Delta reduces Accra-JFK

Delta Airlines has disclosed via filing on Sabre GDS system that they will be reducing service into Accra, Ghana from the on set of the IATA S16 season i.e. 27MAR16. 

DL used to operate 5 times per week nonstop service between New York JFK and Accra using a B767-300ER. However from late March, these shall be reduced to 4 times per week nonstop using the same aircraft type. The schedule is as follows:

Days : 2/4/5/7

DL 420 Dep JFK 1740 Arr ACC 0740+1
DL 220 Dep ACC 0925 Arr JFK 1650

Qatar Airways reveals new Boeing 777-300ER configuration

Qatar Airways has officially revealed details of its new Boeing 777-300ER cabin configuration which it will be implementing across its B77W fleet. The 9 B777-200LRs will however not be reconfigured and shall remain in their current 42J + 217Y layout. The highlights of the new B77W layout is as follows:

• Economy class becomes 3-4-3 from 3-3-3
• Two configuration versions revealed i.e. for premium routes 358 seats (42J + 316Y) and for high density markets 412 seats (24J + 388Y)
• The high density B77W in 2016 will be used on a daily basis to Manila, Amsterdam, Paris (one flight out of 3), Jakarta and Amman

With regards to its expansion plans for 2016, QR has announced another round of which the main highlights are as follows:

DFW - capacity increased from daily B77L to B77W

AMS - capacity increased from daily B788 to B77W

LHE - capacity increased from daily B77L to B77W

ISB - capacity increased from daily A332 to B77W

BLR - capacity reduced from daily B77W to daily B77L

TUN - capacity increased from daily A320 to daily B788

MAN - frequencies increased to 16 times weekly with all flights exclusively operated by the A333



 

United Airlines should look at Bangalore

United Airlines has been cited in the media that it has nearly given up on his expansion plans for India and instead is focusing on boosting its presence in China where it already is the largest U.S. carrier operating in terms of number of weekly frequencies. 

It is doing this by focusing its China strategy around the B787 aircraft and its SFO hub on the U.S. West Coast as the ideal strategic location.

Source: http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/air-transport/2015-12-28/united-pushes-china-expansion-after-hitting-roadblocks-india

Analysis:

UA should not give up totally on India expansion as there is a way in which it can boost its presence by operating to Bangalore via Hong Kong on a daily basis. 

Currently, UA has 1 B777 + 1 B744 parked at HKG for 17 hours each daily operating from ORD (B777) + SFO (B744). These flights arrive into HKG between 1800-1830 and depart back between 1130-1145 the next day.

BLR-HKG is a 5 hour 30 minute flight each way and UA should seriously consider using the B777 that originates from ORD to fly to BLR via HKG for which it also has 5th freedom traffic rights. In the past UA used to operate HKG-DEL with 5th freedom rights hence getting permission for HKG-BLR should not be a big issue with a little bit of political influence. 

The schedule would look like this:

Days: Daily

UA 895 Dep ORD 1310 Arr HKG 1810
UA 895 Dep HKG 2010 Arr BLR 2315
UA 896 Dep BLR 0120 Arr HKG 0940
UA 896 Dep HKG 1140 Arr ORD 1345  

The above mentioned schedule allows excellent connections to SFO for BLR via HKG in both directions on UA as UA 869 lands into HKG at 1840 on a daily basis and departs back to SFO the next day at 1130 (US 862) hence offering a quick 90-120 minute transit maximum for SFO passengers to connect on to the BLR service. 

The market demand is there too for UA to tap into which was as follows in 2014 (round trip pax):

BLR-HKG 63,000
BLR-SFO 82,000
BLR-ORD 34,000
BLR-LAX 25,000
BLR-IAH 18,000
BLR-DFW 20,000
BLR-SEA 17,000

In addition to the above markets, the schedule that I have proposed for UA also enables it to feed Seoul and Tokyo via Hong Kong conveniently with fellow STAR members i.e. ANA + Asiana. The demand from BLR to ICN was 17,000 where as NRT was 28,000 with neither cities seeing currently nonstop service to BLR as pax have to fly CX/SQ/TG only to get there. 

With fuel prices being $40-50 a barrel it offers an attractive proposition for UA to seriously consider from IATA S16 season onwards as its market share to India is getting rapidly taken away from the Middle East carriers + CX/BA/LH ! 

