TravelSkills

News and Tips For Your Trips

Routes: Hong Kong Airlines to LAX + Delta, Cathay Pacific, United, LATAM & more

Business class on a Hong Kong Airlines A350-900. (Image: Hong Kong Airlines)

In international route developments, there’s a new entrant in the U.S.-Hong Kong market; Delta will put a new aircraft on a China route and will beef up transpaciifc code-sharing; Cathay Pacific will add another U.S. gateway next year; United is eliminating first class on many routes and cuts back China service; a Lufthansa affiliate is adding a new business class; LATAM is coming to Las Vegas; San Jose gets more service to Mexico; Copa begins Denver service; an Italian airline plans new U.S. routes; Alaska ends its relationship with two European partners; and Norwegian revamps its U.S. schedules next summer, adding frequencies from the West Coast.

Hong Kong Airlines, a Hong Kong-based sister company of China’s Hainan Airlines, this week started service to the U.S. for the first time. The carrier is using a new Airbus A350-900 on the Los Angeles-Hong Kong route, configured with 33 lie-flat business class seats, 109 premium economy seats with 34-inch pitch, and 193 regular economy seats with 31-32 inch pitch. The new LAX-Hong Kong flights operate four times a week (Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday), with a 10:45 a.m. departure from LAX. Hong Kong Airlines plans to add San Francisco service in late March, and New York flights later next year.

So far, all of Delta’s Airbus A350-900s have been scheduled for routes out of Detroit or Atlanta, but now the airline is planning to operate one of the new planes out of Los Angeles. According to Routesonline.com, Delta plans to start flying the new plane from LAX to Shanghai Pudong on July 2, alternating days with a 777-200LR until July 18, when the A350 will go onto a daily schedule. Delta’s A350s – which feature the airline’s new Delta One suites and new international premium economy section – are already used on flights from Detroit to Tokyo Narita and Seoul Incheon, and are slated to start Detroit-Beijing service January 17; Detroit-Amsterdam and Atlanta-Seoul March 24; and Detroit-Shanghai April 19.

Meanwhile, Delta will expand code-sharing with its transpacific partner Korean Air on January 10, putting the DL code onto Korean’s flights to Seoul Incheon from Los Angeles and Las Vegas.

Cathay Pacific will fly a new A350-1000 to Washington Dulles. (Image: Airbus)

In other transpacific news, Cathay Pacific has unveiled plans to add another East Coast gateway in mid-September 2018, when it will start flying from Hong Kong to Washington Dulles. The carrier already serves Boston, New York JFK and Newark. Cathay reportedly plans to fly the route – which will be the longest in its system – four days a week with a brand-new Airbus A350-1000.

A couple of months ago, we reported on United’s plans to reconfigure its international long-haul 777-200s, putting in new lie-flat Polaris business class seats, taking out first class, and going from nine-across to 10-across seating in economy. A recent entry in Routesonline.com about United’s 2018 schedules shows where the reconfigured 777s will be deployed, based on the elimination of first class from seating availability. It shows the elimination of 777 first class in late April from San Francisco to London, and from Washington Dulles to Brussels, Frankfurt and Tokyo Narita; and at the end of August from Chicago O’Hare to Beijing, Hong Kong, Tokyo Narita, Shanghai, Sao Paulo, Frankfurt and Munich. Meanwhile, United’s seasonal summer route from San Francisco to Xi’An, China, which had previously been scheduled for three 787 flights a week from May 6 through September 4, has been eliminated for 2018.

Las Vegas is due to get its first non-stop service to South America next summer. LATAM Airlines Brasil has filed plans to operate a 767 three times a week between Las Vegas and Sao Paulo from June 21 through August 31.

We recently reported that Lufthansa’s lower-cost leisure affiliate Eurowings plans to launch new transatlantic routes in 2018, including JFK-Dusseldorf starting April 28, Dusseldorf-Miami as of May 4, and Dusseldorf-Ft. Myers beginning May 3. Now it appears that the airline will try to entice business travelers onto those flights by adding a new business class cabin. According to reports from Europe, the new Eurowings cabin, simply called Bizclass, will feature seats that recline fully and will include upgraded meals and other special amenities. Details of Eurowings’ new Bizclass are expected to be introduced in March at the big ITB Travel Fair in Berlin.

Mexico’s Volaris added two new routes out of San Jose. (Image: Volaris)

Mexican low-cost carrier Volaris, which already had service out of San Jose to Guadalajara, has now added two more routes. Volaris has started twice-weekly flights from SJC to Morelia on Fridays and Sundays, as well as twice-weekly service from SJC to Zacatecas on Mondays and Thursdays. Next summer, Aeromexico is due to begin SJC-Mexico City flights.

Panama’s Copa Airlines, a member of United’s Star Alliance family, has added Denver as its 13th U.S. gateway. The carrier has kicked off new non-stop service four days a week from Denver to Panama City, with Denver departures on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday at 10:16 p.m. Copa offers onward connections in Panama to 55 Latin American destinations.

Italian carrier Meridiana plans to add two U.S. routes next summer. On June 1, it will begin daily service from Milan Malpensa to New York JFK, followed up on June 8 by four flights a week from Malpensa to Miami.  The airline will use a 247-passenger, two-class Airbus A330 on both routes.

On April 30, 2018, Alaska Airlines will end its Mileage Plan partnership with Air France-KLM – not really a surprise considering that the European duo has a joint venture partnership with Alaska’s arch-rival Delta. Alaska and Delta ended their own mileage partnership last spring. The Alaskan carrier notes that it still has partnership agreements to Europe in place with British Airways, Finnair, Icelandair and Condor.

The latest schedule updates from Norwegian show the low-cost carrier plans to boost service on several U.S. routes in late March, increasing its weekly Barcelona frequencies from three to four out of Los Angeles, from three to five out of Oakland, and from four to six out of Newark. The carrier will also boost LAX-Copenhagen service from three flights a week to four. At Boston, Norwegian plans to increase London Gatwick service from four flights a week to seven starting June 12, but it will discontinue its seasonal Boston-Oslo and Boston-Copenhagen flights.

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Is Norwegian Air growing too fast?

Norwegian Air will use 787-9s on four new U.S. routes next year. (Image: Norwegian)

Fast-growing, low-cost European carrier Norwegian just announced four more new U.S. routes coming in 2018, leading some to wonder if the ambitious airline is growing too fast for its own good.

The company’s latest plans include new service from Los Angeles to Milan Malpensa starting June 16; and from LAX to Madrid beginning July 15. It will operate four flights a week on both routes. From New York JFK, Norwegian will operate new service to Amsterdam starting May 7, with four weekly flights; and to Madrid July 18, with three flights a week. All the new routes will be served with 787-9s.

No-frills fare, high fee fares from LAX will start at $229 one-way, while New York fares will begin at $199 to Amsterdam and $229 to Madrid. Premium cabin fares start at $729 and $739 from LAX to Madrid and Milan respectively, and at $619/$649 to Amsterdam and Madrid from JFK.

These four routes are just a part of new Norwegian service already announced for 2018. Other new routes and starting dates include Oakland to Rome (February 6); Newark to Paris (February 28); Chicago to London (March 25); Austin to London (March 27); Denver to Paris (April 9); Oakland to Paris (April 10), and Boston to Paris (May 2);

Norwegian’s current and upcoming U.S. routes. (Image: Norwegian)

All that is on top of 25 U.S. routes that the carrier inaugurated in 2017. And look for more new service in the months ahead: Norwegian said it has just acquired another 28 weekly takeoff and landing slots at London Gatwick, available starting next summer. “Planning work is now underway to allocate the newly acquired slots, and will be announced at a later stage,” the company said.

This explosive growth is leading some investors in the company to worry that the airline might be overextending itself, considering its financial performance. A recent analysis in the Financial Times noted that Norwegian’s fleet is adding 32 aircraft in 2017, for a total of 145; and will keep growing to 193 planes by the end of 2019. The report said Norwegian had a second-quarter operating loss of $104 million, while its unit costs rose by 6 percent in the third quarter. The company’s share price has plunged 40 percent this year, the report said, while its European competitors’ stock has been rising sharply.

One analyst quoted in the article said Norwegian has new aircraft coming online so fast that it can’t absorb them all, so it has started leasing some to other companies and selling older ones. It also quoted a senior banker in Norway as saying that Norwegian is “in trouble. They are over-extended and it’s clear that they have to do something.”

Have you flown Norwegian…or benefitted from its impact on transatlantic fares this year? Please discuss. 

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Routes: United high-density 777s, Delta, Qantas, Air China, Air Canada, Aeromexico

A United 777-200. (Image: Aero Icarus/Wikimedia Commons)

In international route developments, United will start using high-density 777s on some Europe routes; Delta aims to make things smoother for transborder flyers with a new partnership; Qantas kicks off its 787-9 service to LAX next week; Air China begins a new LAX route; Air Canada adds another Australian destination; and Aeromexico tacks on an Atlanta route.

Travel to Europe for some United Airlines passengers is going to get more crowded next year as the airline starts to deploy high-density 777-200s on a few routes out of its Newark hub. The aircraft in question are normally used on domestic routes. According to Airlineroutes.com, United will put the 777s into service between Newark and Barcelona April 23, Newark-Dublin March 10 and Newark-Madrid May 23. (Low-fare Norwegian started EWR-Barcelona flights last summer, and British Airways/Iberia sister company Level plans to begin cheap flights from Boston to Barcelona next spring.)

United has four configurations for its 777-200s, according to Seatguru.com. The three versions previously designated for international routes have 266 to 269 total seats, while the high-density aircraft have 364 (234 economy, 102 Economy Plus and 50 Polaris business class). They manage this difference thanks in part to 10-across seating in economy and Economy Plus instead of the nine-across in the other versions.

A WestJet 737 in special Walt Disney World livery. (Image: WestJet)

As if Delta didn’t have enough joint venture partnerships already (Virgin Atlantic, Air France-KLM, Aeromexico, and a new one recently approved with Korean Air), it’s now planning yet another. The carrier said it has entered into a preliminary memorandum of understanding with Canada’s WestJet to form a new joint venture for transborder service. Joint ventures also imply antitrust immunity, meaning the two carriers would be able to cooperate on pricing and scheduling.

Delta says the JV with WestJet will mean “coordinated flight schedules for new nonstop flights to new destinations, expanded codesharing, and seamless and convenient connections on the airlines’ extensive networks in the U.S. and Canada,” along with “enhanced frequent flyer benefits including reciprocal benefits for top-tier members of both airlines.”

Qantas’ first 787-9 will enter service to LAX next week. (Image: Qantas)

December 15 is the scheduled starting date for Qantas to put a brand new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner into service on its Melbourne-Los Angeles route. It’s the first route for the new Qantas aircraft, and it will replace an Airbus A380. Next March, Qantas will use a new 787-9 to begin the first non-stops between Australia and Europe, on a London-Perth routing. The Qantas 787-9s will have 42 business class seats configured 1-2-1; 28 in premium economy, with a 2-3-2 layout; and 166 in economy, configured 3-3-3 and offering 32-inch pitch.

Speaking of Australia, Air Canada just added its third route to that country, beginning service this week between Vancouver and Melbourne. The carrier uses a 787-9 for the 16-hour flight. Air Canada already flies from Vancouver to Sydney with a 777-200LR, and last summer it began Vancouver-Brisbane service with a 787.

Another new transpacific route that just started this week is Air China’s service between Los Angeles and Shenzhen, a tech-heavy city in China’s Guangdong Province. Air China will use a three-class 787-9 to fly the route three times a week (Monday, Thursday, Saturday), with a 10:50 p.m. departure from LAX. Air China also has three daily flights from LAX to Beijing.

Delta’s joint venture partner Aeromexico has started flying a new route from Delta’s Atlanta hub. The carrier kicked off daily service between ATL and Merida, using a 99-passenger Embraer 190 with business class and regular economy seating.

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Routes: Hawaiian, Alaska to Hawaii + American, JetBlue, Spirit

First class cabin on Hawaiian’s A321neo, coming to a new San Diego-Maui route in 2018. (Image: Hawaiian)

In domestic route news, Hawaiian Airlines will increase service to the islands from the West Coast next year; Alaska Airlines is about to begin a new Hawaii route from San Francisco; American adds Oakland as a spoke from a major hub, and plans several other new routes; JetBlue adds more transcontinental Mint service this month; and Spirit unveils 10 new domestic route starting next spring.

Hawaiian Airlines, which is on the verge of beginning commercial service with its new Airbus A321neos, said it will use the planes to expand service from the West Coast next year. The airline will add a new route on May 1 between San Diego and Kahului Airport on Maui using an A321neo, and will begin extra seasonal summer flights with the aircraft (in addition to its regular schedule) between San Francisco and Honolulu from May 26 through July 31, and between Oakland and Kona from May 26 through September 2. The carrier has also scheduled an extra seasonal flight between Los Angeles and Kahului, Maui from June 1-August 31, using an A330.

According to FlightGlobal.com, Hawaiian will actually start flying the new A221neos on December 19, deploying them on inter-island routes to familiarize its flight crews with the aircraft. The carrier is due to put the planes into mainland service starting January 8 from Oakland to Maui, and on January 18 from Portland to Maui.

Speaking of Hawaii, Alaska Airlines next week will start flying the last of several new Bay Area routes that it announced earlier this year. On December 14, the carrier will inaugurate daily service between San Francisco and Kona, on the Big Island, using a Virgin America aircraft. The SFO departure time is scheduled for 11 a.m.

American will use an A320 on its new Oakland-DFW route. (Image: Jim Glab)

American Airlines will kick off new Bay Area service next spring. The carrier plans to start daily flights on April 3 between Oakland and its Dallas/Ft. Worth hub, with an 11:50 a.m. departure from OAK and a 9:10 a.m. departure from DFW, using an A320. American also announced some new domestic routes out of its Chicago O’Hare hub starting next spring, including twice-daily ORD-Charleston, S.C. flights beginning May 4; and weekend-only service from ORD to Bangor, Maine and Myrtle Beach, S.C., starting June 7, using American Eagle/Envoy Air CRJ700s. At Phoenix, American will kick off daily flights to Amarillo, Tex. and Oklahoma City on April 3, using Mesa Airlines CRJ900s. On the same date, it will add twice-daily LaGuardia-Portland, Maine service with Enviy Air ERJ140s.

Elsewhere, American’s 2018 schedule includes some new Saturday-only seasonal routes, all flown with regional jets, including DFW-Asheville, N.C., DFW-Myrtle Beach, DFW-Wilmington and Los Angeles-Bozeman, Mont., all operating June 9-August 18; LAX-Flagstaff, Ariz., May 5-September 1; and New York LaGuardia-Traverse City, Mich., June 23-September 2.  Finally, on February 14, the company will terminate its American Eagle/SkyWest service from Phoenix to Bullhead City, Ariz./Laughlin, Nevada, due to a lack of passenger demand.

JetBlue’s lie flat Mint class comes to San Diego-Boston this month. (Image: Chris McGinnis)

The next step in JetBlue’s ongoing expansion of its premium-cabin Mint service, with lie-flat seats, comes on December 10, when the carrier is slated to introduce a Mint-equipped aircraft on one of its daily San Diego-Boston flights, adding a second daily Mint flight on the route starting December 20. It already offers Mint cabins on two daily San Diego-New York JFK flights. Last month, JetBlue added Mint service on two daily New York JFK-Las Vegas flights.

Spirit Airlines unveiled a bunch of new domestic routes that will kick off next spring, including daily year-round service from Baltimore/Washington to Denver beginning March 22; daily year-round flights between Tampa-Los Angeles, Tampa-Las Vegas and Orlando-Las Vegas starting April 12; daily seasonal service from Seattle to Ft. Lauderdale, Chicago O’Hare, Dallas/Ft. Worth and Minneapolis-St. Paul beginning April 12; and daily seasonal flights from Detroit to San Diego and Portland kicking off April 23.

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Routes: Air Canada to SFO/Sacramento, AA, Aer Lingus, Norwegian, WOW, Copa + more

Air Canada Express will add new U.S. routes with regional jets. (Image: Air Canada/Skyregional)

In international route news, Air Canada and American have both announced plans to expand service between the U.S. and Canada; Aer Lingus comes to Seattle next year; low-cost carriers Norwegian and WOW will increase capacity to the U.S. in 2018; Copa boosts West Coast frequencies; Lufthansa’s Eurowings subsidiary sets more U.S. routes; and Thomas Cook Airlines comes to New York JFK.

Air Canada has unveiled plans to add new service to six U.S. cities next spring, including San Francisco and Sacramento. All the routes will be operated as Air Canada Express, with 76-seat or 50-seat regional jets. On May 1, the airline will kick off daily flights between San Francisco and Edmonton with a 76-seat aircraft, as well as daily Omaha-Toronto service, using a 50-seat plane. May 17 is the launch date for 76-seat regional jet service between Sacramento and Vancouver as well as daily roundtrips between Baltimore/Washington-Montreal and Pittsburgh-Montreal, both served by 50-passenger aircraft. All those routes will operate year-round. Air Canada will also begin seasonal service on May 17 between Providence and Toronto.

American Airlines is also increasing its transborder service to Canada. It will boost its Phoenix-Edmonton schedule from one flight a day to two effective December 15 to April 2. Next spring, American will launch new daily year-round 737 service from its Chicago O’Hare hub to Vancouver starting May 4, and seasonal daily flights from O’Hare to Calgary June 7-September 4, with an American Eagle/Envoy Air E175.  On February 15, American will increase frequencies between New York LaGuardia-Toronto from four a day to five, and on May 4 it will boost its Washington Reagan National-Toronto schedule from two flights a day a day to three. Also on May 4, the airline will lay on a third daily roundtrip between Philadelphia and Ottawa.

Ireland’s Aer Lingus, now a part of International Airlines Group along with British Airways and Iberia, will add a new U.S. West Coast gateway next year when it starts Dublin-Seattle service. The carrier plans a May 18 start for the new route, using a 265-passenger, two-class Airbus A330-200 to operate four flights a week (Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday). Passengers flying back to Seattle will be able to pre-clear U.S. Customs at Dublin. Aer Lingus previously announced plans to start Dublin-Philadelphia service four days a week next March.

Norwegian will put larger 787-9s on U.S.-Barcelona routes next year. (Image: Norwegian)

Faced with new and growing competition from British Airways/Iberia’s Level affiliate, Norwegian plans to increase capacity between the U.S. and Barcelona next year by switching to larger aircraft – specifically, from the current 291-passenger 787-8 to the 344-seat 787-9. The changeover will take place in late March, affecting Norwegian’s two weekly flights from Barcelona to Ft. Lauderdale, three flights a week to Los Angeles and Oakland, and four a week to Newark.

Another low-cost carrier – Iceland’s WOW – will also add more U.S. seats next year, increasing frequencies on its route between Newark Liberty International and Reykjavik from seven flights a week to 13, effective May 29 through September 16. That’s in addition to the airline’s new daily flights out of New York JFK starting April 28.

Panama’s Copa Airlines plans to increase its West Coast capacity this winter. The airline will boost its Panama City-San Francisco schedule from twice-daily service to 18 flights a week starting March 1, and its Panama City-Los Angeles frequencies from three a day to 25 a week effective January 2.

Lufthansa’s Eurowings unit will add U.S. routes in 2018. (Image: Eurowings)

When Lufthansa announced its recently-launched New York JFK-Berlin service (taking over for the defunct Airberlin), it said the route would be turned over next summer to Eurowings, its fast-growing, leisure-oriented subsidiary. Now it has even more transatlantic plans for Eurowings. The carrier will start a new route between JFK and Dusseldorf starting April 28, using a Brussels Airlines A340-300 to operate six flights a week. Lufthansa said Eurowings will also begin Dusseldorf-Miami service three times a week as of May 4, and Dusseldorf-Ft. Myers flights three times a week starting May 3.

Thomas Cook Airlines has launched new service between New York JFK and Manchester, operating three flights a week with an Airbus A330 and fares starting as low as $209 one-way – including a checked bag and in-flight meals. And JetBlue will kick off its fourth Caribbean route from Newark next spring, beginning daily service to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic on May 3.

