Airline News July 15-23 2010

Thai Airways has revealed on the GDS further capacity changes to its route network for the IATA Winter 2010 season. The main highlights are as follows:

OSL - capacity increased from daily A 345 to daily B 772ER.

DEL - capacity increased to daily B 744 + daily B 773A from daily A 333 + daily B 773A.

DME - frequencies increased from 3 weekly B 772ERs to 4 weekly nonstop flights using a B 773A.

MXP - capacity reduced from 3 weekly B 772ERs to 3 weekly A 346s.

DXB - capacity reduced from daily B 773A to daily B 772ER.

SYD - frequencies increased from double daily to 18 weekly nonstop with all flights being operated using an A 340-600.

JKT - capacity increased from daily B 772A to daily B 744.


Qatar Airways has officially announced that it shall be increasing frequencies to DAC-Dhaka, Bangladesh from January 1st 2011. Currently, QR operates 11 weekly flights between its Doha hub and Dhaka which shall be increased to 13 times per week i.e. 10 weekly A 333s + 3 weekly A 332s. QR too confirmed that it is increasing capacity to Europe for the IATA Winter 2010 season in the following manner:

ZRH - frequencies increased from 5 weekly to daily nonstop flights using an A 332.

CPH - frequencies and capacity increased from 4 weekly A 319LRs to 6 weekly A 332s from Feb 2011.

ESB - frequencies increased from 4 weekly to daily nonstop flights using an A 320.


Gulf Air has officially announced that it shall be launching 2 new destinations from this winter onwards. Services to Colombo shall be resumed after a 5 year gap with 5 weekly nonstop flights operated using an A 320-200 and new 4 weekly services to Aden, Yemen will also be launched as a tag on service from Sanaa.

CMB will have a split flight schedule which will connect very well with Europe/North America three times per week outbound and twice a week inbound to cater to the large Sri Lankan/Tamil immigrant communities that reside in the Western Hemisphere. However, London Heathrow shall witness convenient 5 weekly connections in both directions via BAH.


Turkish Airlines has officially announced that it shall be launching new 4 weekly nonstop flights to LAX-Los Angeles, USA from March 31st 2011. TK will operate this new service with its brand new Boeing 777-300ER that will be delivered factory fresh from Boeing. The flight schedule for LAX is as follows:

Days of operation: TUE/THU/SAT/SUN

TK 009 Dep IST 1110 Arr LAX 1625
TK 010 Dep LAX 1855 Arr IST 1710+1

The above mentioned flight schedule connects very well with TK's entire Levant, North Africa, Middle East, GCC, BOM, DEL, East Africa, South Africa flights in both directions via IST. With regards to Karachi connections, it connects thrice weekly outbound and twice weekly inbound.

As far as the cabin configuration of its new B 773ERs are concerned, they will seat 337 passengers in a business, premium economy and economy cabin. TK's new premium economy product will have a seat pitch of 45 inches, seat width of 19.6 inches and a recline of 130 degrees. The other routes that shall be getting TK's new B 773ERs on regular flights are Hong Kong and Shanghai from March 8th onwards.


Virgin Atlantic has revealed few capacity changes with regards to its North American schedule for Summer 2011. The main highlights are as follows:

BOS - capacity increased from 4 weekly B 744s + 3 weekly A 343s to 6 weekly A 346s + weekly A 343.

EWR - capacity increased to double daily A 346s from daily A 343s + daily A 346s.

MIA - capacity reduced from daily B 744 to 2 weekly A 346s + 5 weekly B 744s.


KLM has revealed on the GDS many capacity changes to its long haul route network for the IATA Winter 2010 season. The main highlights are as follows:

MNL - capacity reduced to 3 weekly B 773ERs + 4 weekly B 772ERs.

YYC - frequencies reduced from 5 to 4 weekly nonstop flights using an A 332.

DXB - capacity reduced to 13 weekly nonstop flights using an A 332 only.

DEL - capacity increased from Feb 1st onwards to a daily B 773ER.


Etihad Airways has officially announced that it shall be launching new daily nonstop flights to ICN-Seoul, South Korea from Dec 10th 2010 onwards from its Abu Dhabi hub base. EY will be operating a 3 class configured A 330-200 on this new route.


Air India has officially confirmed that it will be increasing its flights to Abu Dhabi from its Mumbai hub effective Oct 31st onwards. Currently, it operates 5 times per week using an A 321 which shall be increased to daily nonstop flights using the same aircraft type.


Delta Airlines has officially revealed that it shall be launching new nonstop flights to HND-Tokyo Haneda from Jan 29th 2011 onwards from its Detroit and Los Angeles hubs each respectively. Both cities will see daily terminator service to HND using a Boeing 747-400.