 

Fiji Airways unveils its first A330-300

Fiji Airways has officially unveiled its first new Airbus A330-300 that will be put into service full time soon on long haul trans-pacific flights. 

The configuration sees 313 seats in total with 24 business class + 289 economy and the first 3 routes it will be used on are Auckland, Sydney and Los Angeles. 

In addition, the airline announced a number of long haul service expansion plans from the on set of the IATA S16 season:

SFO - new 2 weekly nonstop flights to be launched effective 16JUN

HKG - frequencies increased from 4 to 5 weekly nonstop effective 22JUN

SIN - new 2 weekly nonstop flights to be launched effective 05APR

Singapore Airlines increases Colombo

Singapore Airlines has officially announced that due to surging demand from Austral-Asia as well as its own home market region (SIN+KUL) to Sri Lanka over the past year, it will be increasing its presence in the Colombo marketplace effective 30MAR. 

Currently, SQ operates a daily nonstop A330-300 service on this route however from late March, frequencies will be raised to 10 weekly nonstop using the same aircraft type exclusively. The additional flights are day time services scheduled as follows:

Days: 3/5/6

SQ 466 Dep SIN 0850 Arr CMB 1005
SQ 467 Dep CMB 1130 Arr SIN 1800

Qatar Airways reveals major EU expansion in Summer 2016

Qatar Airways has officially confirmed that it will be significantly expanding its presence in Europe from the on set of the IATA S16 season. The main highlights are as follows:

ATH - frequencies increased from double daily to triple daily i.e. daily A321 + daily A332 + daily A320

VIE - frequencies increased from daily to 12 weekly nonstop flights exclusively operated by B787s

BEG - new 4 weekly nonstop flights operated by the A320 to be launched

ZAG - frequencies increased from daily to 10 weekly using A320s

Turkish increases Far East Asia presence

Turkish Airlines has officially announced that it will be increasing its presence in the Southeast Asia market segment in an aggressive manner from S16 season onwards as the carrier looks to capitalize on the downsizing of MH/TG/AF/KL in Asia. 

The main highlights are as follows:

BKK - frequencies increased to double daily nonstop using an A333 exclusively with all flights being terminator operations !

TPE - frequencies increased from daily to 10 weekly nonstop using a B77W exclusively

HAN - new 5 weekly flights to be launched with an A333 effective 27JUL

China Southern orders 10 Airbus A330-300s

China Southern Airlines (based out of Guangzhou) has officially announced that it has placed a US$ 2.3 billion order with Airbus for the procurement of 10 new A330-300s. 

CZ has not indicated whether these units will be used to expand regional services or to replace its oldest A330-200 units. Currently, CZ has 16 A332s + 19 A333s in its operational fleet.

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-airbus-idUSKBN0U60US20151223

Emirates announces Cebu, Philippines

Emirates has officially announced that it will be launching new daily nonstop flights between Dubai and Cebu, Philippines effective 30MAR16. 

EK will be operating the new service using a 430 seater Boeing 777-300ER but in a triangular manner as the flight will be combined with CRK-Clarke, Manila (a route that EK suspended in 2014). The schedule is as follows:

Frequency - Daily

EK 338 Dep DXB 0255 Arr CEB 1620
EK 338 Dep CEB 1750 Arr CRK 1910
EK 338 Dep CRK 2040 Arr DXB 0125

The only GCC carrier that used to fly to CEB was Qatar Airways who operated a 3 weekly DOH-CEB service using an A332 until early 2012.  

Philippine Airlines announces Doha

Philippine Airlines has officially announced that it will be launching new services to Doha, Qatar effective 28MAR16. Flights will be operated 5 times per week using a 368 seater A330-300 via Abu Dhabi.

The schedule calls for operations on Days 1/2/4/5/6 with an 0805am arrival / 1005am departure to/from Doha.

Turkish increases Manila capacity

Turkish Airlines has announced that as a result of its gradual phase out of the aging Airbus A340-300 fleet from their own mainline operations, it will be increasing capacity on the Istanbul-Manila route effective 27MAR16.

The original plan was to operate 3 weekly B77Ws along with 3 A343s on a nonstop basis, however from the on set of the IATA S16 season, all 6 weekly flights will be flown by the 349 seater B77W thus representing an increase of 210 seats per direction per week.