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Routes: United beefs up + Alaska adds PIT + American in DC + Spirit’s newest city

United is adding several regional routes in 2018 using Embraer aircraft like this . (Image: United)

In domestic route developments, United announced plans to serve a bevy of new regional markets next year; Alaska will add a big spoke from its Seattle hub; American will expand at Washington Reagan National in 2018; and Spirit grows at Columbus and New Orleans.

United plans to launch new service in 2018 from five major airports to several smaller ones. At its Chicago O’Hare hub, United will begin year-round twice-daily service starting April 9 to El Paso, Tex., and to Wilmington, N.C. (By the way, United said that starting next February, it will implement an “enhanced bank structure” at O’Hare that will mean “shorter connection times and better access to more destinations” for connecting passengers.)

Also beginning April 9 for United will be a daily Denver-Jacksonville flight, and twice-daily service from Los Angeles to both Redmond and Medford, Oregon; from Newark to Elmira, N.Y.; and from Washington Dulles to Wilmington, N.C.

New seasonal service from United, beginning June 7, includes daily flights from O’Hare to Fresno, California; and from LAX to Kalispell and Missoula, Montana (all located near major national parks). All the above flights will use regional jets operated by United Express partners.

Routesonline.com turned up some additional smaller new markets for United Express next year. It said United will launch service on January 30 from Denver to Scottsbluff, Nebraska, twice a day; on February 1 from Denver to North Platte, Nebraska, twice a day; and on February 6 from Denver to Pueblo, Colorado and Liberal, Kansas six times a week. United had previously announced new service from Denver to Moab, Utah starting May 1 and to Vernal, Utah beginning June 1.

Alaska Airlines 737 New Livery

Alaska Airlines is coming to Pittsburgh next year. (Image: Alaska Air)

Alaska Airlines will begin service in September 2018 to the 90th destination from its Seattle hub when it adds a daily 737 flight to Pittsburgh, with an 8:25 a.m. eastbound departure and a return flight leaving Pittsburgh at 5:20 p.m. Currently, there is no non-stop service in the Seattle-Pittsburgh market.

American Airlines plans to add service in various domestic markets next year, including three new routes from Washington Reagan National. New DCA service for American will include a daily CRJ900 flight to Tallahassee starting February 15, and six CRJ200 flights a week to Montgomery, Alabama, as of June 7, both operated by PSA Airlines; and a daily E175 flight from DCA to Little Rock, operated by Republic Airlines. American will also expand its weekend-only service to daily between DCA and Destin/Ft. Walton Beach, Florida starting May 4; and between DCA and Myrtle Beach, S.C. as of April 3.

Elsewhere, American will begin twice-daily flights in April between New York LaGuardia and Portland, Maine, with 50-seat regional jets. And on February 15, American will begin mainline A320 service between its Charlotte hub and Tucson, Arizona, with a very-late-night (12:30 a.m.) eastbound departure time.

Spirit Airlines will add Columbus, Ohio to its system. (Image: Spirit Airlines)

Spirit Airlines announced plans to add Columbus, Ohio to its network on February 15, offering daily, year-round service to Orlando, Ft. Lauderdale and Las Vegas, as well as seasonal daily flights to Tampa and Ft. Myers that will end April 11 and resume November 8. On March 22, Spirit will add seasonal service three times a week from Columbus to New Orleans and Myrtle Beach, continuing through November 7. On March 15, Spirit will also begin daily flights from Richmond, Virginia to Orlando and Ft. Lauderdale. Earlier this month, Spirit launched new daily service from New Orleans to Boston, Newark, Tampa and Minneapolis-St. Paul.

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Routes: SFO-Tahiti + Lufthansa, AA, WOW, Aeromexico, Volaris

Paris-based low-cost carrier French Blue will begin San Francisco-Tahiti flights in 2018. (Image: French Blue)

In international route developments, a low-cost French airline plans to fly from San Francisco to Tahiti next year; Lufthansa starts a new non-hub route from New York; American targets Iceland in the face of new competition; Iceland’s WOW will add a new U.S. gateway and expand at another; Aeromexico sets a new seasonal Denver route; and Mexico’s Volaris plans more service to California.

A one-year-old French low-cost airline called French Blue – which currently flies from Paris Orly to the island of Reunion in the Indian Ocean – plans to add another long-haul route next year: Paris to Papeete, Tahiti via a stop in San Francisco. The carrier plans to use an Airbus A350-900 on the route, which will begin in May with two flights a week, eventually increasing to three. Currently, the only non-stop service to Tahiti from the U.S. mainland is out of Los Angeles on Air Tahiti Nui, Air France and Qantas. The airline has a website at www.frenchblue.com, although currently it is only in French.

Lufthansa is using an A330 on its new JFK-Berlin Tegel route. (Image: Lufthansa)

Lufthansa last week started its promised new non-stop service from New York JFK to Berlin’s Tegel Airport – bypassing its Frankfurt and Munich hubs — following the recent demise of Airberlin. Lufthansa is using a three-class Airbus A330-300 to fly the route five days a week (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday). It’s the first time in 16 years that the German carrier has operated a long-haul aircraft out of Berlin. Next summer, Lufthansa plans to transfer the JFK-Berlin route to its Eurowings subsidiary.

In recent weeks, new 2018 service from Dallas/Ft. Worth to Reykjavik, Iceland, was announced by both Icelandair and low-cost competitor WOW. And now DFW’s hometown airline is jumping on the Iceland bandwagon as well. American Airlines announced it will operate seasonal daily flights from DFW to Reykjavik from June 7 through October 26, using a 176-seat 757-200.

Wow Air will use an A321 on its new JFK-Iceland route. (Image: Wow Air)

Speaking of WOW, the low-cost Icelandic airline plans to add another U.S. gateway next year, kicking off daily flights to Reykjavik from New York JFK as of April 26. WOW will operate an Airbus A321 on the route. The carrier already offers daily flights out of Newark Liberty International, which will continue. Elsewhere, WOW plans a significant increase in capacity from Baltimore/Washington International next summer, boosting its BWI-Reykjavik schedule from daily departures to 11 flights a week from May 18 through September 16,

Aeromexico, now a joint venture partner of Delta, has been adding more U.S. service as the two coordinate their schedules, and now the Mexican carrier has unveiled plans to revive another U.S. route – but only for a limited time. The carrier said it will offer seasonal service between Denver and Monterrey, but only twice a week (Saturdays and Sundays), and only from December 16 through January 14, using a 76-seat E175. Aeromexico already offers DEN-Mexico City service year-round.

Another Mexican carrier, Volaris, plans to add three California routes next month, but only offering two flights a week on each of them with Airbus single-aisle aircraft. Volaris will start San Jose-Zacatecas flights on December 18, San Jose-Morelia service on December 15, and Fresno-Morelia on December 16.

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Routes: Etihad at DFW, El Al, Southwest, and lots of Mexico news

Etihad 777-200

Etihad ended its 777 flights from San Francisco to Abu Dhabi last month- now another city gets dropped (Photo: Peter Biaggi / SFO)

In international route developments, Etihad drops another U.S. gateway and blames American; El Al comes back to Miami; Southwest adds three Latin America/Caribbean destinations from Ft. Lauderdale; and there’s new service to Mexico from Delta/Aeromexico, Alaska, Volaris, Interjet and Viva Aerobus.

Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways continues to struggle in the U.S. market. Late last month, it ended its San Francisco route, and it recently announced plans to trim its Los Angeles schedule from seven flights a week to four from mid-January through April. And now the carrier said it will suspend its daily flights from Dallas/Ft. Worth to Abu Dhabi, effective March 25. The airline said the Texas route “will become commercially unsustainable following American Airlines’ unilateral decision to terminate its codeshare agreement ” with Etihad. Company officials said almost half the passengers on its DFW flights were connecting from AA domestic code-shares. Etihad said that depending on how its summer bookings go, “further changes” are possible in its U.S. route network.

El Al uses a 777-200 on new Miami flights. (Image: El Al)

Nine years ago, Israel’s El Al ended its Tel Aviv-Miami service — but now it’s back. Last week, El Al started flying the route once again, operating three flights a week with a 777-200. The Israeli carrier also flies from Tel Aviv to New York JFK, Newark, Los Angeles, Boston and Toronto.

Southwest continues to expand its international schedule from Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood Airport, where earlier this year it opened an expansion of Terminal 1 to accommodate those flights. This week, Southwest started daily service to three new destinations from FLL –Providenciales in the Turks & Caicos; San Jose, Costa Rica; and Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. At Houston Hobby, meanwhile, Southwest just announced plans to start service next June to Grand Cayman.

There’s lots of activity in the U.S.-Mexico market these days. Alaska Airlines, which started flying to Mexico City from San Francisco and Los Angeles in August, has now kicked off San Diego-MEX flights. Alaska partner SkyWest operates the daily flights with an E175.

Aeromexico just started Seattle-Mexico City 737 flights. (Image: San Jose Airport).

Meanwhile, Delta and Aeromexico continue to develop their joint venture partnership. They just opened up new daily service between Delta’s Atlanta hub and Queretaro, Mexico, flying the route with a two-class Aeromexico E190. And last week, Aeromexico launched service from Delta’s growing Seattle hub to Mexico City, using a 737-800 for the daily year-round flights.

Mexican carriers are also adding new service.  Low-cost carrier InterJet is adding three routes out of Los Angeles International this month. On November 23, it will begin daily flights to Leon/Guanajuato (close to popular San Miguel de Allende) and three flights a week to Los Cabos, followed on November 24 by four weekly roundtrips from LAX to Puerto Vallarta. On December 19, Volaris will inaugurate weekly service from LAX to Acapulco. And on December 16, vivaAerobus plans to launch daily A320 flights between Mexico City and Las Vegas.

Finally, Southwest Airlines said it will expand service to Cancun on June 9 of next year by adding seasonal Saturday flights from Pittsburgh and Raleigh-Durham. That means that on Saturdays next summer, Southwest will be operating 27 flights to Cancun from 16 U.S. cities.

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Southwest adds more Oakland routes in 2018

Image: Southwest

Southwest Airlines’ 2018 schedule will give East Bay business travelers new daily flights to five domestic destinations that currently have no regular non-stop service from Oakland International – including two transcon routes.

In its 2018 summer schedule announcement, the airline said it will introduce daily non-stops on July 8 from Oakland to San Antonio, and on July 15 from OAK to Orlando, Minneapolis/St. Paul and Indianapolis. (Saturday-only non-stops from OAK to Orlando begin April 8.)

Earlier this year, Southwest started offering non-stop seasonal service from Oakland to Newark Liberty International, but based on the success of those flights, the airline now plans to convert that into year-round service, with daily flights due to start April 8, 2018.  (The only other non-stop service from Oakland to the New York City area is on JetBlue, which goes to JFK Airport.)

The new service will give Southwest 33 non-stop destinations out of Oakland.

Southwest at Oakland

Southwest Airlines jets at Oakland International Airport (Photo: Port of Oakland)

Southwest has been steadily ramping up its California operations in recent months, and it has a new promotion for Rapid Rewards members who live in the state. Called California Millions, it will give away millions of Rapid Rewards points to winners. It remains in effect through November 30. Here’s a link to participate.

The airline’s summer schedule for next year also includes new daily non-stops between San Antonio and Ft. Lauderdale starting July 8. On June 6, Southwest will end its daily service between Flint, Michigan and Chicago Midway.

On June 7, Southwest will resume daily seasonal service between Denver-Charleston, S.C., Chicago-San Juan and Omaha-Orlando. And on June 9, it will start new Saturday-only seasonal flights between Boise-Dallas, Denver-Panama City, Fla., and Tulsa-Orlando.

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Routes: American, United, JetBlue, Southwest, OneJet, Frontier

American operates out of Philadelphia’s Terminal B. (Image: American)

In domestic route news, American grows its Philadelphia hub and expands transcon wide-body flights there; United adds spokes to its O’Hare and Denver hubs; JetBlue revives a California route for the holidays; Southwest drops a Washington D.C. route; and Frontier keeps rearranging its network.

American Airlines is expanding access to its Philadelphia hub by adding several new routes there. On February 15, American will add daily A319 flights between PHL and San Antonio, followed on May 4 by new daily E175 American Eagle service between PHL-Madison, Wis.; and twice-daily roundtrips between PHL-Des Moines, Iowa; and PHL-Omaha, Neb. The airline also said that beginning March 25, it will deploy a wide-body Airbus A330 on one of its daily flights between Philadelphia and Los Angeles International, “offering West Coast customers better access to PHL and American’s transatlantic service.” Meanwhile, the A330 that American just started flying on one of its daily PHL-San Francisco flights will now be extended until at least March 4 instead of ending on December 14 as previously scheduled.

Moab, Utah is the gateway to Aches National Park. (Image: Discover Moab)

Effective December 1, United is due to add a couple of spokes out of Chicago O’Hare, with six flights a week to Quincy. Ill., and to Cape Girardeau, Mo., using CRJ-200s. At its Denver hub, meanwhile, United is looking at a May 1, 2018 start for new service to the outdoor activities mecca of Moab, Utah, offering 12 flights a week via Skywest CRJ200s; followed on June 1 by new service from DEN to Vernal, Utah, also running 12 times a week with Skywest CRJ200s.

For the third year in a row, JetBlue plans to lay on special holiday-season service between its New York JFK hub and Palm Springs, California. The daily flight will operate from December 21 through January 3, and it will use an Airbus A321 that features JetBlue’s premium-class Mint service with lie-flat seats.

November 4 is the final day for Southwest Airlines’ three-year-old route between Indianapolis and Washington Reagan National. A Southwest official told a local business publication in Indiana that the route just wasn’t attracting enough business to make it profitable.

OneJet uses small Hawker 400XPs on short-haul routes. (Image: OneJet)

The former CEO of Milwaukee-based Midwest Express Airlines – which disappeared in 2011 – is behind an effort to bring new service to MKE from OneJet, a business jet operator that offers scheduled service on underserved business routes out of Pittsburgh (including daily Pittsburgh-Milwaukee service). On November 1, OneJet is due to start twice-daily roundtrips from Milwaukee to both Columbus, Ohio and Omaha, Nebraska, using seven-passenger Hawker 400XP jets.

It’s difficult to keep up with all the route news from ultra-low-cost Frontier Airlines, but we’ll try. The carrier just kicked off new daily flights from San Jose to Denver, to be followed by four flights a week from SJC to Las Vegas November 1, and less-than-daily departures to five other cities next April.  At Cleveland, meanwhile, Frontier has axed the four weekly CLE-San Diego service that it just launched last spring, as well as seasonal flights from Cleveland to San Francisco, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Houston And Charlotte. But the airline is expanding at Denver, starting less-than-daily frequencies to Omaha November 2; to Grand Rapids December 10; to Charleston, S.C. February 20; to Little Rock March 1; and to Tulsa March 15. The carrier plans to add daily Orlando-Phoenix service November 1 and three weekly Orlando-Memphis flights November 2. On December 16, Frontier will start three flights a week between San Francisco and Las Vegas. At Colorado Springs, Frontier plans new flights to San Antonio and Seattle starting April 8 and to San Jose and Minneapolis-St. Paul as of April 9. Seasonal service from Philadelphia to Charleston, S.C. three days a week starts February 20, followed by less-than-daily service from PHL to Jacksonville February 14, to Madison April 8, and to Memphis and Omaha April 9. Twice-weekly Frontier service from Chicago O’Hare to Charleston, S.C. starts May 11, and limited-frequency service from Omaha to Las Vegas starts April 8, followed by Omaha-San Francisco June 4.

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Routes: Air France, China Airlines, Aer Lingus, Scoot, Finnair, Seattle seaplanes

Air France will start 777 flights to Seattle next year. (Image: Air France)

In international route developments, Air France adds a new West Coast gateway; China Airlines will fly to an unlikely California airport; Aer Lingus adds a new transatlantic route in 2018; Singapore’s Scoot plans its first U.S. route; Finnair returns to Miami; and Seattle-Vancouver travelers could get downtown-to-downtown service.

Air France has scheduled a March 25 start for new U.S. service between Paris Charles de Gaulle and Seattle – a route where its joint venture partner Delta already offers daily year-round service. Air France said it will initially fly the route three days a week, increasing to five days a week from June 19 through September 2, using a 777-200ER with business class, premium economy and regular economy seating. The new flight will depart SEA at 4:30 p.m.

Taiwan-based China Airlines already flies from Taipei to Los Angeles and San Francisco, and now it plans to add a third California gateway starting in the spring of next year. Could it be San Diego? San Jose? Nope. It’s Ontario International Airport, 35 miles east of downtown Los Angeles – an airport that currently has just 62 flights a day to 15 cities. China Airlines reportedly expects to carry more than 80,000 passengers a year in each direction on the new route, which it will initially serve four days a week with a two-class, 358-seat 777-300ER.

Aer Lingus is adding a Philadelphia route next year. (Image: Aer Lingus)

Aer Lingus, now a sister company of British Airways as part of International Airlines Group, has announced plans to add new U.S. service on March 25 when it will start flying between Dublin and Philadelphia. The Irish carrier will use a 757 to fly the new route four days a week – a route already operated by BA’s joint venture partner American. Aer Lingus’ summer U.S. schedule for 2018 also includes two flights a day from New York JFK, Boston and Chicago; daily service from San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington D.C. and Hartford; four flights a week from Orlando; and three a week from Miami.

Scoot, the low-cost affiliate of Singapore Airlines, has opened the books for reservations on its first U.S. route. The carrier plans a December 19 launch of flights from Singapore to Honolulu via a stop in Osaka, Japan. Scoot will use a 787-8 on the route, which it will fly four days a week. The Scoot 787-8 has 335 seats in a two-class configuration, although some economy seats are offered with extra legroom for an additional fee.

Finnair this week resumed seasonal service to Miami International, operating three flights a week to Helsinki with an Airbus A330. The flights will continue through March.

Vancouver’s Harbour Flight Center is right downtown. (Image: Harbour Air)

Business commuters who travel between Seattle and Vancouver could soon have a new flight option that avoids the two cities’ big airports. The Seattle Times reports that a pair of small regional carriers – Kenmore Air and British Columbia’s Harbour Air – are planning to introduce new seaplane service, possibly by the end of this year.  The Seattle departures would be from Lake Union, convenient to Amazon headquarters. Harbour Air operates out of downtown Vancouver’s Harbour Flight Center.

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Routes: More Hong Kong from SFO, Delta to London, Virgin 747 flights, Lufthansa + more

Delta One a330

Delta One (business class) on an A330 is a new option to London (Image: Delta)

In international route developments, Hong Kong Airlines details its plans for San Francisco service; Delta will increase London Heathrow capacity next year with bigger aircraft; Virgin Atlantic will put 747s onto two U.S. routes; Lufthansa moves into Airberlin markets; Norwegian adds an ultra-long haul low-fare route; Hawaiian switches code-share allegiance to Japan Airlines; and American and United alter their Cuba services.

Delta is making some changes to its London Heathrow service next year, giving it a lot more capacity from key hubs. The company said that effective March 24, it will change equipment on its LHR routes out of New York JFK, Atlanta and Detroit from the current 208-passenger 767-300s to 293-seat Airbus A330s. Delta One flat-bed seats in the A330s have that herringbone layout with aisle access for all. Delta will also slightly alter its JFK joint venture schedule with Virgin Atlantic; the current schedule of five Virgin and three Delta flights a day will change to six Virgin and two Delta departures.

While Delta recently publicized some new Europe routes it is adding in 2018, it did not publicize some that it is dropping. That includes seasonal summer service from New York JFK to Moscow Sheremetyevo and to Stockholm Arlanda, and from Philadelphia to Paris CDG.

