Latin America in 2016 has been Bogota (BOG) and that is a route that needs to be looked at as demand is there from China, SE Asia, DXB and Europe. BOG’s altitude would not enable a nonstop flight to be operated from GCC hence it is better to fly via Europe (preferably Rome or Spain) and take advantage of 5^th freedom traffic potential. The below demand has been witnessed for the past 12 months on key trans-atlantic cities to/from BOG:

FCO – 24,000 (nobody flies nonstop)

BCN – 72,000

MAD – 153,000

PIA announces Jeddah expansion plan

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has officially announced that it will be increasing frequencies on its popular Jeddah bound service from the province of Punjab as the airline looks to regain lost market share from the Gulf carriers in particular who rely heavily on Jeddah feed out of this area in Pakistan. Effective 01DEC16, the increases are as follows:

Lahore increased from 4 to 5 weekly B777s
Islamabad increased from 3 to 4 weekly B777s
Multan increased from 3 to 4 weekly using a mix of B772s and A320s
Faisalabad increased from 2 to 3 weekly using A320s

Ethiopian announces USA and EU expansion plans

Ethiopian Airlines has officially announced major expansion plans for its long haul route network for which shall commence from the on set of the IATA Summer 2017 season. The main highlights are as follows:

DUB/LAX - frequencies increased from 3 to 4 weekly

LFW/EWR - frequencies increased from 4 to 5 weekly

OSL - new 4 weekly flights to be operated via ARN

CDG/BRU - frequencies increased from 5 weekly to daily

LFW/GRU - frequencies increased from 3 to 4 weekly

All of the above services are to be operated using the B788 exclusively.

Eva Air increases Seattle

Eva Air has officially announced that due to the continued success of its Seattle service over the past many years, it shall be further increasing it's capacity offering on the route from the on set of the IATA S17 season. 

Currently it operates 10 times per week nonstop from Taipei using a B773ER. These will be lifted to 12 weekly flights using the same aircraft type.

KLM suspends Doha services

KLM has officially announced that it will be suspending all flights to/from Doha effective March 2017 as the airline's CEO stated that ever since Qatar Airways launched their own daily DOH-AMS service, their own has proven to be highly unsustainable. It currently operates 5 times per week using an A332.

KLM CEO's comments come as a surprise considering the airline has a close relationship with Etihad and manages to operate a daily AUH-AMS service along side EY's own. If this is the reason cited then if Oman Air or Kuwait Airways decide to launch their own AMS services in 2017-18, KLM may not find it feasible to warrant its own flights into these two cities as well. 

As far as other network wide changes announced by KLM for the IATA S17 season, they are as follows:

AUH - frequencies reduced from daily to 5 weekly A332s

NRT - capacity increased from daily B772ER to daily B773ER

LAX - frequencies increased to double daily using a B744

BAH - frequencies increased from 5 to 6 weekly A332s

ROB/FNA - new 3 weekly service to be launched effective 26MAR17 using an A332

DMM - frequencies reduced from daily to 5 weekly A332s

MCT - frequencies reduced from daily to 5 weekly A332s

UPS orders 28 Boeing 747-8 freighters

UPS has officially announced that it has placed a mega order with Boeing for 28 Boeing 747-8 freighters (14 firm + 14 options) in the deal worth US$ 5.3 billion. 

The airline is the world's largest when it comes to package service delivery and already has 13 B744Fs operating along side 52 AB6Fs + 75 B757Fs + 59 B763Fs and 37 MD11Fs. The 14 firm B748Fs are likely to replace their B744Fs gradually where as the 14 options in due course are expected to be firmed up to replace a size able portion of their MD11F fleet.

Source: https://www.pressroom.ups.com/pressroom/ContentDetailsViewer.page?ConceptType=PressReleases&id=1477512150377-839

Etihad announces major India expansion

Etihad and Jet Airways together have officially announced another round of major expansion of its India-AUH services from the on set of the IATA S17 season. The main highlights effective S17 season are as follows for EY:

1. 4th daily AUH-CCJ service using an A320/A321 combination for all flights

2. Second daily AUH-AMD service using an A320/A321 combination for all flights

9W in turn will expand its AUH presence too in cooperation with EY as follows:

1. Second daily AUH-DEL service
2. New daily Trichy-AUH flights
3. New daily Kannur-AUH flights
4. New daily Chandigarh-AUH flights

Source: http://www.arabianbusiness.com/abu-dhabi-s-etihad-announces-major-expansion-of-india-flights-650695.html