Air Canada increases Brisbane frequencies

Air Canada has officially announced that as a result of a liberalized bilateral accord struck between Canada and Australia last week, it shall be increasing its frequencies to Brisbane from June 2016.

Originally planned to be 3 weekly nonstop flights from YVR-Vancouver using a B788, these will now be increased to daily nonstop from the on set itself using the same aircraft type. 

As a result of the above, the total number of weekly seats (one way) in IATA S16 season that AC will be deploying to Australia is 2100 (SYDYVR B77L daily) + 1757 (daily BNEYVR B788) giving a total of 3857 which means AC has the liberty to add another 2143 seats per week into the market should it be merited as the new bilateral allows 6000 per week per direction. If they decide to launch YVR-MEL on a daily basis with the B789 it means 2086 seats added hence under the 2143 balance amount remaining!

Source: http://www.ausbt.com.au/air-canada-daily-brisbane-vancouver-boeing-787-flight-from-june-2016

Delta orders 40 new planes

Delta Airlines has officially announced that it has placed a large order with Boeing for 20 used Embraer 90s (ex Air Canada birds) plus 20 additional Boeing 737-900ERs. The latter will be used to gradually replace its oldest MD88s and B757s operating on domestic + Central America services. 

This order was actually placed many months ago for the same number of E90s but 40 B739ERs. It got later on cancelled as it was subject to a new union deal being reached between DL and its pilots which failed. Now with things in order, DL has possibly obtained further discounts over here especially with the 20 E90s which Boeing bought from Air Canada in exchange for the Canadian carrier ordering a truck load of B737MAXs to replace its entire A320 family fleet.  

EVA Air increases New York JFK and Houston

EVA Air has officially announced that it will be expanding its services to New York JFK and IAH-Houston in 2016 as the carrier looks to build on the popularity of these two flights as well as the beyond connectivity options on offer by fellow STAR member United Airlines out of IAH in particular.

JFK will be increased from daily to ten weekly nonstop flights using a B777-300ER with the additional 3 weekly flights scheduled as follows:

Days 2/4/6

BR 030 Dep TPE 0750 Arr JFK 1045
BR 029 Dep JFK 1245 Arr TPE 1615+1

IAH will be increased from the current 4 to daily nonstop services using also a B777-300ER effective 10OCT.

Singapore Airlines A350 configuration and Premium Economy update

Singapore Airlines has officially revealed details of its Airbus A350-900 configuration that it expects to be delivered in 2016 as well as more info on its premium economy cabin.

The initial A359s will be configured in a three class layout initially i.e. Business + Premium Economy and Economy. In total 253 seats will be on board with 42 in business + 24 premium economy and 187 in economy. In total, SQ has ordered 67 A359s (including options) of which 7 units are for the exclusive A359LR which it will use in 2018 to relaunch SIN-EWR and SIN-LAX nonstop as well as one more ultra long haul nonstop route which many pundits expect to be San Francisco.

With regards to its premium economy cabin on the Airbus A380s, SQ confirmed two different configurations depending on the market demand characteristics which are as follows:

• A380s that are deployed on high premium demand routes will see capacity reduced to 379 seats on board only i.e. 12F + 86J + 36PE + 245Y
• A380s that are deployed on long haul volume oriented routes with less business class demand sees capacity also reduced to 441 seats i.e. 12F + 60J + 36PE + 333Y

SN Brussels expands long haul network

SN Brussels has officially announced that it will be embarking on an ambitious long haul expansion plan in 2016 as the carrier looks to expand its footprint on its core Africa market segment as well as North America. 

The main highlights are as follows:

• Three additional A330-300s shall be inserted into the fleet in 2016-17
• New 5 weekly nonstop flights to YYZ-Toronto will be launched effective April 2016
• Frequencies to KGL-Kigali and EBB-Entebbe to be increased to 6 and 4 weekly each respectively
• Three new long haul routes being seriously studied i.e. Mumbai, Lagos and Libreville
• Frequencies to IAD-Washington to be increased from April 2016 from 5 to 6 weekly nonstop flights

Source:
http://press.brusselsairlines.com/brussels-airlines-invests-in-intercontinental-growth#

Canada-Australia bilateral expanded

The Governments of Canada and Australia have confirmed that they have come to a mutually beneficial agreement expanding the air bilateral accord between both countries which in turn should facilitate greater people and cargo movement.