Hong Kong Airlines, partly owned by China’s Hainan Airlines, will begin service between Hong Kong and Los Angeles in mid-December. A few weeks ago, we reported that the airline also has its eye on other U.S. gateways, and it has just revealed it plans for Hong Kong-San Francisco service. The carrier plans to start flying HKG-SFO on March 25 with four flights a week, increasing to daily frequencies by August 18, according to Routesonline.com. Both LAX and San Francisco flights will use A350-900s with 33 fully-reclining business class seats, 108 in “Economy Comfort” class, and 193 in regular economy. Will a new entrant be able to compete in a crowded SFO market against Cathay Pacific’s three daily flights to Hong Kong, plus service from United and Singapore? We’ll see…

Meanwhile, Virgin Atlantic also has some good news for fans of the fast-disappearing Boeing 747. On March 26, Virgin will put a 747-400 onto its daily Manchester-Atlanta service twice a week, increasing to three a week May 26. And on May 22, it will start using a 747-400 on four of its seven weekly JFK-Manchester flights. The other flights on both routes use A330s.

Lufthansa will fly A330 on two U.S. routes–but not to its hubs. (Image: Lufthansa)

Germany’s bankrupt Airberlin keeps limping along as it negotiates the sale of its assets to competitors, but that hasn’t stopped Lufthansa from targeting a couple of Airberlin routes. Lufthansa just announced a pair of new U.S. routes starting this fall – neither one to its hubs at Frankfurt or Munich. On November 7 Lufthansa will kick off New York JFK-Berlin service five days a week with an A330-300 (its first Berlin wide-body service in 16 years), followed on November 8 by Miami-Dusseldorf A330-300 flights three days a week. Next summer, both routes will be transferred to Lufthansa’s Eurowings subsidiary. (Meanwhile, the Oneworld alliance has suspended mileage earning and spending privileges on Airberlin flights for members of other Oneworld airline frequent flyer programs.)

What is the world’s longest route operated by a low-cost airline? As of this week, it’s London Gatwick-Singapore, just launched by Norwegian – its first route to Asia. The carrier is using a 787-9 to fly the 6,764-mile route (12 hours 45 minutes) four times a week, with one-way base fares starting as low as 150 pounds ($201) (plus lots of fees, of course). Norwegian flies to London Gatwick from several U.S. cities – most recently adding Denver-Gatwick and Seattle-Gatwick flights.

Norwegian officials celebrate new London-Singapore flights. (Image: Norwegian)

Hawaiian Airlines and Japan Airlines have announced a new code-share partnership that starts March 25, subject to government approval. “The two carriers also intend to establish a joint venture designed to provide even more choices, convenience and enhancements to the traveling public to/from Japan and beyond to multiple Asian markets,” Hawaiian said. Specific code-shared flights and routes haven’t yet been announced, but Hawaiian said its passengers will have “full access to Japan’s domestic network,” including Nagoya, Fukuoka, Sendai and Aomori. The pact also includes reciprocal mileage earning and spending on code-shared flights, as well as mutual airport lounge access. Hawaiian is moving into JAL’s Terminal 2 at Tokyo Narita to facilitate easy connections. The deal also means the end of Hawaiian’s code-sharing partnership with ANA.

U.S. carriers continue to adjust their Cuba services as they get a better handle on consumer demand for flights to the island nation. American Airlines plans to terminate its daily Miami-Cienfuegos E175 flights on January 7, and United has applied for government approval to increase its service from Houston Bush Intercontinental to Havana from weekly Saturday-only flights to daily frequencies. It didn’t specify a start date for the increase.

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Routes: Delta at LAX, More Mexico for United, BA 747s, Norwegian, Icelandair,

Delta will use a 777-200LR for LAX flights to Paris and Amsterdam. (Image: Delta)

In international route news, Delta will add new transatlantic routes next year; Norwegian starts up London flights from two western U.S. cities; Icelandair will add U.S. gateways in 2018; Austrian Airlines debuts a new cabin class; British Airways will put 747s on two U.S. routes; United adds a Mexico destination from two cities; Aeromexico replaces Delta on a U.S. route; and new services are coming for Avianca, Azul and WestJet.

Delta said this week it plans to add new service from Los Angeles to two European destinations next year. Effective June 16, Delta will use a 777-200LR to fly from LAX to both Paris and Amsterdam, but it will not offer daily departures on those routes. The Paris flights will operate Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays (eastbound), and the Amsterdam flights on the other four days of the week. Many onward connections at both destinations will be available on Delta partners Air France and KLM. At New York JFK, Delta will start flying five days a week as of May 24 to Ponta Delgada in the Azores, an autonomous region of Portugal about 1,000 miles west of Lisbon in the Atlantic Ocean.

At its Atlanta hub, Delta will add seasonal 767 service to Lisbon from May 24 through September 4. And starting May 16, Delta will add a third daily roundtrip between Detroit and Paris CDG (already served by daily flights from Delta and code-share partner Air France). Delta had previously announced new transatlantic service three times a week as of March from JFK to Lagos, Nigeria; Orlando-Amsterdam flights beginning March 30; and Indianapolis-Paris starting May 24.

In other news, Delta this week resumed code-sharing with Russian carrier Aeroflot, putting its DL code onto 14 Aeroflot domestic routes out of Moscow Sheremetyevo. You can see a full list of the affected routes here.

Norwegian Air 787 Dreamliner

Norwegian Air is now flying from Seattle and Denver to London with 787s. (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

Low-cost Norwegian has started flying a pair of previously-announced new transatlantic routes. This week it inaugurated daily 787-9 service to London’s Gatwick Airport from Seattle-Tacoma International, as well as twice-weekly (Saturday/Tuesday) 787-9 service from Denver International to Gatwick. The Denver service is scheduled to increase to increase to three flights a week on November 2 with the addition of a Thursday departure from DEN.

Icelandair is expanding its U.S. route network next year, as it faces growing competition from low-cost Icelandic carrier WOW Air. Icelandair will add Dallas/Ft. Worth to its route map in May 2018, offering 757-200 flights to Reykjavik four days a week out of DFW’s Terminal D. (Earlier this month, WOW announced new DFW-Reykjavik service also starting in May 2018, operating three times a week with an A330.) Also coming in mid-May 2018 is new Icelandair service from Cleveland to Reykjavik, operating five days a week with a new two-class 737MAX 8. The day after Icelandair announced its Cleveland route, WOW announced it will also fly Cleveland-Reykjavik, starting May 4 with four flights a week, with fares starting at $99 one-way.

Austrian’s new premium economy seats have 38-inch pitch. (Image: Austrian Airlines)

Austrian Airlines — the Lufthansa subsidiary that flies to Vienna from New York, Washington, Chicago, Los Angeles and Miami – unveiled plans to offer premium economy seating, bookable now for flights starting March 6. The new seats will be wider than regular economy and will offer a 38-inch pitch as well as footrests, a 12-inch seatback screen, power outlets and USB ports. Premium economy passengers will be allowed two free checked bags, and will get welcome drinks, amenity kits, and meal service on china.

Touch-screen screens in economy are part of British Airways’ overhaul of its 747s. (Image: British Airways)

You want more chances to fly on a 747 before they all disappear? British Airways still relies on the Boeing jumbos for some long-haul services, and it plans to put a 747-400 onto its London Heathrow-Austin route next spring (effective April 8), replacing the 787-9 it currently uses. And from August 8 through September 30 of next year, according to Routesonline.com, BA will replace an A380 on its Los Angeles-LHR route (BA283/282) with a 747-400.

United Airlines is adding service to Mazatlan, Mexico just in time for the winter holidays. From its Houston hub, United will fly to Mazatlan four times a week from December 21 through April 8, then cut back to weekly Saturday-only service through mid-August. From Chicago O’Hare, United will offer once-a-week Saturday service to Mazatlan from December 23 through April 7. In other Mexico route news, Delta’s existing daily Delta Connection/Skywest CRJ900 service from Salt Lake City to Guadalajara will be replaced in January by daily E190 flights operated by Delta’s new joint venture partner Aeromexico.

Elsewhere in Latin America, Brazil’s Azul will expand its U.S. network in December by adding new service four times a week between Orlando and Belo Horizonte, Brazil; and four flights a week linking Ft. Lauderdale with Belem, Brazil. Avianca’s TACA Airlines unit plans to revive Newark-San Salvador, El Salvador service November 17, operating five flights a week. And Avianca Brasil plans to offer daily flights to Sao Paulo Guarulhos from New York JFK beginning December 15.

And to Canada, Westjet will start flying between Denver and Calgary effective March 8, operating one daily roundtrip with a 737-700.

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The busiest air routes you’ll probably never fly

Korea’s Jeju Island is a tourist hot spot. (Image: Visit Korea)

Have you ever been to Jeju Island? Probably not, unless you’re Korean. But travelers who go there are flying the world’s busiest air route.

Jeju is off the southern tip of the Korean peninsula; it’s got lots of beach resorts, a dormant volcano and a miles-long natural cave. It’s a favorite vacation spot for Koreans who want to get away from the hustle and bustle of the capital city, and in July 2017, almost 1.3 million persons flew between Jeju and Seoul (not Seoul Incheon, but Seoul Gimpo, nine miles west of the city).

A new study by Routesonline.com found that those passengers were accommodated on more than 5,800 flights between the two airports during July, or an average of 189 flights a day.

The study determined the world’s busiest air routes in terms of passenger numbers, and of the top 20, exactly none were in North America, Europe or South America. Almost all of them were in the Asia-Pacific region, mostly on domestic routes.

Chart: Routesonline.com

Ranking a distant second behind Seoul-Jeju was a domestic Japanese route, Tokyo Haneda to Sapporo New Chitose. (You might remember Sapporo, on Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido, as the site of the 1972 Winter Olympics – or as the name of a popular Japanese beer.)

The third-busiest route worldwide during July was one more likely to see Western travelers: Melbourne to Sydney’s Kingsford Smith Airport.

Rounding out the top 10 routes in passenger numbers were Tokyo Haneda-Fukuoka in Japan; Delhi-Mumbai in India; Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)-Hanoi in Vietnam; Shanghai Hongqiao-Beijing in China; Hong Kong-Taipei; Okinawa-Tokyo Haneda; and an Indonesian route, Jakarta-Surabaya.

What are the busiest routes in the US? We could not find a study that showed just July numbers like the one above, but World Atlas provides this list of the USA’s busiest over the full year from Aug 2014-Aug 2015– in millions of passengers. It’s probably not changed much since then.

Top 10 busiest air routes (in millions of passengers) in the US Aug 2014-Aug 2015 (Source: World Atlas)

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United adds 4 new nonstops to Europe

United will fly from San Francisco to Zurich next summer. (Image: Zurich Tourism)

You wanted to book award travel to Europe this summer but couldn’t find any available seats? The earlier you start, the better, and United Airlines has just opened the books on several new seasonal routes to Europe for summer 2018.

The new schedule includes one route from San Francisco – a daily 787-8 flight to Zurich that will operate from June 7 to October 27. Onward connections at Zurich are available on Swiss, United’s Star Alliance partner. (United also offers year-round service to Zurich from Newark and Washington Dulles.) Currently, Swiss flies year-round using its flagship B777-300ER nonstop between SFO and ZRH.

As of today, round trip economy airfares on United’s SFO-ZRH nonstops are about $1,280. Business class is in the $4,400 range.

While there are award seats available on the new route, regrettably I could not find any at the lower “saver” level on the nonstops— a quick scan showed United charging a whopping 130,000 miles roundtrip in economy or 300,000 in business while rates were much lower for one-stop flights. Since these flights were just loaded today, keep an eye out for changes.

I thought United would have added nonstops between SFO and Rome or Milan to go up against the new Norwegian nonstops to Rome across the Bay at Oakland. SFO-Amsterdam would make sense, too, since there’s currently not a Star Alliance partner offering nonstops. We’ve asked United about this and are awaiting a reply.

Will United ever fly between SFO and Rome? Hope so! (Photo: Pixabay)

Other new seasonal routes on the 2018 schedule include:

  • Washington Dulles to Edinburgh, Scotland with a 757 operating daily from May 23 through October 4.
  • Newark to Porto, Portugal, with a daily 757 flight from May 4 through October 4.
  • Newark to Reykjavik, Iceland, also with a 757 flying daily from May 23 to October 4.

In addition to the new routes, United said it will extend some seasonal Europe routes for a longer period in 2018. San Francisco-Munich and Chicago-Edinburgh service next year will operate from May 4 through October 26; and Chicago-Dublin and Washington Dulles-Lisbon flights will be available from April 9 through October 26.

See all details about United’s new summer schedules here. 

In addition to United’s new summer offerings to Iceland, Portugal, Scotland and Switzerland, the airline will start daily service between Los Angeles and Singapore and between New York/Newark and Buenos Aires in October 2017 and in January 2018, will begin daily nonstop service between Houston and Sydney.

Where would YOU like to see United fly next?

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New transatlantic routes: Delta, American, BA, Lufthansa, United, WOW

How you gonna keep ’em down on the farm? Delta will fly Indianapolis-Paris in 2018. (Image: Jim Glab)

Continuing with our route news updates, this time we’ll focus on transatlantic.  Delta is adding a pair of non-hub routes to Europe and a new route to Africa; American will introduce some new routes to Europe next year but drop others; British Airways adds a U.S. gateway to Heathrow and some high-density 777 service to Gatwick; Lufthansa ends year-round San Jose flights; United makes an aircraft change on SFO-London; and Iceland’s WOW will fly to more U.S. cities;

Delta has set a May 24, 2018 start for new daily non-stop flights to Paris CDG from … Indianapolis? Yep. It’s not a hub, but Delta does operate 37 fights a day there and has a Sky Club as well. Another new non-hub route for Delta will be the only non-stop service between Orlando and Amsterdam, operating daily starting March 30 of next year. The airline will use 767-300ERs on both routes, with Delta One, Comfort+ and regular economy seating. Delta’s only other international route from Orlando is to Sao Paulo.

On March 24, 2018, Delta will kick off another transatlantic route, from New York JFK to Lagos, Nigeria. The carrier already flies to Lagos from Atlanta four times a week, and the JFK flights will operate three times a week (eastbound on Tuesday, Thursday, Sunday). That route will get an Airbus A330-200 with lie-flat Delta One seats as well as Comfort+ and regular economy.

Look for some changes in American Airlines’ transatlantic summer schedules next year. The airline has announced it will add new daily seasonal service May 4-October 27 from Philadelphia to both Prague and Budapest, using 767-300s; and from Chicago O’Hare to Venice with a 787-8. (American already flies to Venice from Philadelphia.) According to schedule updates in Routesonline.com, American also plans to add daily service starting March 25 from Philadelphia to Zurich, a route it last served in September 2016. Seasonal service getting the ax from AA next year, effective March 25, includes Boston-Paris, JFK-Zurich and JFK-Manchester.

British Airways will use a Dreamliner on its new route to Nashville. (Image: British Airways)

Nashville hasn’t had non-stop flights to London since the 1980s, but it will get them again on May 4, 2018, when British Airways is due to begin five flights a week to Heathrow from the Music City with a 787-8 Dreamliner. Tennessee is reportedly offering BA incentives worth $1.5 million to fly the route. From Philadelphia, meanwhile, British Airways will boost its LHR schedule from seven flights a week to 10 starting in April with the addition of second departures on Mondays, Fridays and Sundays, also with a 787-8. And on May 8, BA will replace one of its two daily 747-400 flights between Chicago O’Hare and London with an Airbus A380 – the first regularly-scheduled A380 service at O’Hare.

British Airways has also been converting some of its 777-200ERs to a higher-density configuration to compete with low-cost competition like Norwegian from London Gatwick, and it will put the aircraft onto some U.S. routes next year. The three-class 777s will have 32 business class seats, 52 in premium economy and 252 in regular economy. They’ll fly once a week to Gatwick from Ft. Lauderdale starting September 13, daily from New York JFK beginning July 8, once or twice a week from Orlando as of May 11, and twice a week from Tampa starting June 7.  BA will also beef up its Las Vegas service on March 27, adding three weekly Las Vegas-London Gatwick 777 flights a week to its 11 weekly LAS-LHR flights.

Lufthansa uses an A340-300 on its San Jose-Frankfurt route. (Image: BriYYZ/Wikimedia Commons)

The San Jose-Frankfurt non-stops introduced last year by Lufthansa will no longer operate year-round. The German carrier had been planning to keep flying the route five times a week, but now has decided to scrap the service for the winter. The SJC-FRA A340-300 flights will be suspended from October 29 through March 24.

Flying United from San Francisco to London? From October 28 through December 19, United plans to make an equipment change on the route. Instead of using 777-200ERs on both daily departures, it will switch one of them (UA900/901) to a 787-9.

Iceland’s ultra-low-cost WOW Air plans to add service from more U.S. cities next spring, offering four Airbus A321 flights a week to Reykjavik (with connections to lots of European cities) from Detroit starting April 26, from Cleveland May 4, from Cincinnati May 10 and from St. Louis May 17. The carrier will also begin Dallas/Ft. Worth service May 24 with three flights a week. One-way fares on the new routes will start as low as $99 (with plenty of extra fees for various amenities and services).

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Across the Pacific: Battle for Hong Kong + Flock of new A350s + lots more route news

Hong Kong Airlines Airbus A350

Hong Kong Airlines, among others, adding more A350 flights across the Pacific (Photo: Airbus)

Let’s keep catching up with recent route developments with a look at what’s happening across the Pacific. Hong Kong Airlines, which plans to begin Los Angeles flights later this year, now has its eye on San Francisco and New York as well – a threat to Cathay Pacific, which said it will soon upgrade aircraft on its SFO and Newark routes; American Airlines finally nails down a launch date for its long-planned LAX-Beijing flights; Delta will bring a new plane to its Atlanta-Seoul route, and expands code-sharing to China; United drops a China route and expands capacity to New Zealand; Hainan Airlines will add a new U.S. route, and Air China sets a start for an LAX route.

Hong Kong Airlines, which is partly owned by China’s Hainan Airlines, said last month it plans to begin daily Hong Kong-Los Angeles flights in mid-December with its first new Airbus A350. And now it looks like that will just be the beginning: Hong Kong Airlines said that as it takes delivery of more new A350s – it has ordered 21 of them – the carrier plans to start flying from Hong Kong to New York and San Francisco in 2018, as well as Hong Kong-London “and other European and American destinations.” The carrier said its A350s will have 33 fully-reclining business class seats, 108 in “Economy Comfort” class, and 193 in regular economy. It didn’t provide any schedule information for next year’s new routes.

The Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post suggested that Hong Kong Airlines’ ambitious expansion plans couldn’t come at a worse time for Hong Kong’s major carrier: “The airline’s push poses a fresh challenge to Cathay Pacific, which has already suffered huge losses in recent years, caused by competition from mainland and Middle Eastern carriers,” the newspaper said.

Cathay Pacific A350

Cathay Pacific’s first U.S. A350s are coming to Newark and SFO this fall (Photo: Cathay Pacific)

For its part, Cathay Pacific recently announced  plans to start flying its own A350s on select U.S. routes. The carrier said that effective October 29, it will replace the 777-300ER currently used on its Hong Kong-Newark route with an A350, and will also put an A350 onto one of its three daily San Francisco-Hong Kong fights on the same date. Cathay has 16 A350-900s, with six more on order. Cathay’s A350s also offer business, premium economy and regular economy seating.

Have you flown an A350 yet? I did last fall on Singapore Airlines inaugural 17-hour SFO-SIN flight. Read the Trip Report here.

After months of delays as it negotiated with China for acceptable takeoff and landing slot times, American Airlines has now settled on November 5 for the inauguration of service on its new Los Angeles-Beijing route. The carrier had to secure DOT’s approval for the late start, and had to fend off regulatory challenges from Delta, which had sought the same route. American had originally said it would use a 777-200 for the LAX-Beijing service, but Routesonline.com now reports that American will begin flying the route with a 787-8, then switch to a 787-9 on March 25 of next year.

Delta’s new international premium economy seats will debut on the A350. (Image: delta)

Delta Air Lines has started taking delivery of its own new Airbus A350s, which it previously announced will start flying October 30 between Detroit and Tokyo Narita. Now Delta says it will also deploy one of the new wide-bodies on its Atlanta-Seoul Incheon route starting March 24 of next year- but the first A350s will fly between Detroit and Tokyo starting this fall. In other transpacific news, Delta this week expanded its code-sharing arrangement with China Eastern, putting the Delta code onto the Chinese carrier’s flights from Shanghai Pudong to Chiang Mai, Ningbo and Urumqi; from Beijing to Chongqing, Haikou and Wuxi; and on its San Francisco-Qingdao-Kunming route. Delta’s code will also go onto the flights of Shanghai Airlines (a China eastern subsidiary) from Pudong to Kota Kinabalu, Kuala Lumpur and Weihai.

