Airberlin will add A330 service to three U.S. cities in 2016. (Image: Airberlin)
Topping the list of international route news this week is Airberlin’s plan to add a trio of new U.S. gateways. Also, Delta will fly to Iceland from a second U.S. city next year; China Eastern adds a new U.S. city and a new in-flight amenity; and British Airways and American will put 787s onto new routes.
Germany’s Airberlin plans a substantial expansion of its U.S. operations in 2016, adding three new destinations and increasing frequencies on existing ones. The company said it plans to add flights from Dusseldorf in early May 2016 to San Francisco, Dallas/Ft. Worth and Boston, using A330-200s. The DFW flights will operate four times a week; Boston service will begin at three a week and increase to four on June 16; and the San Francisco schedule will start at three flights a week and grow to five as of June 9. Existing service from Dusseldorf to Los Angeles will increase from six a week to daily, and Dusseldorf-New York JFK will increase from 13 a week to twice-daily. The carrier also flies from Dusseldorf to Miami and Ft. Myers, and from Berlin to New York and Chicago. Airberlin is a Oneworld partner airline. It gets only fair reviews on both SkyTrax and TripAdvisor– have you flown it?
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In addition to service from New York JFK to Reykjavik, Delta plans to add service to Iceland from its Minneapolis-St. Paul hub next spring. The daily service, slated to launch May 26, will use a 199-seat 757-200 with 20 premium seats, 29 extra-legroom Delta Comfort seats and 150 in regular economy.
China Eastern’s A330-200 at SFO (Photo Peter Biaggi)
Airlineroute.net, which tracks carrier’s schedule filings, reports that China Eastern Airlines will begin new U.S. service next year to Chicago O’Hare. The carrier plans to operate three flights a week from Shanghai Pudong with a 777-300ER. China Eastern is a member of Delta’s Skyteam global alliance. Meanwhile, China Eastern has teamed up with Panasonic Avionics to start offering in-flight Wi-Fi on international routes. The carrier’s 777-300ERs are introducing the service on routes from Shanghai to New York, Los Angeles and Toronto this month, followed by San Francisco and Vancouver in December.
More 787s are coming on international routes from the U.S. American Airlines plans to put a 787-8 onto its Dallas/Ft. Worth-Santiago, Chile route starting December 17, replacing a 777-200ER. And British Airways is due to replace the 767 on its Baltimore/Washington International-London Heathrow route with a 787-8 effective August 1, 2016.
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