The main highlights are as follows:

• Seat limitation increased from 3000 to 6000 per week
• Effective December 2016, it is further increased to 9000 per week

Currently, Air Canada offers nonstop daily service from YVR to SYD using a B777-200LR (1890 weekly seats) + 3 weekly YVR-BNE using a B787-8 (753 seats). 

The new bilateral agreement would permit Air Canada to seriously ponder launching new 5 weekly flights to MEL from YVR using a B789 (15 hours flying time) as well as increase YVR-SYD in peak season from daily to 11 weekly (if required)

Source: http://news.gc.ca/web/article-en.do?nid=1025239

Turkish increases Karachi to double daily

Turkish Airlines has officially announced that it will be increasing its services to Karachi, Pakistan effective 29FEB16. Currently, TK operates a daily nonstop flight using an A330-200. 

However from 29FEB, these shall be raised to double daily nonstop using a Boeing 737-900ER using the below mentioned schedule:

TK 708 Dep IST 2030 Arr KHI 0445+1
TK 709 Dep KHI 0615 Arr IST 0940

TK 118 Dep IST 0020 Arr KHI 0835
TK 119 Dep KHI 0935 Arr IST 1300

Etihad increases Manila to 17 weekly

Etihad Airways has officially announced that it will be boosting its presence in the high demand Manila market by adding 3 new weekly frequencies on the route. Currently, it operates a double daily nonstop schedule AUH-MNL-AUH using a 2 class configured 412 seater B777-300ER.

Effective 01MAY16, these shall be increased to 17 times per week nonstop using the same aircraft type with the below mentioned schedule (for the new flights):

Days: MON/SAT/SUN

EY 434 Dep AUH 1435 Arr MNL 0345+1
EY 435 Dep MNL 0655 Arr AUH 1200

Emirates announces 4 new A380 destinations in 2016

Emirates has today announced massive capacity expansion of its long haul network by naming four new cities ear marked for Airbus A380 capacity upgrade from the on set of the IATA S16 season. The main highlights are as follows:

BHX - new single daily A380 (dual class) service (afternoon departure from BHX)

TPE - capacity increased from daily B77W to daily A380 (dual class)

PRG - capacity increased from daily B77W to daily A380 (three class)

BCN - capacity increased from double daily B77W to daily A380 + daily B77W

Etihad unveils 2 class B787-9 configuration

Etihad Airways has officially released details of its upcoming new deliveries of their B789s which will be configured in a two class layout rather than the current versions that have a three class premium configuration. The new dual class layout shall seat in total 299 passengers with 28 business class + 271 in economy. 

It will begin flying from August 2016 on services to DUS, JNB, PVG, PER and IST. In total, 36 B789s have been ordered by the carrier of which 5 are currently in operation in a three class layout seating 235 pax i.e. 8F / 28J / 199Y.

Lufthansa suspends Kuala Lumpur

Lufthansa has officially confirmed that it shall be suspending all flights to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia effective 01MAR16. It has attributed high losses and low yields for the suspension as well as the inability to compete effectively against the one stop competitors from the Middle East and Turkey. 

LH currently operates FRA-KUL 5 times per week nonstop using its high density configured 279 seater A340-300.

Sri Lankan Airlines to restructure Airbus order

Sri Lankan Airlines CEO has officially confirmed that the airline is looking to renegotiate an existing order with Airbus that was for 7 Airbus A350-900s as the carrier feels that due to a changing market dynamic as well as less focus on Europe-Asia connectivity, it is better off pursuing the option of procuring more narrow bodied aircraft. 

UL's current long haul fleet consists of 7 A332s + 5 A333s (2 more yet to be delivered). Its narrow body fleet after the merger with Mihin Lanka comprises of 6 A320s + 2 A321s. 

Comments:

This is a sound move undertaken by the top level management team of UL as the correct way to move forward for the carrier is to boost its narrow body fleet by ordering a bunch load of A321NEOs. The Sri Lankan market segment largely consists of VFR, leisure and labor passengers bound to GCC, UK and East Asia with very little corporate premium demand. This is evident by the configuration of its A332s which have only 18 business class seats in them (flat beds) versus the standard 24-30 that one sees in other airlines. 