United has been flying from San Francisco to Hangzhou, China three times a week with a 787-9, but the carrier plans to discontinue that route on October 14, according to a notice in Routesonline.com. Elsewhere, United will make an aircraft change on its San Francisco-Auckland route, which is now seasonal, operating from October 29 through March 22. Instead of a 787-9, United will put a 777-300ER on the route, and will trim frequencies from seven a week to six through December 17, and from 10 a week to seven from December 18 to March 22.

China’s Hainan Airlines plans an October 26 start for new service between New York JFK and Chengdu, flying the route twice a week with a 787-9. And Air China, which had originally planned a mid-summer start for Los Angeles-Shenzen service, has now set December 7 as the launch date; it will fly the route three days a week with a 787-9.

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U.S. routes: Southwest, United, Alaska, AA, Delta, JetBlue + more

San Jose Airport

Southwest Airlines is adding new San Jose routes next spring. (Image: Chris McGinnis)

We have a lot of airline route news to catch up on following our August break, so we’ll start with domestic developments. Southwest’s spring schedule additions include several new routes out of San Jose and Sacramento; Alaska also starts new service at San Jose; United will join Alaska in flying out of a new Pacific Northwest airport, and adds a seasonal ski market from San Francisco; American will start new service from Denver, and will put a wide-body on a San Francisco transcon route; Delta’s Salt Lake City hub gets a new spoke, and Las Vegas gets more Hawaii flights; JetBlue grows at Atlanta and Boston; Spirit adds a Las Vegas transcon route; and Frontier expands at San Antonio.

The battle for California is paying off for Golden State travelers with tons of new routes and low fares. Southwest Airlines last week unveiled plans for significant expansion in California next spring. On April 8, the airline will kick off new daily service from San Jose to Boise, St. Louis, Austin, Spokane and Houston Hobby, along with new daily flights from Sacramento to Austin and St. Louis. Southwest will follow that up on May 6 by launching new daily service to Orlando from both San Jose and Sacramento. Officials at SJC said Southwest will also expand existing routes there starting April 8, adding a second daily roundtrip to both Chicago Midway and Dallas Love Field, a fifth to Seattle, a sixth to Phoenix, and a fifth and sixth daily flight from SJC to Portland., along with new Sunday-only service to Albuquerque and New Orleans.

In Florida, Southwest on April 8 will add three daily roundtrips between Ft. Lauderdale and Jacksonville and daily non-stops between Milwaukee and Houston Hobby. On March 8, Southwest is due to discontinue its non-stop flights between Dallas Love Field and Milwaukee, and between Philadelphia and West Palm Beach, and will seasonally suspend service between Oakland-Tucson, Washington Reagan National-Ft. Myers, and Minneapolis/St. Paul-Ft. Lauderdale.

United will join Alaska in flying out of Washington State’s Paine Field next year. (Image: Alaska Airlines)

Travelers in San Francisco and Denver will get a new option for flights to the Seattle area next year with United’s announcement that it will add service from those cities to Paine Field, 23 miles north of Seattle. Starting in the fall of 2018, United said, it plans to start offering six flights a day from Paine to its SFO and DEN hubs. Last spring, Alaska Airlines announced plans to begin the first commercial airline service from Paine Field in the fall of next year, although it didn’t say which routes it would serve. In other route news, United will begin twice-weekly seasonal  service on December 18 between San Francisco and Vail/Eagle, Colorado, with CRJ700s operated by SkyWest. Elsewhere, United/SkyWest on November 1 will begin service six days a week to Clarksburg, West Virginia, from both Chicago O’Hare and Washington Dulles with CRJ200s.

Speaking of Alaska Airlines, that carrier last week kicked off new routes at San Jose, adding daily flights to both Austin and Tucson, using the popular Embraer E175 regional jets. That gives Alaska 31 daily departures at SJC to 18 destinations.

San Jose gates

SJC is expanding, adding two new gates (29 & 30) at the southern end of the Terminal B for use by Alaska Air (Image: SJC)

On October 5, American Airlines is planning to replace the A321 currently used on one of its daily Philadelphia-San Francisco flights (AA722/723) with a wide-body Airbus A330-200. The bigger plane is currently scheduled to keep flying the route through December 14. Next year, beginning June 7, American plans to operate a daily summer flight between Denver and New York JFK with a 737-800. In other news, The Dallas News reports that American will offer 2-4-2 premium economy seating on its Hawaii routes from Dallas/Ft. Worth, using retrofitted 777-200s. The roomier seats are available from DFW to Honolulu and Maui starting in December, and from DFW to Kona beginning next June.

On December 21, Delta plans to begin new daily service between its Salt Lake City hub and Milwaukee, using an E175 operated by SkyWest. Delta is also extending its planned Las Vegas-Honolulu 757 service, which was originally scheduled for daily holiday flights from December 21 to January 14. Now they will continue as Saturday-only service from January 15, increasing to three flights a week February 16.

JetBlue is adding three more Atlanta routes. (Image: Jim Glab)

JetBlue finally broke into the Atlanta market last March, when it started flying five times a day from ATL to its Boston focus city. And now JetBlue has plans to double its Atlanta presence by adding five more daily flights there. Effective March 8, 2018, JetBlue will start flying from Atlanta to New York JFK twice a day, to Ft. Lauderdale twice a day, and to Orlando once a day. Elsewhere, JetBlue announced it will begin new service between Boston and Syracuse on January 4, offering one daily roundtrip with an Embraer 190.

In the ultra-low-cost carrier arena, Spirit Airlines on November 9 will begin daily A320 service between Las Vegas and Newark.  And Frontier Airlines will start operating four flights a week from San Antonio to Washington Dulles on October 6, followed by four a week between San Antonio and Ontario, California beginning October 13.

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Routes: United, Norwegian, Thomas Cook, Alitalia, BA, Level, Air France, Scoot

United will fly a 787 between Denver and London next summer. (Image: United)

In international route developments, Denver is getting new transatlantic service from United and Norwegian; Thomas Cook Airlines will add another a U.S. gateway; Alitalia plans to extend its Los Angeles service; British Airways changes aircraft on some U.S. routes; BA’s Level affiliate is adding more aircraft; Air France will fly to the Caribbean from the U.S. (and gets a new U.S. investor); and Singapore’s Scoot is coming to Hawaii.

United Airlines flew from its Denver hub to London Heathrow from 2008 to 2010 and then stopped. But now it plans to revive that route in 2018 on a seasonal basis. United will use a 787-8 for the daily flights, which will operate from March 24 through October 26, 2018. The eastbound service will depart Denver at 5:35 p.m. The 787-8 will offer 36 flat-bed seats in business class, 70 in Economy Plus and 113 in regular economy. British Airways currently has the only DEN-LHR non-stops.

A few weeks ago, United said that its summer seasonal Newark-Rome service is now going to operate year-round, a decision it made after Norwegian announced plans to start flying the same route beginning November 9. So maybe United’s Denver-London plans have something to do with Norwegian’s new Denver-London Gatwick service, which begins with two flights a week September 16, increasing to three a week in late October. (And we still wonder why United has not jumped at the chance to offer SFO-Italy nonstops…)

Norwegian will offer low-cost flights from Denver to Paris in 2018. (Image: Jim Glab)

And that’s not the only news for Denver: Norwegian also just announced it will start flying between Denver and Paris CDG next spring. The low-cost carrier said it will initiate service on the new route April 9, with fares starting at $229 one-way in economy and $815 in its premium cabin. The 787-9 service will initially operate two days a week (Mondays and Fridays) year-round. (Does this mean United will add DEN-CDG service too?)

The U.K.’s Thomas Cook Airlines, a leisure-oriented carrier that has been growing its U.S.-U.K. network, plans to add another U.S. route next year. On May 27, it will start flying twice a week between Seattle and Manchester, using an A330-200. The carrier will also extend its seasonal New York JFK-Manchester service to a year-round operation this winter, operating three A330 flights a week effective December 14.

Another service extension this winter will come from Alitalia. Instead of ending its Los Angeles-Rome seasonal service on October 29 when the winter schedule kicks in, it will continue to fly the route three times a week. (It won’t be fully year-round service, however; Alitalia will suspend the route from January 15 to March 6.)

British Airways is planning some equipment changes to the U.S. for its winter schedule starting October 29. On its Washington Dulles-London Heathrow route, BA will replace a 777-200ER with a 787-9. The 787-200ER and -300ER used on the Atlanta-LHR route will also be switched out for a 787-9. And 777-200ERs will go into service between LHR and Houston instead of the current 787-9 and 747-400 service. As we mentioned previously, BA will also add a third daily Los Angeles-London frequency with a 787-9.

Don’t miss: What in the world is Thomas Cook Airlines? 

Level will add more A330 routes next year — but where? (Image: IAG)

Look for more new routes in 2018 from Level, the new low-cost subsidiary of British Airways/Iberia parent International Airlines Group. Level started flying two-class A330-200s last month from Barcelona to Oakland and Los Angeles, and the carrier has just firmed up plans to add three more A330-200s to its fleet by next summer – although it hasn’t yet said where it will use them.

Ever been to Martinique or Guadeloupe? Those two Caribbean islands are technically and legally part of France, and that means Air France can fly to them from the U.S. The carrier has plans to begin twice-weekly service from Atlanta to Guadeloupe on November 21, using an A320.

Speaking of Air France – because Delta and Air France-KLM have had a close joint venture partnership for eight years now, you may have thought that Delta held an equity stake in the company. But it doesn’t. That’s now changing, however as Delta announced plans to acquire 10 percent of Air France-KLM, subject to a variety of shareholder and regulatory approvals. And it’s part of a three-way deal: Air France-KLM will acquire a 31 percent interest in Virgin Atlantic, which is 49 percent owned by Delta. Not a whole lot of good news for consumers with these deals, although the airlines will spin them that way…

Singapore Airlines’ Scoot subsidiary has Hawaii in its sights. (Image: Scoot)

Singapore Airlines used to have two low-cost subsidiaries – Tigerair, used on short-haul routes out of Singapore, and Scoot, for medium to long-haul routes. But it recently merged them into one operation, keeping the Scoot brand. Following the merger, Scoot plans to add more long-haul flights, including a new route from Honolulu to Singapore. Depending on how soon it can get regulatory approvals, the Honolulu flights could begin before the end of this year or early in 2018.

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Major Frontier expansion at San Jose, Denver, 19 other airports

Frontier Airlines route map

Frontier Airlines route map is constantly growing…and shrinking (Image: Frontier)

Low-cost specialist Frontier Airlines has unveiled plans for a huge network expansion, adding 21 cities to its route map by next spring. The carrier will also add service on dozens of new routes between cities it already serves.

Introductory fares are as low as $39 each way but keep in mind that Frontier fares are laden with all sorts of extra fees, which it calls “Optional Services.”

The company said the total number of non-stop routes it serves will nearly double by next summer, to 314. Frontier is due to take delivery of more than a dozen new aircraft by the end of next year, and will also free up more planes by trimming frequencies on some existing routes.

At Mineta San Jose Airport, Frontier will start flying to Denver on October 5 and Las Vegas on November 1, followed sometime next spring by flights to Austin and San Antonio. Some routes seem a little odd, like a new nonstop between Atlanta and San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Check Frontiers fares and schedules here. 

The biggest bump in Frontier’s schedules will come at Denver, its headquarters city. In addition to San Jose, Frontier will add flights from DEN to Ontario, California beginning October 12; Albuquerque on October 24; Oklahoma City November 1; Palm Springs November 10; Reno November 21; and later to Boise, Buffalo, Calgary, Charleston (S.C.), El Paso, Fargo, Fresno, Grand Rapids, Jackson Hole, Little Rock, Louisville, Pensacola, Spokane and Tulsa.

Frontier Airlines is rebuilding its longtime base at Denver International. (Image: Jim Glab)

The airline will also bulk up its schedule at Islip, Long Island with new service to Ft. Myers, Miami, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New Orleans, Tampa, West Palm Beach, Atlanta, Charlotte, Chicago O’Hare and Detroit. New routes from Austin in addition to San Jose will include Ontario, Calif. as well as Phoenix, New Orleans, Raleigh-Durham, Charlotte, Cincinnati and Columbus.

Frontier’s announcement did not specify the number of flight frequencies in its new markets (but it’s schedules are notoriously thin, which means problems when flights are cancelled). You can see a complete list of all of them here.

“Customers will benefit not only from the broad new selection of nonstop routes, but our growing network will provide more than 1,000 new connecting route options,” said Frontier CEO Barry Biffle. “By taking advantage of our natural share of connecting passengers, we can offer our low fares to even more of America. This is particularly important through our largest hub and our home in Denver.”

Frontier has a history of announcing batches of new routes every now and then, and discontinuing service on others. Of the 21 cities it is adding to its network, 16 are airports that it once served but then stopped.

But the size of the latest expansion announcement is unprecedented. We have to wonder if this could be Frontier’s response to the growing availability of new “basic economy” fares on the major legacy airlines – fares which are the legacy carriers’ competitive response to the growth of low-cost carrier service in many markets.

While the focus of Frontier and other low-cost carriers is bargain-basement base fares, they also rely on a variety of add-on fees for various amenities to boost their passenger revenues.

But Frontier is not ignoring business travelers – it has a bundled fare category called The Works that includes refundability, a carry-on bag, a checked bag, priority boarding, a waiver of change fees and the best available seat. These fares (which start as low as $59 each way) appeal to business travelers at small or medium sized companies without clout or budget for these extras.

Have you flown Frontier? Why or why not? Please leave your comments below. 

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Routes: More JetBlue Mint + Southwest, Delta, American, Alaska

JetBlue’s lie flat Mint class seat fully reclined (Chris McGinnis)

In domestic route developments, JetBlue unveils the starting dates for expansion of routes where it offers its Mint front-cabin service; Southwest will add a new transcontinental route from San Diego; Delta expands at Boston; American adds service in several secondary markets; and Alaska deploys more three-class E175s.

JetBlue has announced another wave of expansion for its premium cabin Mint service. On January 4 of next year, JetBlue said, it will introduce Mint service with lie-flat bed-seats on two daily flights between Boston and Las Vegas, followed by two daily Mint flights between Boston and Seattle starting February 15, and one daily Mint-equipped roundtrip between New York JFK and Seattle beginning April 15, with a second to be added sometime later in the year. The airline also said it plans to add a fifth daily Mint flight between San Francisco and Boston, with an afternoon departure time from both cities; and an 11th daily LAX-JFK roundtrip, although it didn’t specify a start date for those extra frequencies.

Boston is the focal point of a growing market-share battle between Delta and JetBlue. Last month, Delta started twice-daily 757-200 service between Boston and San Francisco, and it recently announced two more new Boston routes. On October 1, Delta will start flying twice a day between Boston and Pittsburgh with CRJ-900s; and next February, it will add seasonal weekend service between Boston and New Orleans, with flights on Saturdays and Sundays through April 1. Speaking of New Orleans, Delta also plans to operate Saturday/Sunday service to the Big Easy from Seattle starting February 10. And during the second week of January, 2018, Delta will operate twice-daily CRJ-900 flights between Sacramento and Las Vegas for the Consumer Electronics Show.

Southwest is adding a new transcon route from San Diego. (Image: Jim Glab)

Southwest Airlines has set January 8 as the launch date for its newest transcontinental route. The carrier plans to begin daily service linking San Diego with Tampa. At the same time, Southwest will begin new weekend-only service linking Phoenix with Des Moines, Iowa, as well as weekend service between New York LaGuardia and Ft. Lauderdale.

American Airlines this month started flying on several new routes out of its Chicago O’Hare hub to secondary cities including Appleton, Wis.; Birmingham, Ala.; Boise, Idaho; Colorado Springs, Colo.; Greensboro, N.C.; and Greenville, S.C. The airline also started flying on a seasonal basis between O’Hare and Ontario, Calif. American also kicked off new daily service between Dallas/Ft. Worth-Spokane and between Miami-Omaha.

Alaska is deploying new Horizon Air three-class E175s. (Image: Alaska Airlines)

Alaska Airlines continues to deploy new Horizon Air E175s on its network. This week, it is putting the new planes onto three more routes: Portland-Dallas/Ft. Worth, Seattle-Fresno, and Seattle-San Luis Obispo. The planes have a three-class configuration with 12 first class seats, 16 in Alaska’s new Premium Class and 48 in the main cabin. The premium class seats will have a 34-inch pitch, vs. 36 to 38 inches in first and 31 inches in the main cabin. The planes will also have Wi-Fi, power outlets throughout, and free streaming entertainment.

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Routes: Hong Kong, LOT, United, Aeromexico, British Airways, Air India + more

The laptop ban was lifted for Royal Jordanian. (Image: Royal Jordanian)

In the latest international routes news, two more Middle Eastern airlines were removed from the Department of Homeland Security’s “laptop ban” this week; an Asian carrier will start its first U.S. service to Los Angeles; LOT Polish will fly from the U.S. to Hungary; Aeromexico adds a U.S. route at San Jose; United goes year-round on a key European route; British Airways starts flying a Florida route; Denver will get new non-stops to Switzerland; and Air India adds a U.S. gateway.

More Middle Eastern airlines and airports have met the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s new passenger inspection standards to guard against explosives in electronic devices, so this week DHS dropped its laptop ban for them. The latest carriers to allow passengers to carry laptops and tablets into the cabin are Royal Jordanian and Kuwait Airways. Royal Jordanian has 16 flights a week from Amman to New York JFK, Detroit and Chicago, while Kuwait Airways flies from Kuwait to JFK.

Last week, the ban was dropped for Etihad, Emirates, Qatar Airways and Turkish Airlines.

Hong Kong Airlines will fly a new A350 to Los Angeles. (Image: Airbus)

Hong Kong Airlines, a 10-year-old carrier operating out of (where else?) Hong Kong and partly owned by China’s Hainan Airlines, is due to take delivery of its first Airbus A350-900XWB late this year, and will use it to begin service to the U.S. According to Routesonline.com, the launch is set for December 15. The two-class A350 will fly the LAX-Hong Kong route once a day with a late morning departure from Los Angeles. Hong Kong Airlines currently has a fleet of A320s and A330s as well as code-share agreements with several carriers including Virgin Australia, Asiana, EVA, Hainan and China Eastern.

Budapest will get non-stop service from the U.S. next year. (Image: Jim Glab)

There has been no non-stop service between the U.S. and Budapest, Hungary for the past six years, but that is due to change next spring. Instead of a Hungarian or U.S. carrier, though, the flights will be operated by LOT Polish Airlines. LOT plans to use 787 Dreamliners to fly twice a week from Chicago O’Hare to Budapest starting May 5, and four times a week between New York JFK and Budapest beginning May 3.

At Mineta San Jose International, Aeromexico has kicked off new daily flights to Guadalajara using a 186-passenger 737-800. The southbound flight leaves SJC at 10:15 a.m. and the northbound service departs Guadalajara at 7:15 a.m. Aeromexico is the sixth foreign carrier to start flying to San Jose since 2015. Don’t miss our post about super low fares on this route! 

Instead of ending its seasonal Newark-Rome flights this fall as previously planned, United Airlines now says it will make EWR-FCO a year-round operation. From early November through March, United said, it will fly the route from three to seven times a week. But instead of using the 242-seat 767-400 operating in the peak season, it will switch in November to a 214-seat 767-300 with 30 flat-bed business class seats and 184 economy seats, including 49 Economy Plus extra-legroom seats.

United’s decision might have been influenced by low-cost specialist Norwegian, which plans to begin 787 flights between Newark and Rome four times a week on November 9, increasing to daily frequencies next February. (We’ve asked United why it has not added SFO-Rome nonstops, but have not heard back…)

Speaking of competition against Norwegian, British Airways last week kicked off new service between Ft. Lauderdale and London four days a week, using a 275-passenger 777-200ER with business, premium economy and regular economy seating. But this route doesn’t go to BA’s Heathrow hub – it goes to London Gatwick. Norwegian started flying FLL-Gatwick three years ago.

