The newly available daytime slots at Haneda herald a potential transformation in US air service to the Japanese capital and the regulator wants to start with a blank canvas so it can look at all options and explore opportunities for alternative US cities that are capable of supporting commercially viable service to Tokyo.
This will be Delta’s fifth daily nonstop flight to the Asia-Pacific region and will add to existing links to Shanghai, Sydney and Tokyo; the latter being served by flights to both Haneda and Narita airports. The Shanghai service was only added in July 2015, and Delta will be the only carrier to offer service to both of China’s biggest cities from Los Angeles.
The Gulf carrier is both the world’s strongest and most valuable brand, with an increase of 17 percent from 2015. Emirates brand value is weighted at $7,743 million.
Delta plans to use the type to replace older less-efficient domestic Boeing 757 aircraft that are being retired from Delta's fleet and, according to its flight schedule inventory will configure them in a two-class arrangement with 20 First Class seats and 169 Economy seats, including extra-legroom seats in its Economy Comfort cabin.
A historic deal has been reached this week after three days of talks in Washington that opens the way for US airlines to negotiate with Cuba's government to operate up to 20 routes a day to Havana and ten too each of Cuba's other nine major airports, according to State Department officials. These will be in addition to the current limited charter programmes that have been serving the countries while hefty sanctions have been in place.
Seattle is now on the route maps of ten air carriers from outside the Americas, including major brands like All Nippon Airways, Condor, Emirates, Hainan Airlines, Icelandair, Lufthansa and Korean Air which have added to long-standing routes from Asiana Airlines, British Airways and EVA Air. A lasting legacy for managing director, Mark Reis as he steps down from the helm during February 2016.
Denver International Airport has had a strong year post hosting Routes Americas and recently announced the return of an important European hub link to Munich with Lufthansa. Earlier this month it announced record traffic with the busiest September in Denver aviation history.
The carrier is reducing its capacity into Brazil this winter through route switches, frequency reductions and aircraft changes in preparation for what its vice-president of Latin America, Mexico and Caribbean, Nicolas Ferri describes as a “long cycle” economic slowdown in the country, in an interview posted on the airline’s website.
After Delta recently reduced service between the world’s busiest airport and the largest international airport, the carrier has now confirmed it will end the route from February 11, 2016. It said the Boeing 777 used on this city pair will be redeployed to other Transatlantic markets where it can “compete on a level playing field that’s not distorted by subsidised state-owned airlines”.
The new route to Paris will commence in May 2016 and will supplement the existing London route operated by rival carrier, American Airlines. The daily flight will launch on May 12, 2016 and will be operated using a 164-seat Boeing 757-200ER in conjunction with the airline's joint venture partners Air France, KLM and Alitalia.
The Partnership for Open and Fair Skies issued a statement earlier this week with supporting document which it claims shows that the Abu Dhabi-based airline received a cash injection of $2.5 billion in 2014 from the government.
Delta and Virgin Atlantic are showing that their anti-trust immune joint venture across the Atlantic is yielding new routes that previously may not have been viable.
The Y18 billion ($145 million) plan will see current shareholder Integral Corporation hold a 50.1 per cent stake in the low-cost carrier, with UDS Airlines Investment – a joint venture between SMBC and Development Bank of Japan –holding a 33.4 per cent shareholding and ANA a 16.5 per cent stake.
Airline ancillary revenue has continued to grow for the eighth consecutive year, according to IdeaWorksCompany, who tracked 63 airlines and researched financial filings made by 130 airlines all over the world.
As of November 2015, Delta will increase service between New York-JFK and Los Angeles International Airport from nine to ten daily peak-day flights. Four flights will be operated with Boeing 767 widebody aircraft and six flights will use Boeing 757 aircraft. Delta will also be upgrading three of its eight daily flights between New York-JFK and San Francisco to Boeing 767 widebody aircraft.
The carrier said in formal correspondence with the DOT that it feels it is “not commercially feasible” to continue operate the slots allocated to Delta for Seattle-Haneda service on a consistent daily basis year-round because of variable year-round demand and a lack of partner operator in the Japanese market at the airport, close to downtown Tokyo.
The airline currently offers five daily flights from the much coveted airport due to its proximity to central Dallas to its Atlanta hub at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, but has run into a bitter battle with the facility’s largest tenant, low-cost carrier Southwest Airlines, over gate access.
In its formal application, Delta plans to introduce a four times weekly service on the route, with its strategic alliance with GOL Linhas Aereas Inteligentes extending the reach of this service to 20 interior Brazil destinations via Guarulhos International Airport. The flight is due to commence from December 19, 2015 and will be operated by a Boeing 767-300 aircraft, with 35 seats in Delta One, 32 seats in Delta Comfort+ and 143 seats in the Main Cabin.
Etihad Airways has issued a report claiming that the three largest US airlines have received over $70 billion in government and court-sanctioned benefits.
The group has disputed the evidence and conclusions that unfair subsidies are being provided by the Gulf States to Gulf carriers contained in the White Paper which has been prepared by American Airlines, Delta and United.
Al Baker used the briefing to clarify Qatar Airways' position, debunk accusations of subsidy and demonstrate the broad public benefits of the existing Open Skies Agreements. He also noted that Open Skies agreements go well beyond the interests of the Big Three citing numerous American companies and groups, which support Open Skies, including US airports, travel and trade groups, consumer groups and other US airlines.
The Emirates boss spoke forcefully about the open skies row, in which the American carriers have claimed that Emirates, Etihad and Qatar have all received $44 billion in subsidies from their governments, and are planning to seek US government action against them.
Subject to the required economic competition authority’s approvals, the airlines expect to offer an expanded network, enhancing routes and schedules, concurrently increasing opportunities to co-locate and invest in airport facilities by improving gates, lounges and the overall connecting experience. Additionally the airlines will increase joint sales and marketing initiatives.