The A321NEO is the perfect aircraft for UL to meet both its medium and short haul needs with a low risk aircraft that can almost offer the capacity of a wide body but with narrow body operational costs. It can easily fly up to 6.5 hours nonstop from CMB airport with a full payload of pax and up to 4 tons of cargo. This means to the East it can fly CMB-PVG nonstop and JED to the West without any operational issues. With particular reference to markets such as BKK/KUL/SIN/GCC where demand is primarily in the Y class cabin, operating the A321 makes much more sense as it provides 25-30% more capacity versus the A320 against only 7% higher cost of flying. This is precisely why airlines such as Dragon Air, Etihad, Qatar Airways, American and Jetblue use this particular aircraft type on high density short/medium haul routes where there is predominantly more leisure versus premium demand. 

The A320NEO is relevant only to UL's Indian subcontinent network where it operates multiple daily frequencies to many markets where the lower capacity of the A320 comes in handy due to many flights on offer as they feed into UL's different arrival/departure hub wave banks. 

KLM boosts USA presence

KLM has officially announced that as a result of surging demand, it shall be increasing its services into SFO-San Franciso, USA effective May 2016. Currently, KL operates a daily nonstop flight using a B747-400 Combi, however from May onwards these will be boosted to 9 weekly nonstop flights. The additional 2 weekly flights will be operated using its new B787-9. 

In addition, KLM too revealed that it will be launching a new USA long haul route to SLC-Salt Lake City effective 05MAY16. In total, 3 weekly nonstop flights will be flown from AMS using an A332 using the below mentioned schedule:

Days: 1/4/6

KL 609 Dep AMS 1230 Arr SLC 1450
KL 610 Dep SLC 1650 Arr AMS 1020+1

Virgin America orders 10 A321NEOs

Virgin America (based out of SFO) has officially announced that it has placed an order for 10 brand new Airbus A 321NEOs as the carrier embarks on to its next planned phase of growth both from a capacity and on board product wise. 

VX will be basing these aircraft exclusively out of its primary SFO base and shall be used mainly on multiple daily trans-continental flights to the U.S. East Coast and Florida. 

VX can also use the aircraft to operate on SFO-Hawaii routes when demand warrants it. 

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-virgin-america-airplane-idUSKBN0TY1YH20151215

Jet Airways announces Amsterdam, suspends Newark

Jet Airways of India has officially released details of a new broad based code share relationship with Delta and KLM via AMS from the on set of the IATA S16 season. 

As a result of this, the following applies:

• EWR service suspended 
• All YYZ flights to be routed via AMS using below schedule effective 27MAR16

9W 234 Dep DEL 0235 Arr AMS 0800
9W 234 Dep AMS 1120 Arr YYZ 1340
9W 233 Dep YYZ 1950 Arr AMS 0915+1
9W 233 Dep AMS 1140 Arr DEL 2320

• BOM-AMS will also see a daily nonstop flight using below schedule

9W 232 Dep BOM 0225 Arr AMS 0815
9W 231 Dep AMS 1120 Arr BOM 2355

• All AMS-India flights operated by 9W to be flown exclusively on A333s
• 9W will code share on all transatlantic DL/KLM operated flights as well as selected KLM intra-EU services
• BRU-YYZ-BRU service will be suspended
• All India-BRU-India services suspended

Sources:

http://www.jetairways.com/EN/IN/JetExperience/Press-Releases.aspx

and

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/delta-and-klm-announce-codeshare-partnership-with-jet-airways-via-amsterdam-airport-schiphol-300192239.html

Emirates reveals China expansion

Emirates has officially announced that it will be launching 2 new long haul destinations in China effective 03MAY16 as the carrier looks to tap into niche markets before EY/QR come into the mix.