Edelweiss will add Denver-Zurich flights next summer. (Image: Edelweiss Air)

We recently reported on new service from San Diego to Zurich operated by Edelweiss Air, a leisure affiliate of Lufthansa subsidiary Swiss International Air Lines. Next year, Edelweiss will add service from another western U.S. city: Denver. In June 2018, Edelweiss will start flying twice a week between Denver and Zurich with a 315-passneger A330-300. The carrier will offer evening departures from DEN on Mondays and Fridays

Air India’s newest U.S. gateway is Washington Dulles. Last week, the carrier started non-stop service from IAD to Delhi three times a week (Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays) using a 777-200LR with first, business and economy seating.  The flight takes about 15-1/2 hours. Air India also serves New York JFK, Newark, Chicago and San Francisco, and plans to add Los Angeles service later this year.

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Routes: United Polaris at SFO + Lufthansa, Hainan, Edelweiss, WOW

A window seat in United’s new Polaris business class. (Image: United)

In international route developments, United puts more aircraft with its new Polaris business cabin into service from San Francisco; San Diego gets new Europe service from two carriers; Hainan Airlines plans a New York route; and WOW adds another U.S. gateway.

United Airlines has taken delivery of more 777-300ERs equipped with its new Polaris international business class seat, and it is putting them into service. The airline is focusing on transpacific flights out of San Francisco for the new planes. This week, it put a new Polaris-equipped 777-300ER into service between San Francisco and Tokyo Narita, and another is due to start flying later this month from SFO to Taipei. United already uses the 777-300ER on its San Francisco-Hong Kong and Newark-Tel Aviv routes.

Lufthansa will out an A380 onto its Los Angeles-Munich route. (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

Lufthansa has some big plans for California in 2018. For one thing, the airline said it will begin service next summer between San Diego and Frankfurt. It will operate five flights a week on the route, but it didn’t say what kind of aircraft it would use. Meanwhile, Lufthansa is planning to shift five of its 14 Airbus A380 super-jumbos from Frankfurt to Munich next year, and it will put one of them onto its Munich-Los Angeles route next summer, where it currently uses an A340. Lufthansa currently uses an A380 for one of its two daily LAX-Frankfurt flights.

Last week, another airline started flying from San Diego to Europe: Edelweiss is operating two flights a week (Mondays and Fridays) from SAN to Zurich. The seasonal service will continue through September 18, using a two-class, 314-passenger A340-300. What is Edelweiss? It’s a sister company of Swiss International Air Lines (and thus part of the Lufthansa family) that concentrates on the leisure market.

Speaking of Lufthansa, the German carrier is reportedly planning to try out a new pricing concept for long-haul trips through its European hubs. It’s called a “flexible routing” fare, and persons who buy it would get a discount in exchange for agreeing to let Lufthansa change their flight and routing from a connection through Frankfurt to one at another Lufthansa-family hub like Munich, Vienna or Zurich. The point is to give the airline more flexibility in steering traffic away from Frankfurt, where operating costs are higher, and still get the passenger from his desired point A to point B.

China’s Hainan Airlines has filed a schedule to start service this fall between New York JFK and Chongqing. The carrier is planning to offer two flights a week beginning October 20, using a two-class 787-8.

A Wow Air A321 (Image: Wow Air)

Iceland’s low-cost WOW Air continues its U.S. growth. This week, WOW started flying from Pittsburgh to Reykjavik , with one-way base fares starting as low as $99 (plus ancillary fees for everything from carrying on a bag to selecting a seat assignment in advance). Onward connections are available at Reykjavik to several European cities. WOW will fly the route five days a week, using a 220-passenger A321. Next month, WOW is due to add Chicago O’Hare to its route map.

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Routes: United, Domestic Delta 747 flight, Virgin America, Southwest, Frontier

United has started service on a dozen new domestic routes. (Image: United)

In domestic route news, United kicks off service in several new markets; Delta adds a Seattle spoke, and schedules a one-off 747 flight; Virgin America deploys more A321neos; Southwest’s new 737 MAXs will take to the skies this fall; and Frontier drops a San Francisco route.

Those new domestic routes that United announced last winter started operations last week. From San Francisco, United has added new daily service to Cincinnati, Detroit and Hartford Bradley, as well as three short hops (65 miles) a day to Santa Rosa, California. New service from United’s Chicago O’Hare hub includes three flights a day to Rochester, Minn., and three to Champaign/Urbana, Ill., as well as daily service to Spokane, Reno, and Charlottesville, Va. Other new routes include twice-daily flights from Washington Dulles to Springfield, Mo.; daily service between Newark-Sacramento; and daily flights from Denver to San Luis Obispo, Calif.

United has also extended some formerly seasonal routes to year-round operation, including San Francisco-New Orleans, Chicago-Tucson, Washington Dulles-Ft. Lauderdale, Newark-Salt Lake City and Denver-Kona.

On June 12, Delta added another spoke from its growing Seattle hub. The carrier started a daily A319 roundtrip between Seattle and Austin-Bergstrom International in Texas. Delta apparently sees Austin as a growth market; three months ago, it started flying to Raleigh-Durham as its seventh route from Austin, and in September it plans to add flights from Austin to Boston.

Delta has scheduled an unusual one-time domestic 747 flight from LAX. (Photo: Delta)

Speaking of Delta, we noticed a scheduling anomaly in Routesonline.com that might be of interest to readers who want to get in a convenient final 747 flight before those jumbos disappear from U.S. carriers’ fleets. Delta has reportedly scheduled a one-way, one-time 747-400 flight from Los Angeles to Detroit. It is due to lift off from LAX on September 5. NOTE: We found the Tuesday/Wednesday red-eye 747 flight DL1352 available on Delta.com for $317 one way. Ready to go?

If old planes aren’t your thing, how about new ones? We reported earlier that Virgin America started flying its first Airbus A321neo at the end of May on one daily San Francisco-Washington Reagan National flight, and it did the same this week on one daily SFO-New York JFK flight (VX022/29). Now Routesonlone.com reports that Virgin will put one of the new planes onto one daily San Francisco-Honolulu flight starting August 27, and one daily LAX-Newark flight as of October 15.  The A321neo (which stands for New Engine Option) is the largest aircraft in Virgin’s fleet, with 185 seats, vs. 146-149 for its A320s; it has ordered 10 of them.

Southwest will start to deploy its new 737MAX aircraft this fall. (Image: Southwest)

Another airline with a new aircraft model coming online is Southwest, which is the U.S. launch customer for Boeing’s fuel-efficient 737MAX 8.  Southwest has ordered 170 of the new planes, which will have the same number of seats at Southwest’s 737-800s (175), but they’re quieter, 14 percent more fuel-efficient and can fly 500 nautical miles farther. Southwest is putting them into service on scores of U.S. routes this fall and winter; you can look here to see the full roster of 737MAX 8 routes.

Frontier Airlines, which operates one daily flight between San Francisco and Houston Bush Intercontinental, will eliminate that service effective July 14.

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Routes: JetBlue to Europe + AA, Delta, Norwegian, United, Avianca, Etihad

Will a larger Mint cabin on a new A321 model make Europe flights work for JetBlue? (Image: JetBlue)

In international route developments, JetBlue sees possibilities for Europe with new planes, more Mint; American’s new premium economy seating spreads to more routes; Delta kicks off Seoul service from its home base; Norwegian begins Barcelona flights this week; United drops a U.S.-South America route and Avianca adds one; and Etihad goes all-A380 on a key U.S. route.

JetBlue is in the midst of an analysis about how it can operate profitably on routes to Europe, according to an article in The Motley Fool, and the carrier reportedly sees two keys to making transatlantic flights work. One is the right aircraft – and JetBlue has taken steps in that direction by amending an aircraft order with Airbus to secure some A321LRs starting in 2019. With their longer range, those planes would let JetBlue fly from its Boston and New York JFK bases to major cities in western Europe. (How customers would react to a transatlantic flight on a single-aisle plane is another matter.)

The second key is competing not against ultra-low-cost operations like Norwegian and WOW, but against mainstream airlines’ premium cabins by offering business travelers a front cabin with more flat-bed Mint seats than the 16 that its domestic flights offer.  JetBlue sees its domestic Mint deployment as a major competitive success story, and wants to repeat it.  “Airbus’ Cabin-Flex concept will give airlines full discretion on how big to make their premium cabins by rearranging the locations of the emergency exits,” the article noted, and JetBlue is said to be looking at boosting Mint seating to 22 if it goes transatlantic.

American’s new Premium Economy section, with 2-3-2 leather seats, is coming to more routes later his year. (Image: American Airlines)

We noted recently that American Airlines has started installing its new international premium economy seating on its 777-200ERs, and Airlineroute.com reports that the carrier is taking reservations for premium economy travel starting December 15 on a number of routes. (The new section has initially been available only on select routes where AA uses new 787-9s.) In mid-December, the premium economy seats will be available on AA’s 777-200ER routes from Dallas/Ft. Worth to Buenos Aires, Frankfurt and Tokyo Narita; from Los Angeles to Tokyo Narita and Tokyo Haneda; and from Miami to Barcelona, Buenos Aires, Madrid, Paris, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and Santiago (Chile).

Delta has launched new daily transpacific service from its Atlanta hub to Seoul Incheon, supplementing the daily flight in the same market operated by its partner Korean Air. The Delta flight uses a 777-200LR featuring a Delta One cabin with 37 lie-flat seats; 36 Comfort+ extra-legroom economy seats; and 218 main cabin seats in a nine-across layout. All seats have power ports and entertainment on demand, and satellite Wi-Fi is available.

Low-cost transatlantic specialist Norwegian kicked off three new U.S. routes this week, all of them to Barcelona with 787 Dreamliners. The carrier is operating twice a week to Barcelona from Los Angeles (increasing to three a week in August); twice a week from Newark (going up to four a week in August); and twice a week from Oakland (increasing to three in August). Norwegian’s Oakland-Barcelona route is already facing competition from new entrant Level, a low-cost subsidiary of British Airways/Iberia parent International Airlines Group.

Venezuela has been going through unprecedented political and economic turmoil in recent months, and travel to that country has suffered as a result. The latest evidence: United Airlines plans to end its daily flights to Caracas from Houston Bush Intercontinental effective July 1. United is just the latest of several carriers that have suspended Venezuela flights, in part because they have had trouble getting money from ticket sales out of the country.

Avianca added A319 service to Boston from Bogota. (Image: Avianca)

Avianca has launched new U.S. service between Bogota, Colombia and Boston Logan. The Star Alliance member flies the route four times a week from Terminal E at BOS, using a two-class A319 with 12 business class seats and 108 in economy. The flight operates on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays from Boston, and is the only non-stop service between the two cities.

Etihad Airways has put an Airbus A380 onto its second daily New York JFK-Abu Dhabi  flight, replacing a 777-300ER. The other daily flight has been using an A380 since late 2015, so the aircraft change makes JFK-Abu Dhabi one of the airline’s few all-A380 routes, along with Abu Dhabi-London and Abu Dhabi-Sydney.

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Can Oakland cope with global growth?

777 Oakland

British Airways Boeing 777 landing at Oakland International Airport (Photo: Port of Oakland)

Oakland International Airport today adds another transatlantic competitor as new low-cost Level begins Barcelona service. It’s the latest in a growing roster of international flights at OAK, and it makes us wonder how much the airport can handle in its current state.

The new service from Level – with a two-class, 314-passenger A330 flying the route three days a week – comes just five days ahead of new twice-weekly Oakland-Barcelona flights from Norwegian, which has settled on the East Bay airport as its preferred home in the Bay Area. (OAK-BCN fares started as low as $400 round trip, but are now running $500-$700 for peak summer season trips.)

Level’s parent, International Airlines Group (which owns British Airways and Iberia), has also settled on Oakland — as the gateway where it will fight back against the low-cost flights of Norwegian. At the end of March, British Airways started four weekly flights from Oakland to London Gatwick — a route that Norwegian has flown for more than a year, and will boost from three flights a week to four this fall.

Level is flying A330s from Oakland to Barcelona. (Image: IAG)

On the same day that BA launched those OAK-Gatwick flights, Norwegian started twice-weekly service from Oakland to Copenhagen; it already flies from OAK to Oslo and Stockholm.

Is your mind sufficiently boggled by all that?

That’s just part of the burgeoning international growth at Oakland. In addition:

  • Norwegian just announced plans to begin twice-weekly service next February from Oakland to Rome Fiumicino – the first Bay Area non-stops to Italy in many years. There is some speculation that IAG’s Level could decide to go head-to-head with Norwegian on that route as well.
  • In February, Southwest Airlines kicked off its first international service from Oakland, with daily flights to Puerto Vallarta and San Jose del Cabo/Los Cabos, Mexico.
  • Mexican low-cost carrier Volaris recently won rights to operate from Oakland to Mexico City, with service expected to begin by summer of 2018.

Norwegian flies Boeing 787 Dreamliners on its routes from Oakland to Europe.

With all the new transatlantic service, Oakland has surpassed San Diego to become California’s third-largest gateway to Europe.  The airport is doing its part this year to give those carriers a boost: Through August 15, it is offering five free days of parking, worth $120, to travelers flying roundtrip to Europe.

But all that growth comes at a cost: We’ve been hearing some grousing from readers about long waiting times at Customs and Immigration at Oakland airport.

Here are some select quotes from emails sent from the plane waiting on the OAK tarmac from reader SS: Trapped w/babies on sweltering Southwest flight from Puerto Vallarta. Customs can’t handle our flight & another big Norwegian flight that came in. So we’re stuck on plane. 

Later, SS wrote: There were TWO 200-300 passenger widebodies processed ahead of us. Norwegian Air & British Airways.  Only four customs agents processing passengers when we arrived to customs- three for US citizens, and one for non-US.  OAK clearly unprepared for this new level of international arrivals. Even customs hall wasn’t large enough to handle us well.

Emails like that make us wonder about the ability of OAK’s international terminal to handle all the growth (the airport recently reported that its overall passenger numbers during April jumped almost 13 percent  year-over-year).

We reached out to airport spokesperson Keonnis Taylor about this, and she wrote: The events of last evening were partially the result of irregular operations.  Southwest Airlines Flight 125 arrived 20 minutes early and the international arrival gates were occupied by other flights.  Unfortunately, about the same time as this early arrival, a system-wide outage of CBP’s APC (Automated Passport Control) kiosks occurred. The outage, which was not limited to OAK, required all passengers arriving on international flights to be processed through Customs without the benefit of the APCs, which streamline the process otherwise fully conducted by its agents.  This kiosk outage caused delays in passenger processing and, subsequently, a long period of waiting for other aircraft that had arrived, which were not able to access the International Arrivals Building until after previous international arrivals had deplaned all passengers.

Fortunately, OAK is hard at work on a $35 million expansion of its international arrivals facility, which should be finished this summer. Plus, Oakland does have Global Entry, which should help when things get backed up!

Have you flown from Oakland yet? Would you? Please leave your comments below.

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Routes: Delta, Aeromexico, Finnair, Qatar, Alitalia, Norwegian, United + more

Flight from HEL: Finnair rolled out VWs and surfboards at HEL to launch its new Helsinki-San Francisco flights today (Image: Finnair / Twitter)

In international route developments, Delta starts up Europe routes and teams with Aeromexico to add transborder markets; Finnair comes to San Francisco; Qatar delays the addition of a new U.S. gateway; Alitalia extends its Los Angeles schedule; Norwegian alters some U.S. schedules and boosts London frequencies; Southwest expands Mexico service this winter; United adds an Asian code-share; and Air Canada starts a new U.S. route.

Delta has started service on several seasonal routes to Europe. One new seasonal route this summer is Portland, Oregon to London Heathrow, now operating four days a week with a 767-300. Other new Delta seasonal routes to Europe include daily service from Boston to Dublin and from New York JFK to Glasgow (in addition to its JFK-Edinburgh service). Delta has also resumed seasonal daily flights from JFK to Berlin and to Lisbon. In other Europe news, Delta plans to scale back its Salt Lake City-London Heathrow route to seasonal status, discontinuing the flights from October 29 to March 23.

Meanwhile, Delta also announced plans to start selling its Comfort+ extra-legroom economy seating as a separate fare category on more international routes. The seats are now on sale for travel beginning September 20 on routes from North America to Brazil, Argentina, Peru and Chile; and to China and Hong Kong.

The Delta-Aeromexico joint venture will add transborder routes and frequencies. (Image: Delta)

That new joint venture between Delta and Aeromexico has announced plans to start service on five new transborder routes sometime this fall, after they get government approval. The five routes, all to be operated by Aeromexico, include Atlanta-Merida, Atlanta-Queretaro, Los Angeles-Leon, Seattle-Mexico City and Portland-Mexico City.  The joint venture will also add a second daily flight between LAX and Los Cabos, and a third between New York JFK and Cancun, both operated by Delta; and a second daily flight from Atlanta to both Leon and Guadalajara, both operated by Aeromexico. With the two airlines now operating as one in terms of scheduling and pricing, these changes could mean higher fares for travelers to Mexico – but the extra flights could also mean fewer connecting hassles at Mexico City’s congested airport.

Finally, Delta is adding more service to Southeast Asia – not on its own, but through new code-shares with transatlantic joint venture partner Air France. According to Routesonline.com, Delta’s code has gone onto Air France’s Paris CDG-Bangkok service, and will do the same October 3 on Air France’s Paris-Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam flight.

Finnair is using an A330 on its seasonal San Francisco route. (Image: Finnair)

San Francisco International’s newest transatlantic route is to Helsinki, Finland. Finnair this week introduced seasonal service from SFO to the Finnish capital, using an Airbus A330-300 to fly the route three times a week, departing SFO on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. The Helsinki flights will continue through September.

We reported a while ago that Qatar Airways was planning to add another U.S. gateway in early January with the addition of service between Doha, Qatar and Las Vegas. But the carrier’s latest schedule filings now show that launch date has been pushed back to June 1, 2018. Qatar still expects to fly the route four days a week with a 777-200LR.

It looks like Alitalia will turn its seasonal Los Angeles-Rome service into a year-round operation — almost. Alitalia, a member of Delta’s Skyteam alliance, filed a new schedule showing its LAX-Rome service will not end October 29 as previously planned, but will continue after that three times a week – at least until January 15, when it goes on hiatus until March 6.

We’ve reported previously on the big plans by Norwegian Air International to begin new low-fare service in June from the northeastern U.S. to various points in Europe using its brand-new, longer-range 737MAX 8 aircraft. But Boeing has warned the carrier of delays in delivering the new planes, so Norwegian has been scrambling to adjust its fleet plans.  Instead of the new 737MAX 8s, the company now plans to substitute Norwegian Air Shuttle 737-800s for much of the summer on new service from Providence to Bergen, Norway; Belfast, Northern Ireland; and Shannon, Cork and Dublin, Ireland, as well as service from Stewart Airport in Newburgh, N.Y. to Shannon, Dublin, Edinburgh and Bergen.

Norwegian will increase 787 frequencies on U.S.-London Gatwick routes this winter. (Image: Norwegian)

Meanwhile, Norwegian is also planning to increase frequencies on several U.S. routes to London Gatwick when its winter schedule kicks in on October 29. All the affected routes use 787-9s. Norwegian will boost Oakland-London service from three flights a week to four, while Los Angeles-LGW increases from five flights a week to daily service; Orlando-LGW goes from one a week to two; Ft. Lauderdale-LGW increases from three a week to four; and Boston-Gatwick from four a week to five.

Although Delta and Aeromexico are tightening their grip on the transborder market, other competitors are stepping up their game as well. Southwest Airlines’ winter schedule, effective November 5, shows an increase of its Houston Hobby-Mexico City schedule from three flights a day to four, while its weekly flights from Denver to Puerto Vallarta and Los Cabos both go to daily frequencies. On November 11, Southwest will kick off new weekly flights to Cancun from both Nashville and St. Louis. Interjet, the low-cost Mexican carrier, plans to boost its service between New York JFK and Mexico City from 18 flights a week to 25 starting June 15. And United on December 17 will introduce seasonal weekly flights (on Saturdays) between its Denver hub and Cozumel.

Speaking of United, here are a couple of new developments to Asia: United has put its code onto Star Alliance partner ANA’s daily 787 service between Tokyo Narita and Phnom Penh, Cambodia; and United’s aircraft switch on its San Francisco-Seoul flight effective October 29 from a 747-400 to a 777-200ER has changed; the carrier now plans to use a 787-9 instead of a 777. And today we shared the news about what’s missing on United’s new Los Angeles-Singapore nonstops in another post. 

Air Canada has added a new destination from Denver. The carrier recently started Air Canada Express service twice a day from Denver to Vancouver, using a 75-passenger CRJ705.The schedule will drop back to once a day September 10.

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Routes: Alaska, Southwest, Finnair, United, American, Air India, Avianca

Alaska Airlines will start Mexico City nonstops from SFO and LAX in August. (Image: Alaska Airlines)

In international route developments, Alaska unveils plans for its new California-Mexico City flights; Southwest will add more international service from Ft. Lauderdale; Finnair is about to launch San Francisco flights; United schedules aircraft changes for some transpacific markets from SFO and launches more seasonal Europe service; American puts its code on new flights from the West Coast to Barcelona; Air India adds two U.S. gateways; and Avianca Brasil adds a U.S. route.

Alaska Airlines has won Transportation Department approval for Mexico City routes thanks to slots at MEX that Delta and joint venture partner Aeromexico had to give up, and now Alaska has released schedule plans for its new service. On August 8, Alaska will start flying one daily roundtrip from both San Francisco and Los Angeles to Mexico City; on November 6, it will add a second daily LAX-MEX flight, plus one a day from San Diego to Mexico City. The SFO flight and the first LAX flight will use 737s; the second LAX flight and the San Diego service will use E175s.

Southwest Airlines is due to cut the ribbon in a couple of weeks on a new international concourse at its Ft. Lauderdale base, when it will also add service from FLL to new international destinations including Montego Bay, Cancun, Belize and Grand Cayman. Now Southwest has announced two more international destinations from Ft. Lauderdale. In early November, it will begin daily flights from FLL to San Jose, Costa Rica and Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. And on November 11, the carrier will also start Saturday-only service to Cancun from Nashville and St. Louis.

Finnair will use an A330 on its San Francisco route. (Image: Finnair)

June 1 is the launch date for seasonal Finnair service from San Francisco to Helsinki, operating three days a week through the end of September with an Airbus A330-300. Finnair is a member of the American/British Airways Oneworld alliance, and Alaska Airlines this week announced a frequent flyer partnership with Finnair as well. “Members of Alaska Mileage Plan can begin earning miles on Finnair starting today,” the airline said. “Award redemption will commence later this year. Finnair Plus members can begin earning and redeeming points on Alaska Airlines starting today.”

United Airlines is planning some equipment changes on transpacific routes from San Francisco this winter, according to Routesonline.com. On August 1, United will pull the 747-400 from its daily SFO-Taipei flight, replacing it with a 777-300ER.  Starting October 28, one of United’s two daily SFO-Shanghai Pudong flights will use a three-class 777-200ER instead of the previously planned 787-9; the other will use a 787-9. On December 16, United will boost SFO-Auckland schedules from seven to 10 a week as previously announced, but will use a 787-9 instead of a 787-8 for the winter season. And starting December 20, United’s daily 787-9 service from SFO to Tokyo Haneda will switch to a 777-200ER.

Meanwhile, United on May 24 is due to kick off its next round of seasonal transatlantic service, including flights from Newark to Athens continuing through October 4; Washington Dulles to Barcelona through October 27; and San Francisco to Munich through September 3. On May 25, United adds Chicago O’Hare-Shannon service continuing through September 5, and Chicago-Edinburgh flights through October 4.

Level will fly A330s from Oakland and Los Angeles. (Image: IAG)

Remember that new low-fare service from the West Coast to Barcelona that we told you about in March on a carrier called Level? That’s a new low-cost operation from International Airlines Group, the parent of British Airways and Iberia, and it’s due to get off the ground next week, with twice-weekly Los Angeles-Barcelona flights beginning June 1 and three flights a week from Oakland to Barcelona starting June 2, both using two-class A330s. And now Routesonline.com reports that BA/Iberia’s joint venture partner American Airlines will put its AA code onto the Level flights.

Air India’s SFO-Delhi flight proving very popular (Image: Peter Biaggi)

Air India is said to be doing so well with its San Francisco-Delhi service that it plans to add two new U.S. gateways later this year, according to The Times of India. The carrier has already announced plans to start flying to Washington Dulles in July, and the newspaper said Air India now expects to begin non-stop Los Angeles-Delhi service September 1, followed by Dallas/Ft. Worth service sometime later this year.  The report said Air India is seeing a surge in passenger demand for U.S. service now that travelers cannot take their laptops into the cabins of the big Middle Eastern airlines on non-stop flights to the U.S. Besides its SFO service, Air India also flies to Delhi from New York and Chicago, and to Mumbai from Newark.

Avianca Brasil is due to kick off new daily flights between Miami and Sao Paulo June 23, with red-eye service in both directions.

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Routes: Alaska, JetBlue, Southwest, Delta + seaplanes to Tahoe!

Alaska Airlines will offer the first commercial service out of Paine Field next year. (Image: Alaska)

In domestic route developments, Alaska Airlines will start flying out of a new Seattle-area airport; JetBlue kicks off its newest transcontinental Mint route from San Francisco; Southwest adds some Milwaukee routes and drops one; Delta will enter a New England market from JFK; and Blackbird starts flying seaplanes from the Bay Area to Lake Tahoe.

Travelers who live in Washington State’s northern Puget Sound region will get a new air travel option starting next year when Alaska Airlines begins operating out of Paine Field in Everett, Wash., also known as Snohomish County Airport. The carrier hasn’t yet announced routes, but said it expects to begin flying at Paine Field by the fall of 2018, operating nine flights a day with 737s and E175s. Alaska, which will be the first carrier to offer commercial service from Paine Field, said construction of a passenger terminal there will begin next month.

In other news, Alaska last week started service on the newest spoke from its Seattle hub, operating one daily 737 roundtrip to Indianapolis.

JetBlue’s front-cabin Mint service is expanding to more transcon routes. (Image: JetBlue)

JetBlue this week deployed a Mint-equipped A321 on another transcontinental route: San Francisco-Ft. Lauderdale.  According to the Ft. Lauderdale Sun Sentinel, advance-purchase one-way fares on the route are in the $599 range, but can be found as low as $499. Two months ago, JetBlue introduced Mint service on its Los Angeles-Ft. Lauderdale route, and more Mint expansion will come later this year, including San Diego-New York JFK, San Diego-Boston and Las Vegas-JFK.

Southwest Airlines will make some changes to its Milwaukee operations starting November 5. The carrier will begin new service in two markets: Milwaukee-Nashville, with two flights a day; and Milwaukee-Cleveland, with two daily flights Sunday-Friday and one on Saturdays. At the same time, Southwest will boost Milwaukee-Denver frequencies from three a day to four, and will add a second daily Milwaukee-St. Louis flight. However, Southwest’s two daily Milwaukee-Minneapolis flights will be eliminated.

Delta plans to add another spoke to its New York JFK hub later this year, according to Routesonline.com. On September 10, the carrier is planning to begin one daily roundtrip between JFK and Portland, Maine, operated as a Delta Connection flight by Endeavor Air with a CRJ-900.

Blackbird’s seaplanes will fly from Sausalito to Lake Tahoe. (Image: Blackbird)

Who needs an airport? Blackbird Air, which offers small-plane service on several intra-California routes from the Bay Area, will introduce something new and totally different this summer: seaplane service from Sausalito to Lake Tahoe. Or as the company puts it, “Take off on the bay and land in the lake.” Blackbird has a downloadable app that can be used to book the service, which it says will start June 16 with fares from $124.

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United beefs up by the Bay to counter Alaska/Virgin

United is adding more flights and larger aircraft like this Boeing 737 on many domestic San Francisco routes. (Image: United)

Faced with increasing competition at its San Francisco hub from Alaska Airlines/Virgin America, United Airlines just announced another growth spurt for its domestic SFO schedules this summer, focusing not on new destinations but on increased capacity in existing markets.

The escalating battle at SFO will mean more choice of flights for local travelers. Whether it will also mean lower fares remains to be seen.

It’s the second round of SFO expansion to be announced by United this year. In February, the company said it would add seven new domestic destinations from SFO in June and July. Less than two weeks later, Alaska/Virgin unveiled plans to start 13 new routes from SFO and San Jose in late summer.

And now United says it will schedule additional frequencies from SFO in eight domestic markets, and switch from regional jets to larger mainline planes in 10 others.

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United SFO

United beefing up by the Bay (Image: United)

On August 1, the carrier will boost San Francisco-Seattle frequencies to 10 a day, and on August 15 will increase schedules to nine flights a day to Portland, three a day to Philadelphia and Kansas City, and two a day to Albuquerque, Baltimore/Washington, Indianapolis and Nashville. United flies E175s to Albuquerque and Kansas City; the other routes use A319/320s.

 Effective June 8, United said, it will switch from regional jets to 737s for service from San Francisco to Burbank and Palm Springs, and to A320s on routes from SFO to Dallas/Ft. Worth and Minneapolis-St. Paul, as well as SFO-Calgary and SFO-Kansas City for the summer. On July 1, United switches to 737s for SFO-Sacramento flights, and for seasonal SFO-Bozeman service. And on August 15 it shifts to 737s for SFO-Fresno service.

Alaska Airlines/Virgin America are also planning significant growth at SFO. (Image: Alaska Airlines)

Some of those same routes are being added by Alaska/Virgin, including mainline service from SFO to Philadelphia (starting August 31), Nashville (September 5), Indianapolis (September 26) and Baltimore/Washington (October 16); and new E175 service from SFO to Albuquerque and Kansas City effective September 18.

Earlier, United announced new year-round daily service beginning June 8 from SFO to Cincinnati, Detroit, Santa Rosa and Spokane, along with new seasonal service from SFO to Hartford and Kalispell, Montana. It also said it would add summer service and expand to year-round daily flights from SFO to New Orleans, a market that Alaska/Virgin will enter on September 21 with daily mainline flights.

Starting May 24, United will launch nonstop, seasonal service between San Francisco and Munich (MUC) using a Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

As we asked when Alaska made its big announcement, Where are all those new flights going to fit at SFO’s limited number of gates? That remains to be seen and I wonder if we’ll be faced with more frustrating waits on the tarmac waiting… hmmm

So whaddya think? Do more flights on bigger planes make you less likely to stray to the emerging Alaska/Virgin beast which has stated is desire to be the west coast’s preferred carrier? Please leave your comments below.

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Routes: Qatar Airways to SFO + United 787s, Delta, Copa, AA, Virgin Atlantic

Qatar Airways plans to start San Francisco service next year- image of Qatar’s current business class seat from a travel conference trade show floor. (Image: Chris McGinnis)

In international route news, Qatar Airways will add San Francisco service and delay Las Vegas; United plans changes to 787 schedules at SFO in 2018; Delta’s code goes onto a long-haul Air France route; Copa adds a new U.S. gateway; American will suspend its Auckland route for a while; Virgin Atlantic trims an Atlanta route; Spirit gives up a Caribbean destination; and United and American start up several seasonal Europe routes this week.

Laptop ban or no laptop ban, Qatar Airways plans to add service to another new U.S. destination next year: San Francisco. Company officials said at a travel show in Dubai last week that Qatar plans to bring a dozen new destinations onto its route map in 2018, including SFO – although it did not say exactly when the flights would start or what type of aircraft it would use. SFO tells TravelSkills that the service will be daily and could start in the second quarter of 2018 using a Boeing 777. Meanwhile, Qatar’s previously announced plan to start flying to Las Vegas on January 8 of next year has been pushed back to sometime in the second quarter. Qatar plans to fly the LAS-Doha route four times a week with a 777-200LR. Qatar Airways is a member of the Oneworld Alliance. 

United will add 787-9s to more San Francisco routes next year. (Image: United)

United will make some changes in its 787 schedules at San Francisco next year, according to Routesonline.com. The carrier plans to deploy 787-9 Dreamliners on its daily flights from SFO to Seoul on March 18 and to Taipei on May 4, 2018, replacing 777-200ERs on both routes. At the same time, 787-9s will replace 787-8s on the SFO-Munich route May 4, 2018 and on the SFO-Chengdu, China route May 2. Also on March 24, United will switch from a 787-9 to a 787-8 on its Washington Dulles-London Heathrow route.

Delta last week gave its customers a new way to get to Singapore. In an expansion of code-sharing with joint venture partner Air France, Delta started putting its code onto Air France’s daily Paris CDG-Singapore flight. Meanwhile, Air France added new code-shares with Singapore Airlines, putting its code onto the latter’s flights beyond Singapore to Melbourne and Sydney, and on sister carrier SilkAir’s service to Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Phuket.

Copa Airlines economy class on a 737-800 (Image: Copa)

Panama’s Copa Airlines has set a December 11 start for new service between Denver and Panama City, which will be its thirteenth U.S. gateway. The carrier plans to fly the route four times a week with a 737-800.

Going to New Zealand later this year? American Airlines filed plans to suspend its Los Angeles-Auckland service for a while – specifically, from August 5 to October 4. When the flight resumes on October 5, it will use a 787-9 instead of the current 787-8. In another service cutback, Delta partner Virgin Atlantic will trim its Atlanta-Manchester schedule this winter. From October 29 through March 24, Virgin will fly the route three times a week instead of daily. And Spirit Airlines is giving up the ghost on Cuba: The carrier will terminate its Ft. Lauderdale-Havana flights effective May 31, citing weak demand.

It’s time for major carriers to start up their seasonal summer routes to Europe, and both United and American will launch a bunch of them this week.  On May 5, United will kick off seasonal service from its Newark hub to Edinburgh, Venice, Stockholm and Hamburg; from Washington Dulles to Lisbon and Madrid; and from Chicago O’Hare to Rome and Dublin.  Also on May 5, American Airlines will begin seasonal flights from Dallas/Ft. Worth to Amsterdam and Rome; and from Chicago O’Hare to Barcelona.

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What is Thomas Cook Airlines?

Thomas Cook Airlines is expanding U.S.-U.K. service this summer. (Image: Thomas Cook Airlines)

We mentioned recently that Thomas Cook Airlines will begin San Francisco-Manchester, U.K. service this spring. But it’s also planning lots of other new summer service between the U.S. and the U.K., with relatively low fares.

So what is Thomas Cook Airlines, how does it compare to other low-cost transatlantic airlines, and what does it have to do with Thomas Cook, the venerable U.K.-based travel agency group?

First, let’s look at its summer schedule. Besides twice-weekly (Thurs & Sun only) SFO-Manchester service starting May 14, the airline will start flying to Manchester from Las Vegas, Los Angeles and New York JFK on May 1, with schedules ranging from three flights a week to daily, as well as Orlando-London Gatwick. On May 3, it adds Orlando-Manchester and Las Vegas-Glasgow, followed by Boston-Manchester May 16; Miami-Manchester June 15; Orlando-Belfast June 25; and Las Vegas-London Stansted August 3.

Thomas Cook Airlines

Premium economy on Thomas Cook Airlines

The carrier uses Airbus A330-200s widebodies on its U.S. routes, with economy and premium economy seating.  To Manchester, it cites one-way fares of $279 economy/$419 premium from San Francisco, $279/$359 from Los Angeles and $249/$349 from JFK, for example.

And does that buy you nothing but a seat as on low fare carriers like Norwegian or WOW? Nope: “All tickets include a minimum of 50 pounds checked luggage and 13 pounds of cabin luggage, as well as meals. Inflight entertainment is available on seat-back screens, with a choice of free or paid-for content, featuring more than 30 movies and 50 TV shows,” a spokesman said. On airlines like Norwegian and WOW, those things cost extra for economy class travelers.

According to Seatguru.com, premium economy in Thomas Cook Airlines’ two-class A330-200s has 49 “recliner seats” (seven across) that are 19.7 inches wide, with 35-inch pitch; and 273 regular economy seats (eight across) that are 18.2 inches wide with 31-inch pitch (pretty much the industry standard for economy class these days).

Seating on a Thomas Cook A330-200. (Image: Thomas Cook Airlines)

The airline is part of the U.K.-based Thomas Cook Group, a travel conglomerate that evolved out of the original travel agency chain. Besides Thomas Cook Airlines, the group also owns Germany’s Condor Airlines, both catering to the leisure market. Condor is an Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan partner as of last winter, too!

Thomas Cook Group has five operating divisions across Europe; besides the airlines and the travel agency chain, it also has several tour operators and a hotel booking website. And it’s huge: The group has total sales of more than $10 billion and more than 21,000 employees.

The airline’s U.S. routes are largely seasonal. Its winter 2017/2018 schedule shows U.S. service only to New York JFK and Las Vegas from Manchester, and to Orlando from Manchester and London Gatwick.

More about Thomas Cook Airlines here. 

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Routes: Airberlin delays at SFO/LAX, Virgin Australia, Austrian, AA, United + more

Airberlin is delaying its new Berlin service from San Francisco and Los Angeles. (Image: Airberlin)

In international route news, Airberlin is pushing back the start date of its new West Coast service to Berlin; Virgin Australia adds a Los Angeles route; Austrian Airline starts LAX flights; American plans an aircraft switch for some west coast service; United shifts Dreamliners to Washington Dulles and begins seasonal flights to Europe from San Francisco and Houston; Xiamen expands service; and JetBlue adds a Caribbean route.

Airberlin is delaying the start-up dates for its new service from Berlin to San Francisco and Los Angeles. The service from Berlin Tegel to San Francisco, originally set to begin May 1, has been pushed back to May 29; and the Berlin-Los Angeles flights, due to launch May 2, have been postponed to May 16. Passengers scheduled to travel on the earlier flights are being rebooked onto other flights via Dusseldorf, the company said. Airberlin blamed the delays on problems with its new ground handling company at Tegel Airport. The carrier plans to operate four flights a week from SFO; the LAX schedule calls for two flights a week from mid-May, with a third frequency starting in June.

Virgin Australia this week kicked off new non-stop service from Los Angeles to Melbourne. The Australian carrier will fly the route five days a week with a 777-300ER, as part of its joint venture operation with Delta. On the other coast, Delta partner Virgin Atlantic plans to convert its New York JFK-Manchester service from a seasonal to a year-round operation, with plans to continue flying the route four times a week after October 29 with an A330, then dropping down to three a week from January 14 through March 22, 2018. Delta will no longer fly the route, according to Routesonline.com.

Austrian Airlines started 777 service from LAX to Vienna. (Image: Austrian Airlines)

Austrian Airlines this week kicked off new service from Los Angeles International to Vienna. The airline’s 777-200 service starts off with five flights a week through June 12, then increases to daily frequencies. The route marks Austrian’s first non-stop service to the West Coast. The 308-seat 777 includes 48 business class seats with lie-flat seat-beds.

American Airlines is planning to change equipment on a couple of international routes out of Los Angeles later this year, according to Airlineroutes.com. Plans call for American to put 787-9s into service starting November 5 on the LAX-Sao Paulo route, and increasing frequencies from five to six a week; and on the LAX-Tokyo Narita route from August 4 to October 27. In both cases, the Dreamliners will replace 777-200ERs.

United Boeing 787 Dreamliner

United is shifting some 787s from Houston to Washington Dulles. (Photo: United)

Speaking of 787s, FlightGlobal reports that United Airlines plans to shift Dreamliner flying from Houston Bush Intercontinental to Washington Dulles this coming winter, citing a letter to pilots from UA management. The carrier will reportedly close its 787 pilots’ base at Houston. Effective with United’s winter schedule October 29, that means in addition to its existing 787 service from IAD to London and Paris, United will also use the Dreamliner for flights from Dulles to Beijing (replacing a 777-200) and to Sao Paulo (replacing a 767-400ER), while a 777-200 will go onto Houston-Frankfurt and a 767-300ER will be used for Houston-Buenos Aires. Meanwhile, United is due to begin seasonal service April 20 from Houston to Munich and from San Francisco to Frankfurt, with both routes continuing through October 27. Have you flown a United Dreamliner yet? Let us know what you think in the comments.