The 2 new cities revealed were Yinchuan(INC) and Zhengzhou(CGO) and it shall be flown using the below mentioned schedule:

Frequency 4 weekly 
Aircraft  B777-200LR
Days 2/3/5/6

EK 326 Dep DXB 0245 Arr INC 1335+1
EK 326 Dep INC 1520 Arr CGO 1700
EK 327 Dep CGO 2110 Arr INC 2255
EK 327 Dep INC 0040 Arr DXB 0430
 

Source: http://www.emirates.com/ng/English/about/media-centre/2850628/emirates-expands-network-in-mainland-china

Iberia announces Johannesburg

Iberia of Spain has officially announced that it will be launching new flights to JNB-Johannesburg effective 01AUG16 as the carrier looks to relaunch markets with more fuel efficient aircraft.

IB disclosed the new MAD-JNB flights will be operated 3 times per week nonstop using an A330-300 with the below mentioned schedule:

Days - 1/4/5

IB 6051 Dep MAD 2345 Arr JNB 0955+1
IB 6050 Dep JNB 2015 Arr MAD 0635+1 

Emirates increases Cairo and Riyadh flights

Emirates has announced that it has secured bilateral approval to increase its presence in Cairo and Riyadh respectively and as a result of which has jumped on to the opportunity to cash in. 

To begin with, services to CAI shall be increased from double daily to 17 weekly nonstop using a B777-300ER effective 27MAR16. With regards to RUH, flights are being increased from double to triple daily effective 15DEC with a mix of A332s and B77Ws.

Both the new CAI and RUH flights are overnight services departing Dubai v.v !

Thai Airways makes Beijing triple daily

Thai Airways has officially announced that as a result of a surge in bookings being currently witnessed on its Beijing bound flights, it will be increasing its presence on the BKK-PEK route by adding a new daily flight effective 30JAN16.

Overall frequencies will climb as a result of the above from double daily B777s to triple daily with the new service being operated using an A333 with the below mentioned schedule:

TG 686 Dep BKK 2300 Arr PEK 0440+1
TG 687 Dep PEK 0555 Arr BKK 1010

Cathay Pacific announces London Gatwick

Cathay Pacific has officially announced that it will be launching new services to London Gatwick airport effective 02SEP16. CX shall be operating the flight nonstop from its HKG base using its new Airbus A 350-900 with the below mentioned schedule:

Days: MON/WED/FRI/SUN

CX 349 Dep HKG 0055 Arr LGW 0710
CX 344 Dep LGW 1235 Arr HKG 0725+1

This is in addition to the five daily flights that CX already operates into LHR !

Source: http://www.cathaypacific.com/cx/en_HK/about-us/press-room/press-release/2015/Cathay-Pacific-new-Gatwick-service-for-London-travel.html

Emirates next A380 destination - Guangzhou, China

Emirates has officially confirmed that it has applied to the Chinese Civil Aviation Authorities to increase its current daily Guangzhou-Dubai nonstop service to an Airbus A380 from the on set of the IATA Summer 2016 season.

EK disclosed that the high density dual class 615 seater A380 will be used for this service from the on set of the IATA Summer 2016 season once approval is obtained.

Source: http://gulfnews.com/business/aviation/emirates-plans-to-fly-a380-to-guangzhou-to-compete-in-china-1.1634710

Comments:

This capacity upgrade from a daily B77W to a daily 615 seater A380 represents a 46% capacity increase for EK on the DXB-CAN route and it is primarily aimed at poaching away the CAN-Africa market share from QR, ET and KQ as with the higher capacity on offer, EK can now compete more effectively with cheaper fares matching these three airlines to woo them away!

FYI the P2P demand between DXB-CAN (round trip) in 2014 was 181,000 passengers!

United suspends Dubai-Washington

United Airlines has officially announced that it will be suspending its current daily nonstop service from IAD-Washington DC to DXB-Dubai effective 23JAN16. UA cites the below mentioned reasons for the cut:

• Loss of a lucrative U.S. Govt contract of 15,000 fed employees to B6-Jetblue who are EK's biggest code share partner in USA
• Unable to compete against Emirates and Etihad effectively on the IAD-DXB route
• B772ER usage can yield better margins being used on shorter LATAM or trans-atlantic flights to EU as well as to replace B744s (which are being retired)

Source: http://gulfnews.com/business/aviation/united-airlines-to-stop-dubai-flights-1.1634890

British Airways increases Shanghai

British Airways has officially announced as a result of rising demand along with great encouragement from the U.K government to boost business and leisure links with China, it shall be increasing its services to PVG-Shanghai effective 20FEB16.