China’s Xiamen Airlines is due to start 787-9 service from Los Angeles to Xiamen three times a week on June 28. That schedule will increase to four a week from July 19 through August 24 with the addition of a 787-8 flight, according to Routesonline.com.

JetBlue already flies to Port-au-Prince, Haiti from New York, Boston and Ft. Lauderdale, and now it plans to add the only non-stop service to Port-au-Prince from Orlando beginning in December, subject to government approvals. The carrier said it will use a 100-seat E190 for the new service.

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Routes: Norwegian SEA/DEN-London $199; LOT, JAL, United, EVA + more

Norwegian will fly 787-9s to London from Seattle and Denver. (Image: Norwegian)

In international route news, Norwegian is adding two more U.S. gateways with low-cost service to London; LOT Polish starts new west coast service; Japan Airlines adds a new route out of New York; United will drop an intra-Asian route; Eva adds more flights to San Francisco; a European leisure carrier plans San Diego-Zurich service; and an Avianca affiliate adds a Miami route to Brazil.

Transatlantic low-cost carrier Norwegian just keeps adding more routes to the U.S.  In its latest foray, the airline said it will start flying to London Gatwick from both Seattle and Denver beginning in mid-September. It will use 787-9s on both routes. The schedule calls for Denver service to start September 16 with two flights a week, increasing to three on November 2. From Seattle, Norwegian will start flying on September 17 with four weekly non-stops to LGW.

Norwegian’s “launch fares” on both routes start at $199 one-way in economy, including taxes; and $839 one-way in its Premium Cabin. Flying economy can bring lots of add-ons for various services and amenities; the premium fare includes a luggage allowance, lounge access, priority boarding, sleeper seats, and all meals and drinks. Seats are on sale now at www.Norwegian.com/us.

Those two routes are just the latest in an onslaught of U.S. service for Norwegian in 2017. In June, it will start flying to Barcelona from Los Angeles, Newark and Oakland; and in June and July it will kick off a slew of 737MAX routes from three smaller northeastern airports (Newburgh, N.Y.; Providence, R.I.; and Hartford, Conn.) to points in Scotland, Ireland, Northern Ireland and Norway. Orlando-Paris and Ft. Lauderdale-Barcelona start later in the summer.

Business class on a LOT 787-8. (Image: LOT Polish)

LOT Polish this week began service from Los Angeles to Warsaw, using a 787-8 to fly the route four times a week. The 6,500-mile route is the longest in LOT’s network. The Polish carrier – a member of the Star Alliance — is due to start Newark-Warsaw flights at the end of April, and to begin Chicago-Krakow service in August.

Japan Airlines this month started flying from New York JFK to Tokyo’s close-in Haneda Airport. The daily flight to Haneda is in addition to JAL’s daily service from JFK to Tokyo Narita. The new Haneda flight uses a 244-seat 777-300ER, and JAL switched its JFK-Narita flight from a 787-8 to a 777-300ER as well. The larger 777 has a first class cabin that the Dreamliner doesn’t, along with business class, premium economy and regular economy seating.

At the end of October, United Airlines is planning to discontinue service on its route from Tokyo Narita to Seoul Incheon, which it serves once a day with a 737-800. The route will continue to be served by United’s Star Alliance partner Asiana.

Taiwan’s EVA Air has filed plans to boost frequencies on its route from Taipei to San Francisco. The carrier currently flies the route twice a day, and plans to increase that to 17 a week starting November 5. The extra flights will use a 777-300ER. EVA is a member of the Star Alliance.

Edelweiss will use an A340-300 for San Diego-Zurich seasonal service. (Image: Edelweiss

Ever hear of Edelweiss? Yes, it’s a small mountain flower and a song in ‘The Sound of Music’, but it’s also a leisure carrier affiliated with Swiss International (www.flyedelweiss.com). And it plans to start seasonal service June 9 between San Diego and Zurich. Edelweiss will use an A340-300 to fly the route twice a week, with SAN departures on Fridays and Mondays. The aircraft has a business class with lie-flat seats along with premium economy and regular economy seating.

Avianca’s Brazilian affiliate, Avianca Brasil, has started taking reservations for a new route between Miami and Sao Paulo Guarulhos, which it will start flying June 23. The service will operate once a day with an A330-200.

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JetBlue-backed startup eyes short-haul aircraft revolution

A start-up is working on 10- to 50-passenger hybrid electric aircraft. (Image: Zunum Aero)

There are hybrid electric cars, so why not hybrid electric passenger aircraft? A start-up company backed by JetBlue says new technology could revolutionize travel to smaller airports.

The company is Zunum Aero, which has funding from both Boeing and JetBlue Technology Ventures, the airline’s subsidiary that invests in travel-related innovation. The company is working on new 10- to 50-passenger aircraft using hybrid electric technology that could have planes in the sky within a few years, serving routes of up to 700 miles.

“These aircraft, as part of new regional electric air networks, will offer a fast, flexible and affordable alternative to highways and high-speed rail, operating point-to-point and as feeders to hub airports,” the company said.

Zunum envisions an air travel system that shifts traffic from the bottlenecks of giant hubs to one that takes advantage of under-utilized regional airports, eliminating the need for connections and/or long drives for many travelers. The company said the aircraft it is developing could serve markets of up to 700 miles by the early 2020s, and more than 1,000 miles by 2030.

Zunum says its planes could be flying by the early 2020s. (Image: Zunum Aero)

“Designing aircraft for walk-on, walk-off travel from nearby airports addresses the major pain points of modern air transit while filling a vast regional transport gap,” Zunum said. “For example, passengers can expect to travel from regional airports in the Boston area to Washington, DC for half the fare and in half the time it takes today door-to-door. For those on the West Coast, Silicon Valley to the LA area drops to two and a half hours door-to-door, from over five hours today, or to Lake Tahoe in just two hours at a fraction of today’s cost.”

Besides cutting door-to-door travel times by 40 to 80 percent, the company said, its technology would reduce operating costs enough to permit a 40 to 80 percent cut in fares. It would also greatly reduce aircraft emissions and noise.

“As a company that is also deeply committed to innovation in sustainable travel, we believe that Zunum and its quiet, environmentally-friendly aircraft will light up a vast network of underutilized airports and reinvent regional travel,” said Bonny Simi, president of JetBlue Technology Ventures.

Wright Electric and EasyJet are considering a 150-passenger electric-powered plane. (Image: Wright Electric)

Zunum and JetBlue aren’t the only ones exploring new ways to power aircraft. Another U.S. start-up, Wright Electric, is in discussions with U.K.-based low-cost carrier EasyJet about the development of a battery-powered or hybrid plane that could carry 150 passengers on flights of up to 300 miles.

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Routes: Seattle and SFO; Delta, WOW, AA, Emirates, United, BA + more

Sir Richard Branson frolics at Seattle-Tacoma as Virgin Atlantic starts service there. (Image: Virgin Atlantic)

In international route news, Virgin Atlantic starts a pair of west coast routes; Delta resumes a transatlantic route and adds a South American one; Iceland’s WOW brings its low-fare service to the Midwest; American puts a new cabin class on sale; Emirates scales back at LAX but British Airways grows there; United starts two seasonal routes to Rome; Finnair drops a U.S. gateway; and Copa doubles down at O’Hare.

Virgin Atlantic Airways this week kicked off its new service to Seattle, using a 787-9 for its daily flights to London Heathrow. Virgin’s operations in the U.S. are closely coordinated with joint venture partner Delta, and Virgin’s new Seattle service replaces Delta’s daily flight to London. Delta was using a 767, so Virgin’s 787-9 increases capacity on the route by 50 seats a day. Also this week, Virgin Atlantic introduced new seasonal service from San Francisco International to Manchester, using an A330-300. That route operates three days a week (Tuesday, Friday and Sunday). It’s the only SFO-Manchester non-stop service, but it won’t be for long: On May 14, U.K. leisure carrier Thomas Cook Airlines will begin two flights a week with an A330-200. All this is in addition to British Airways four daily nonstops from the Bay Area to London!

Delta will fly to the beaches of Rio from JFK starting in December (Image: VisitBrazil.com)

Delta will expand its South America reach later this year with new daily service between New York JFK and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, slated to launch December 21. Using a 210-passenger 767-300 with Delta One flatbed seats, Delta will offer onward connections at Rio to 23 Brazilian destinations thanks to its Brazilian partner GOL. Meanwhile, Delta this week resumed service on the Atlanta-Brussels route, flying five times a week (increasing to daily during summer) with a 767-400. Delta had suspended the route a year ago after the Brussels terror attacks, although it maintained daily flights to Brussels from JFK.

On July 13, Icelandic low-cost carrier WOW will add another U.S. gateway, starting service four days a week to Reykjavik from Chicago O’Hare. The carrier said it is offering one-way base fares starting as low as $99 (plus extras) from ORD to Iceland, or $149 for connections to major European capitals. The flights will operate Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays using an A321-300 with 30-inch seat pitch (or 34 inches for an additional fee).

American’s new premium economy seating is on 787-9s in select markets. (Image: American Airlines).

American Airlines’ new international premium economy seats, currently available on a few routes out of Dallas/Ft. Worth, have been used for upgrades during their rollout. But now the airline is putting the new cabin category on sale for travel beginning May 4. AA’s premium economy class is on its new 787-9s from DFW to Paris, Madrid, Sao Paulo and Seoul. Seats are 19 inches wide with 38 inches of pitch (vs. 33-34 inches in Main Cabin Extra) in a 2-3-2 layout.

Is that U.S. laptop ban starting to hurt business for the big Middle Eastern carriers? Routesonline.com reports that Emirates is “temporarily adjusting” its schedule between Los Angeles and Dubai, cutting service from two flights a day to one from May 1 through June 30.

But Routesonline.com says that British Airways is planning an increased schedule from LAX to London Heathrow, bringing on a third daily flight effective October 29. The additional frequency will use a 787-9. On the same date, BA will boost its New Orleans-LHR schedule from four flights a week to five. Meanwhile, BA this week introduced its biggest bird – the 469-passenger A380-800 – into the aircraft mix on its Boston-London route, where the giant jet operates Mondays and Fridays.

United’s seasonal international schedule adjustments start to kick in next week. On April 4, the carrier will begin seasonal service from Newark to Rome and from Washington Dulles to Rome, both using 767s. The Newark flights continue through November 8, while the Dulles schedule is in place through October 27. Also on April 4, United will lay on extra frequencies from Newark to Paris, Dublin and London.

Trying to get from Miami to Helsinki this summer? Forget Finnair, which is suspending service on that route from May 1 through September 30, according to Routesonline.com. The Finnish carrier is also cutting back Chicago-Helsinki frequencies from five flights a week to three.

Panama’s Copa Airlines is doubling its service from Chicago O’Hare to Panama City effective June 1, when it will supplement its existing daily morning departure with a midafternoon flight out of ORD. Copa has onward service from its Panama City hub to 50 destinations in Latin America.

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American buys greater access to China

American’s customers will get access to scores of new destinations on China Southern. (Image: China Southern)

American Airlines is buying an equity stake in China Southern Airlines, a move that will give its customers access to more  destinations in Asia through code-sharing and frequent flyer connections.

The $200 million equity investment will give American a 2.68 percent stake in the Chinese carrier.  American is following a strategy like that of Delta, which purchased 3.5 percent of China Eastern Airlines two years ago. Delta also owns more substantial equity stakes in Virgin Atlantic and Aeromexico.

“Later this year, the two carriers expect to begin codeshare and interline agreements that will give customers access to many more destinations in China, as well as North and South America,” American said. “The expected codeshare routes are anticipated to include the ability to earn and redeem AAdvantage Miles, through-bag checking and the ability to book travel on a single ticket. The planned routes operating under the interline agreement are anticipated to include through-bag checking to the traveler’s final destination.”

Asia’s largest fleet with more than 600 aircraft. (Image: China Southern)

Most of China Southern’s transpacific flights are from Guangzhou. American flies to Beijing and Shanghai from Chicago, Dallas/Ft. Worth and Los Angeles. The company said that the new partnership with China Southern will give its customers access to 40 destinations through connections at Beijing and 30 beyond Shanghai. Passengers will gain access to scores of AA cities beyond the Chinese carrier’s U.S. gateways of Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York JFK.

It is Asia’s largest airline in terms of passenger traffic. Both China Southern and China Eastern are members of Delta’s global SkyTeam alliance, but a spokesperson for American tells TravelSkills that is not an issue in the equity purchase.

“We don’t expect China Southern to leave SkyTeam. That’s not the focus of our relationship with them,” the spokesperson said.

American flies 787s on its China routes to Beijing and Shanghai. (Image: American)

Meanwhile, American’s newest route, from Los Angeles to Beijing, is still on hold as the carrier tries to negotiate slot assignments at Beijing from Chinese authorities. A few weeks ago, the U.S. Transportation Department gave American a six-month extension to start flying the route after it became apparent that the slot issue would not be worked out by the March 16 deadline originally set  by the agency.

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Routes: Delta, Alaska, AA, JetBlue, United, JetSuiteX

Delta’s A319s have nine-inch screens at every seat. (Image: Delta)

In domestic route news, Delta will start multiple daily flights between two key business centers; Alaska eyes deployment of new E175s this spring and summer; American adds spokes from its Miami and Dallas hubs; JetBlue invades Delta’s hometown; United drops an East Coast route; and JetSuiteX steps up for music lovers.

Delta set June 19 for the start of new service from its growing Seattle hub to the largest city where it doesn’t yet fly from SEA. The carrier said it will inaugurate service between SEA and Chicago O’Hare, offering three flights a day with Airbus A319s. Departures in both directions are scheduled for early morning, midday and late afternoon, and tickets are on sale now. Meanwhile, later this year Delta will revive service on a route it dropped years ago: Salt Lake City-Tampa. Service will begin December 21 with one daily 737 roundtrip. And effective July 9, Delta will deploy a second daily roundtrip on its Atlanta-Rochester, Minn. route, using a CRJ-700.

Alaska’s Horizon Air subsidiary is deploying new three-class E175s. (Image: Alaska Airlines)

Alaska Airlines has ordered a bunch of new Embraer E175s, and several of them are being delivered this spring and summer. Routesonline.com reports that Alaska’s Horizon Air unit has started scheduling the new planes onto its route network, initially operating one daily roundtrip in each market. You’ll see the new E-175s staring May 4 on the Portland-St. Louis route, followed on May 18 on routes from Seattle to Oakland, Ontario, Portland, San Francisco, and St. Louis. The plane debuts June 4 between Portland-Salt Lake City; June 15 from Seattle to Calgary, Colorado Springs, Santa Barbara and San Jose; July 17 from Portland to Dallas/Ft. Worth; July 18 from SEA to Fresno and San Luis Obispo; August 17 from Seattle to Bozeman; August 18 from Orange County and Portland to Albuquerque; September 18 from San Francisco to Albuquerque and Kansas City; and October 18 from San Diego to Albuquerque.

The new aircraft are part of Alaska’s largest order ever for Horizon – a total of 30 new planes. And they will come with a three-class seating configuration including 12 first class seats, 16 in Alaska’s new Premium Class and 48 in the main cabin. The premium class seats will have a 34-inch pitch, vs. 36 to 38 inches in first and 31 inches in the main cabin. The planes will also have Wi-Fi, power outlets throughout, and free streaming entertainment.

American Airlines plans a July 5 start for new service between its Dallas/Ft. Worth hub and Spokane. The carrier will operate one daily roundtrip using a 124-passenger A319. On the same date, American will add another spoke from its Miami hub with the inauguration of one daily roundtrip to Omaha, Nebraska. MIA-Omaha will be an American Eagle operation, using a 76-seat E-175.

JetBlue and Delta are adding a new competitive arena as JetBlue invades the Boston-Atlanta market. (Image: Jim Glab)

We’ve mentioned this before, but just a reminder: This Tuesday (March 28), JetBlue is set to jump into a market thoroughly dominated by Delta and Southwest: Boston-Atlanta. JetBlue plans five flights a day on the route. The carrier planned on operating out of ATL’s Terminal E, but the airport reportedly wanted JetBlue to split its flights between Terminals D and E – prompting a JetBlue complaint to the FAA.

With a big hub at Newark, United Airlines doesn’t have much of a presence at New York LaGuardia – and that presence is about to get smaller. United Express/Republic Airlines operates up to three flights a day between LGA and Raleigh-Durham, but those flights are scheduled for termination effective June 7. United already serves RDU from Newark.

Music fans who want to get to the renowned Coachella Festival next month without a long drive through the desert have a new option. JetSuiteX, which operates small-jet scheduled service on intra-California routes, is planning to run special flights on two April weekends from Burbank to the Jacqueline Cochran Desert Resorts Regional Airport in Thermal, California. The service is scheduled for April 14-17 and April 21-24; tickets start at $199 each way at www.JetSuiteX.com.

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Routes: Norwegian/BA at Oakland, Alaska/Condor, China Eastern, KLM, Air Canada, Volaris

British Airways B777

British Airways will fly nonstop between Oakland and London-Gatwick using a Boeing 777-200ER (Photo: British Airways)

In international route developments, Norwegian and British Airways begin new Oakland flights; Alaska inks a frequent flyer partnership with a European carrier; China Eastern adds a U.S. route; KLM returns to Minneapolis; Air Canada begins a new transcontinental link from Vancouver; and Volaris starts Houston service.

It will be a busy time at Oakland International next week, with two new transatlantic services coming to the Bay Area airport. March 28 is the launch date for Norwegian’s newest low-cost transatlantic route, linking Oakland with Copenhagen twice a week, using a 787-8.  And on the same date, British Airways will kick off new daily flights linking Oakland with London Gatwick – a route served since last year by Norwegian. The new BA flights out of OAK will operate four days a week, using a 777-200ER with business, premium economy and regular economy seating. BA already flies to London from San Francisco and San Jose – but to Heathrow, not Gatwick. Meanwhile, BA will also begin new service on March 27 between New Orleans and London Heathrow, offering 787-8 flights four days a week.

Speaking of Oakland, the new carrier LEVEL, which announced new nonstops to Barcelona for just $149 each way bragged on Twitter this week that it sold 52,000 tickets in a single day:

Condor is Alaska’s newest Mileage Plan partner. (Image: Condor)

Alaska Airlines has added another European carrier as a partner in its Mileage Plan frequent flyer program. The new partner is Condor, a leisure-oriented subsidiary of Thomas Cook that is based in Germany. The two carriers already had an interline agreement, but now passengers will be able to earn and spend Mileage Plan miles on Condor as well. Alaska passengers can link up with transatlantic Condor flights to Frankfurt at Seattle, San Diego, Las Vegas, Portland, Anchorage and Fairbanks; in June, Condor will add Seattle-Munich flights.

Mileage Plan members can start earning elite-qualifying miles on Condor flights now (and so can Virgin America Elevate members who have a Mileage Plan account number). Award travel redemption “will begin at a later date,” Alaska said. Condor, which uses three-class 767-300ERs on its transatlantic routes, is expanding its North America network this year to a total of 16 cities, mostly served a couple of times a week. The airline primarily serves vacationers, but offers a nice (but non-lie-flat) business class, reviewed here.

China Eastern wants to start Houston-Shanghai flights. (Image: Airbus)

China Eastern Airlines has its eye on new U.S. service linking Houston Bush Intercontinental Airport with Shanghai Pudong, according to a report in Air Transport World, an aviation industry journal. China Eastern, a member of Delta’s SkyTeam global alliance, reportedly hopes to begin the service in June or July. The only other non-stop service between Houston and China is an Air China route from Houston to Beijing.

KLM set a March 27 start for seasonal service between Minneapolis-St. Paul and its Amsterdam Schiphol hub – a route it hasn’t flown since 2001. The Dutch carrier will fly the route three days a week, continuing through October. KLM’s SkyTeam partner Delta, which has a hub at MSP, already offers service to AMS up to three times a da

On June 23, Air Canada will introduce new seasonal service linking Vancouver with Boston, continuing through September 4. The carrier will offer one daily roundtrip using a two-class A319. The Canadian carrier will also resume Montreal-Washington Dulles daily service starting June 19, using a 50-passenger CRJ-100; Air Canada already flies between Montreal and Washington Reagan National.