Currently, BA operates a daily nonstop flight from LHR to PVG using a B777. These will be increased to 10 weekly nonstop flights operated by a daily B773ER + 3 weekly B772ER. 

Point to point demand in 2014 between London and Shanghai was 336,000 passengers and this is expected to grow by at least 15% by end of 2016. 

Air France announces Tehran

Air France has officially announced that it will be re launching its flights to Tehran operated nonstop from its Paris hub base effective April 2016. Services will be flown 3 times per week using an A330-200 with the below mentioned schedule:

Days 3/5/7

AF 738 Dep CDG 1030 Arr IKA 1840
AF 755 Dep IKA 0715 Arr CDG 1055

AF suspended CDG-IKA flights in 2008 as a result of global economic meltdown and the negative effects sanctions were having on Iran.

In addition, the French national carrier also confirmed that it will be increasing its services into New York JFK airport by adding a new daily flight from Paris's second airport i.e. Orly (ORY) effective June 2016. These flights will be operated using a B777-200ER.

Sri Lankan to cut Frankfurt Rome and Paris

Sri Lankan Airlines CEO has publicly stated in an address in Colombo recently, that the airline is undertaking a major cost restructuring exercise aimed at bringing the airline's operations in a sustainability mode after years of massive losses on its long haul routes in particular.

He confirmed that the "Vanity routes" in question to be cut are Rome, Paris and Frankfurt where it cannot compete against the GCC carriers funneling traffic via their respective hub airports to Asia as the yields are far too low to justify continuing operating. 

London will be retained as the sole EU destination served nonstop from Colombo using the A332/A333 fleet and the aircraft coming out of FRA/CDG/FCO will be instead used to boost frequencies to China.

Source: http://www.economynext.com/SriLankan_Airlines_to_ditch_%E2%80%98vanity%E2%80%99_routes-3-3671.html

KLM increases LAX and Muscat flights

KLM has officially announced that it will be increasing its presence in Muscat and Los Angeles from the on set of the IATA S16 season as the carrier looks to take advantage of available opportunities in the long haul market segment. 

MCT - frequencies will be increased from 4 weekly to daily flights using a B789 operated via AUH

LAX - frequencies increased from 12 weekly to double daily nonstop using a B744 Combi

China Airlines increases JFK and FRA

China Airlines (Taiwan) has officially announced that it will be increasing its services to New York JFK and Frankfurt, Germany from the on set of the IATA W16 season i.e. 30OCT

Currently, JFK is operated 3 times per week nonstop using a B777-300ER (77W). These flights will be increased to 5 times per week using the same aircraft type. As far as FRA is concerned, the route will also be increased from 5 weekly to daily nonstop using a B77W as well. FRA is one of CI's top performing long haul routes in terms of cargo revenue.

Qatar Airways increases Maputo capacity

Qatar Airways officially announced today that it will be increasing capacity on its services to MPO-Maputo, Mozambique effective 29MAR16. Currently, all 3 weekly flights are flown via JNB using a B77W however from the on set of the IATA S16 season, it will make MPO a nonstop terminator destination (DOH-MPO-DOH) using a 254 seater B787-8. 

The schedule is as follows:

Days - 2/4/7

QR 1361 Dep DOH 0630 Arr MPM 1340
QR 1362 Dep MPM 1505 Arr DOH 0010+1

China Eastern announces 3 new long haul routes

China Eastern Airlines, the largest carrier based out of Shanghai airport has officially announced that it will be launching three new long haul destinations in 2016. All the routes will be operated out of its primary PVG (Shanghai) hub base and they are to Brisbane (BNE), Prague (PRG) and Chicago (ORD) respectively.

The operational highlights are as follows:

BNE - to be launched effective 16JAN three times per week using an A332

ORD - to be launched effective 18MAR using a B77W on a daily basis nonstop

PRG - to be launched effective 02APR using an A332 on a three weekly basis

Philippine Airlines chooses Airbus A359 and announces Paris-Manila

PAL (Philippine Airlines) SVP Commercial Mr Lim today revealed to the local media of two important developments concerning the airline's future operational plans. They are as follows:

1. PAL has chosen to purchase the A350-900 over the B787-9 and will be using the normal version of the aircraft which its Ops department has confirmed shall be able to operate its longest route i.e. MNL-JFK nonstop without a payload penalty. A total of 6 units initially are ordered.
2. A new long haul EU destination will be launched in Summer 2016 i.e. Paris served from Manila via Dubai with 5th freedom traffic rights

Source: http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/pal-to-fly-to-the-city-of-light/

Comments:

PAL should not look at flying to CDG via DXB but rather via KWI instead. DXB-CDG already has 4 daily nonstop flights being operated i.e. daily AF + triple daily EK therefore there is no chance for PAL to be remotely competitive. Instead, KWI-CDG no airline flies nonstop as KU currently operate their service via FCO-Rome four times per week hence un-competitive versus a nonstop product. In addition, yields on KWI-CDG are much higher than DXB-CDG !

JAL looking at USA expansion

Japan Airlines CEO has announced that the carrier is looking to launch at least two new USA routes in 2016 during a press conference inaugurating the new nonstop Tokyo-Dallas nonstop service. 

The one route that was mentioned as a possible reinstatement was Las Vegas which JAL previously operated for many years. JAL is very happy with the performance economics of the plane and should seriously consider being the first Asian airline to fly nonstop to Miami which is a major hub of its fellow One World partner i.e. American Airlines. NRT-MIA traffic demand in 2014 was 24,000 passengers + via AA support it can access easily Latin/Central America + Caribbean islands providing passengers with one stop access. NRT-MIA can be sustained 4 times per week using a B789 with the flying time of the route being 14 hours 30 minutes hence easily do able from an aircraft flying range perspective.

TAP Portugal orders 14 A339s + 39 A320/321NEOs

TAP Portugal has officially announced that it has signed a deal with Airbus for the procurement of 53 new aircraft that will see the airline commercially through the entire 2020-30 decade. The breakdown of the order is 14 A330-900s + 15 A320NEOs + 24 A321NEOs. Previously it had ordered 12 A350-900s which were in turn exchanged for 14 A339s as TAP's internal studies revealed it was cheaper for them overall to operate the A339 versus the A359 whose extra flying range was not required for any destination in its current and future network plan.

The A321NEO order will be split between the normal NEO version and the LR version which TAP has stated will be used to fly on medium demand trans-atlantic routes from Lisbon to U.S. East Coast and Northeast Brazil. The cities identified for this purpose include Boston, Toronto, Montreal, Washington DC, Bayeux, Parnaiba and Aracaju. The configuration of these A321NEOLRs will see 16 flat bed seats in business class plus 159 in economy totaling 175.

Malaysia Airlines suspends Paris and Amsterdam

Malaysia Airlines has officially announced that it will be suspending all flights to both Paris and Amsterdam effective 25JAN16 as the carrier enters into its last phase of route network restructuring designed to save the airline large amounts of operating cash. As a result of this, London Heathrow will be MH's sole EU destination where it shall continue to operate double daily flights using the Airbus A380 exclusively in code share with fellow One World partner British Airways. 

MH also revealed on the sidelines that it has concluded signing a broad based code share agreement with Emirates that will see the former place its code on EK's operated flights from DXB to EU and selected MENA destinations. In return, EK will do the same on MH's operated flights to the Austral-Asia region. This arrangement is very similar to the EK-QF venture initiated few years ago.

Emirates reduces DAR and increases MNL

Emirates has officially confirmed that due to network demand requirements, it will be implementing the below mentioned changes:

DAR - frequencies reduced from double daily B773s to a daily nonstop service only effective 15DEC

MNL - frequencies increased from double daily to 18 weekly with all flights exclusively being operated by the B777-300ER (B77W) effective 29MAR

It is highly surprising that a route such as Addis Ababa with its massive labor market demand to GCC has yet to warrant double daily A332 operated service by EK where as ET currently operate 18 weekly flights DXB-ADD !

Turkish orders 20 more A321NEOs

Turkish Airlines has officially confirmed that it has ordered 20 additional Airbus A321-200NEOs catered for additional planned growth in the 2020-30 decade. 

In total as a result of this order, 72 A321NEOs have been ordered by the carrier which has the capability to fly up to 7 hours nonstop from Istanbul with a full payload of passengers plus cargo. 

Source: http://www.eturbonews.com/66479/turkish-airlines-firms-order-20-additional-a321neo-aircraft