Mexican low-cost carrier Volaris has started up new service between Houston Bush Intercontinental and Mexico City, operating four days a week. Volaris already flies from Houston to Guadalajara.

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Alaska Airlines adds 6 more California nonstops

Alaska will deploy three-class E175s on new San Diego routes. (Image: Alaska Airlines)

Just a week after announcing 13 new nonstop routes from the Bay Area starting in late summer and fall of this year, Alaska Airlines is aiming to strengthen its grip on the California market even more by launching service on six new routes from San Diego.

The expansion calls for daily service from SAN to Omaha and to Austin starting August 27; to Albuquerque beginning October 18; to Minneapolis-St. Paul as of November 18; and to Kansas City and St. Louis beginning December 15.

All routes will be flown once a day with the popular 76-seat, three-class E175s (12 seats in first class, 12 seats in premium class and 52 seats in the main cabin). Once a day is not really enough to entice business travelers who love multiple options when plans change, but at least it’s a new nonstop option. In many of these markets, Southwest also operates one or two nonstops per day.

Alaska has been gradually building up its presence at California’s second largest city. Some of that growth begins this week, including new daily San Diego-Baltimore/Washington flights and three daily roundtrips between SAN and Sacramento. Alaska also recently won authority for new service from San Diego to Mexico City, but schedules haven’t yet been set.

New Alaska routes coming at San Diego. (Map: Alaska Airlines)

It’s a busy week for Alaska inaugurals in other markets as well. In addition to the San Diego flights mentioned above, the airline this week is kicking off a daily San Jose-Newark roundtrip; a daily Portland-Orlando flight; and three flights a day between San Jose and Burbank.

Alaska said that over the past five years, it has added 18 non-stop destinations from San Diego; by late August of this year, it will be operating 40 daily flights from SAN to 28 destinations.

“From San Diego, guests can make convenient connections to Tokyo and London, served by partner carriers Japan Airlines and British Airways,” the company noted.

Last year, Alaska’s Horizon Air unit placed an order for 30 new E175 jets, with options for 33 more. Deliveries are due to begin this year. SkyWest Airlines also operates some E175s for Alaska.

As it grows its own brand presence, Alaska must also figure out how to blend its network together with Virgin America’s. In last week’s announcement of new service from the Bay Area, Alaska said that all the new mainline routes would be flown with A320 family aircraft. That’s the type used by Virgin America – although the company didn’t say they would be operated by Virgin America. Alaska is expected to decide later this month what it will do with the Virgin America brand– so stay tuned!

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American joins the free food fight – sort of

American will bring back free meals in coach on two A321T transcontinental markets. (Image: American)

When Delta announced last month it would offer free meals in the main cabin on transcontinental flights, it was probably just a matter of time until its rival started to respond – and American Airlines is the first to do so, although on a limited basis.

American said this week that on May 1, it will also begin handing out free meals in coach – but only on two routes.

The policy change affects passengers flying American’s special transcon A321Ts between San Francisco-New York and Los Angeles-New York.

“Depending on the time of day, customers will be offered a continental breakfast or a boxed meal with a sandwich wrap, kettle chips and dessert. The menu also includes a vegetarian option and a fruit and cheese plate,” American said.

Delta’s free transcon Main Cabin offerings include a Luvo veggie wrap. (Image: Delta)

Delta’s free main cabin meals started earlier this month on the JFK-LAX and JFK-SFO routes, and will be extended as of April 24 to 10 more transcon routes, including JFK to Portland, San Diego and Seattle; Boston to San Francisco, LAX and Seattle; Seattle to Ft. Lauderdale, Orlando and Raleigh-Durham; and Washington Reagan National to LAX. (Sorry, Atlanta, you are not included in the freebies.)

Even though American’s competitive response to Delta’s initiative is relatively muted, it still puts more pressure on other transcon carriers to match or beat the free coach meals. United, JetBlue and Alaska Airlines’ Virgin America unit all charge for anything more filling than snacks in the main cabin on their coast-to-coast routes.

For example, JetBlue has a service in its main cabin called the EatUp Café on LAX/SFO-area routes from Boston, New York and Ft. Lauderdale, offering sandwiches, salads, cheese plates and such for prices ranging from $4 to $12.

Would you rather pay for a high quality meal, or get a free one that’s just okay? Please leave your comments below. 

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Routes: Norwegian, WOW, Emirates, United, Air China + more

A Boeing 737 MAX in Norwegian livery. (Image: Boeing)

In international route developments, Norwegian adds more flights from the east coast to Europe; WOW Air increases frequencies to the west coast; Emirates kicks off controversial new U.S. route; United expands code-sharing with Asiana; Air China adds a Los Angeles route; Southwest begins a new international service from Denver; and Avianca increases its U.S. schedule.

Norwegian Air hasn’t even started its new 737 MAX low-fare service from the U.S. east coast yet and already it is adding more routes. In addition to those already scheduled to Ireland and Scotland (with fares starting at $65 one way), Norwegian also plans to add twice-weekly flights to Bergen, Norway, from both Providence., R.I. and from Stewart Airport in Newburgh, N.Y.  The airline has also filed its winter schedules for Paris Charles de Gaulle, where it will switch from 787-8s to 787-9s starting October 29. Norwegian’s Paris schedule calls for six flights a week from New York JFK (down from daily in the summer), four a week from Los Angeles, two from Ft. Lauderdale and one from Orlando.

Also increasing its U.S. service is low-fare rival WOW Air, which offers connecting flights to Europe through its Reykjavik hub. WOW told Air Transport World that its service to Reykjavik from San Francisco and Los Angeles will be increased to daily frequencies with its summer 2017 schedule. The carrier has been running five flights a week from San Francisco and four from LAX. WOW is installing premium seating in its A330-300s, which it uses for the west coast routes.

Emirates is using a 777-300ER on its new Dubai-Athens-Newark route. (Image: Emirates)

Emirates this week launched its promised new service from Newark to Athens, continuing to Dubai, and was greeted at Newark Airport with a protest staged by 200 United Airlines employees. United, Delta and American are adamantly opposed to U.S. route expansion by the Middle East Big Three airlines – Emirates, Etihad and Qatar – and are conducting an intensive lobbying effort with the Trump Administration to block new service for those carriers. The U.S. airlines allege that their Mideast rivals are subsidized by their governments, thus challenging Trump’s pledge to put American companies first in the face of foreign competition.

United Airlines will expand its code-sharing agreement with Star Alliance partner Asiana Airlines on March 17, when United’s code will go onto Asiana’s daily Chicago O’Hare-Seoul Incheon flights.  At the same time, Asiana will put its code onto 16 domestic United routes out of ORD.

Air China will use a 787 on new LAX-Shenzen service. (Image: Air China)

Got business in Shenzen, China? Air China has filed a schedule for new service to Shenzen from Los Angeles International, due to begin July 6. Air China – a Star Alliance member — will fly the route three days a week, using a 787-9 Dreamliner.  Speaking of Shenzen, China’s Xiamen Airlines has trimmed back its Seattle-Shenzen-Xiamen 787-8 service from three flights a week to two, a seasonal reduction continuing through May 22.

Two minor players in the foundering US-Cuba market, Silver Airways and Frontier,  have announced they are pulling out completely later this spring. Other carriers have cut back on flights as the market finds its legs…and waits to see what the Trump administration has in store.

Southwest Airlines has started its newest international route: The carrier has started flying from Denver International to Belize City, Belize. It’s currently operating as Saturday-only service, but Southwest will boost it to Saturday and Sunday flights for the summer, June 4 to August 14.

Avianca’s Los Angeles-Bogota route, which has been operating four times a week, will increase to daily frequency starting March 26. The carrier uses a two-class 787 on the route. Meanwhile, the Colombian carrier also plans a new U.S. route. It will begin Bogota-Boston service on June 2, operating four flights a week with an A319.

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13 new nonstops with Alaska Airlines’ big Bay Area bump

Alaska Airlines will use A320-family aircraft for new SFO routes- but fate of Virgin brand still in question. (Image: Chris McGinnis)

Now that Alaska Airlines owns Virgin America, it has targeted the Bay Area for “the single largest new market announcement” in its history, the company said Thursday. Will this mean lower fares? Probably not… 

Alaska/Virgin plans to add service on 13 new routes from San Francisco and San Jose in late summer and fall of this year.

All the mainline flights on Alaska’s new routes will use aircraft from the “A320 family,” which is the type used by Virgin America. Alaska has an all-Boeing mainline fleet. New San Jose flights and a few from SFO will use smaller Embraer E175s.

It’s interesting that Alaska didn’t say the routes would be operated by Virgin America – just that they will be flown by A320 family aircraft- something that could be telling regarding the fate of the Virgin brand.  Alaska executives have been feverishly studying what to do about the Virgin America brand, and they are expected to decide and announce something by the end of this month ahead of its annual investors meeting.  

New mainline daily service coming from Alaska (and the starting dates) include flights from San Francisco to Philadelphia (August 31), New Orleans (September 21), Nashville (September 5), Indianapolis (September 26), Raleigh-Durham (October 19), Baltimore-Washington (October 16), and Kona, Hawaii (December 14).

The airline will deploy E175s for new daily flights from SFO to Albuquerque and Kansas City, both starting September 18.

Where are all those new flights going to fit at SFO’s limited number of gates? “The A320 flights will be operated by Virgin in Terminal 2, and we’re adding a fifteenth gate to support this. (Gate 50 will expand to be an A/B gate.) Flights operated in Embraer E175s will be operated by Alaska Air in their current location in the International Terminal,” said SFO spokesperson Doug Yakel, adding, “We are in discussions about once they begin operating under a single certificate, but these gate plans have yet to be finalized.”

Don’t miss: 5 key reasons to try new Lyft Premier

Alaska’s Horizon Air subsidiary has ordered new three-class E175s. (Image: Alaska Airlines)

At Mineta San Jose, Alaska will begin new daily E175 flights to Austin and Tucson on August 28, and four flights a day to Los Angeles International beginning September 20.  (Click on the link above to see flight times for all the new routes.)

The new markets are in addition to Alaska’s previously announced new service from the Bay Area coming in the months ahead, including San Jose-Newark (starting March 12), San Jose-Burbank (starting March 16 three times a day), and San Francisco service to Orlando, Orange County, Minneapolis-St. Paul and Mexico City.

Fares: We do not expect Alaska’s push into the Bay Area will result in lower fares– it’s not in this game to be a discounter. Instead, it will likely focus on service and amenities to attract a larger share of the lucrative business travel market. Even though it has the last remaining mileage based frequent flyer program, Alaska will likely have a big challenge convincing high mileage United Mileage Plus members to make the switch. One of the first steps in doing that is providing flights to cities where business travelers need to go. It will be interesting to see what else they do to woo frequent travelers.

For the Bay Area, “Our strategy is to use the same philosophy that’s worked well for us in our Pacific Northwest hubs, which is to offer convenient, nonstop flights to the places guests fly to most,” said Alaska executive vp Andrew Harrison.

Sadly missing from the new line up: SFO-Atlanta, a key business route locked up by Delta and United which could use a competitive bump from the new Alaska Airlines. Another miss for business travelers: SFO-Phoenix, largely dominated by American and Southwest.

 

To hype the announcement, Alaska has kicked off a social media promotion that will offer “destination-inspired food items” and free flights to Bay Area residents. “Travelers who tweet the airlines at @AlaskaAir and @VirginAmerica using the hashtag #MostWestCoast and with an airplane emoji will score the chance to have a destination-specific treat (think BBQ for Nashville and beignets for New Orleans) delivered within a few hours to their front door,” Alaska said, and some will win a free flight to one of the new destinations. 

Are you more inclined to fly Alaska Airlines these days? Why or why not? Please leave your comments below. 

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Routes: Swiss to SFO + Lufthansa, Aeromexico, Hainan, Delta/KLM, Air Canada

Economy class on SWISS’s new 777-300ER. (Image: SWISS)

In international route developments, Swiss will increase San Francisco service and lay on more 777-300ERs to the U.S. this summer; Lufthansa sets the date for its first new A350 service to the U.S.; Aeromexico brings a new route to San Jose; Hainan Airlines adds a pair of routes from Los Angeles; Delta code-shares on more KLM flights; Air Canada adds a new Vancouver route and reshuffles Ottawa service.

Lufthansa subsidiary Swiss International’s newly issued summer schedule calls for an increase in San Francisco-Zurich frequencies from the current three 777-300ER flights  a week to daily service beginning April 22. All the flights will use the carrier’s new 777-300ERs. Swiss already uses the new aircraft on its Los Angeles-Zurich route, and said that between June and October of this year, it will also deploy the new aircraft on six of its 12 weekly flights between Zurich and Chicago O’Hare. Take a tour of “the new SWISS flagship” here. 

Lufthansa recently took delivery of its second A350 from Airbus and it’s headed to Boston. (Image: Lufthansa)

Lufthansa has taken delivery of its second brand-new Airbus A350-900, and it has set March 14 as the date when that aircraft will start flying between Munich and Boston. (The first one recently started flying from Munich to Delhi, India, and the third will go onto the Munich-Mumbai route starting in late April.) Innovations on the Lufthansa A350 include an in-flight entertainment system that lets passengers create their own programming playlists from an app before leaving home, and LED technology that makes it possible to provide two dozen different lighting schemes in the cabin.

The latest international carrier to announce new service to San Jose is Aeromexico. The Mexican airline set a July 1 start for new service between SJC and its Guadalajara hub, operating six 737 flights a week (not on Tuesdays). The flight will depart San Jose at 10:15 a.m.

Hainan Airlines is adding two 787 routes from Los Angeles. (Image: Simon Auger/Flickr)

China’s Hainan Airlines has started taking reservations for new service from Los Angeles to two destinations in western China. On March 15, it will begin service between LAX and Chengdu, followed on March 21 by new flights from LAX to Chonqing. Both routes will operate twice a week, and both will use 787-8s.

Delta continues to expand its roster of code-share flights with joint venture partner KLM. Beginning March 26, according to Routesonline.com, Delta’s code will go onto KLM’s flights between Minneapolis-St. Paul and Amsterdam. Also getting Delta codes will be KLM flights beyond Amsterdam to Milan Malpensa; Graz, Austria; Gdansk, Poland; Freetown, Sierra Leone and Monrovia, Liberia; Split, Croatia; and the Italian destinations of Catania, Sicily, and Cagliari, Sardinia.

Air Canada’s Jazz unit has started new daily non-stops between Vancouver and Dallas/Ft. Worth, using two-class CRJ-705s. On the east coast, meanwhile, Air Canada said it has ended its three daily flights between Ottawa and New York LaGuardia, but will add three flights a day between Ottawa and Newark beginning March 26. (Meanwhile, Delta is poised to pick up the slack from LGA, starting twice-daily service to Ottawa as of April 2.) In other news, Air Canada will use a 787-9 on one (AC737/738) of its six daily San Francisco-Toronto flights for the summer season, beginning June 1.

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United: 2nd Polaris route + SFO-Munich + more domestic flights

Munich Munchen airport

United will add non-stops from San Francisco to Munich (Photo: Flughafen Munchen)

With United executives promising in recent weeks that the company would focus on building up its domestic network, the carrier just announced 47 new daily roundtrips will be added to its summer schedule, almost all of them in domestic markets.

The one new international route included in the announcement is San Francisco-Munich, which will operate on a seasonal daily basis starting May 24. United will use a 787 on the route (which is already served by United’s Star Alliance partner Lufthansa).

On another key international route – Newark to Tel Aviv – United said it will up-gauge one of its two daily flights to a new 777-300ER, equipped with the airline’s new Polaris business class. That change, which takes effect May 5, will make EWR-TLV the second international route to get the new aircraft. (The first will be SFO-Hong Kong, where a 777-300ER will replace United’s 747-400 service starting March 25.)

New domestic routes added to United’s schedule include five from its San Francisco hub, six from Chicago O’Hare, two from Denver, and one each from Newark and Washington Dulles. MileagePlus members should be aware that because these routes were just announced, there should be plenty of award seat availability right now.

United Polaris

United’s new Polaris cabin on the B777-300ER, going onto the Newark-Tel Aviv route in May. (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

The new San Francisco routes, all starting June 8, include three flights a day to Santa Rosa, California (a very short route – 65 miles as the crow flies); two a day to Spokane; and new daily service to Cincinnati, Detroit and Hartford Bradley. The announcement did not specify the aircraft types on each route.

From Chicago O’Hare, United will begin three daily roundtrips to Rochester, Minn., and three a day to Champaign/Urbana, Ill., beginning June 8. On the same day, it will start new daily service from ORD to Charlottesville, Va.; Reno; and Spokane. And on August 1, United will begin twice-daily service from O’Hare to Columbia, Mo.

Other new routes include twice-daily flights from Washington Dulles to Springfield, Mo.; daily service between Newark-Sacramento; daily flights from Denver to San Luis Obispo, Calif., all starting June 8; and daily Denver-Columbia, Mo., service beginning August 1.

United is adding a new route from Denver International to Hawaii (Image: Jim Glab)

The company also plans to expand some existing routes from seasonal winter service to year-round operations this summer. Effective June 8, that includes San Francisco-New Orleans, Chicago-Tucson, Dulles-Ft. Lauderdale, Newark-Salt Lake City and Denver-Kona. On July 1, service from San Francisco to Kalispell, Mont. (gateway to Glacier National Park) also becomes year-round.

United also said it plans to increase frequencies in 15 existing markets. United will boost its Atlanta schedule to eight flights a day from both Washington Dulles and Newark. Newark-Detroit goes up to seven daily roundtrips. The new daily frequencies in other markets include Denver-Albuquerque (5); Denver-Ft. Lauderdale (2); Denver-Orlando (4); Denver-Tampa (2); Newark-Portland, Ore. (2); Dulles-Jacksonville (3); Dulles-Providence (4); Dulles-Portland, Me. (4); Dulles-Roanoke, Va. (3); Dulles-Charleston (S.C.), 3; Chicago-Ft. Lauderdale (3); and Chicago-Ft., Myers (2).

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Routes: United, Alaska at San Jose + American, Delta, Spirit

United will use 737-800s for new San Jose routes. (Chris McGinnis)

In domestic route developments, new transcontinental flights are due to start at San Jose over the next few weeks; United kicks off a transcon to Florida from San Francisco International; American launches a new California route from its Phoenix hub; Delta links two southern business centers; and Spirit comes to Pittsburgh.

Previously announced plans by United and Alaska Airlines to expand at Mineta San Jose will get off the ground next month. United’s schedule calls for the launch of new service from SJC to two of its hubs: Chicago O’Hare and Newark. The carrier will operate two flights a day between SJC and O’Hare, and one daily roundtrip to Newark Liberty International, using 737-800s. Both routes begin March 9. SJC-O’Hare is already served by American, and Southwest flies from SJC to Chicago Midway.

Just three days after United starts its SJC-Newark service, Alaska Airlines is due to begin service on the very same route, with one daily roundtrip. Both the United and Alaska flights will have early-morning eastbound departures. The only other New York-area non-stop service from San Jose is a JetBlue redeye to JFK. Alaska is also slated to klick off new service from San Jose to Hollywood Burbank Airport on March 16, with three daily roundtrips.

United also started SFO-Tampa service. (Image: Tampa International)

San Jose-Newark isn’t the only new Bay Area transcon route for United. The carrier recently began a daily 737-800 roundtrip from San Francisco International to Tampa, with an 8:30 a.m. departure from SFO. Chris was on the inaugural flight; you can read his report here. In other news, United plans to beef up capacity on its San Francisco-Boston route by using a 777-200ER for two of its six daily flights, up from one flight today, according to Routesonline.com.

California’s Sonoma County got a new air link recently when American Airlines kicked off new daily American Eagle service to its Phoenix hub from Santa Rosa’s Charles M. Schulz Airport. American uses a two-class, 70-seat CRJ-700 on the route.

Delta has set a June 12 start for new service linking Nashville with Raleigh-Durham. The Delta Connection service will operate twice a day with SkyWest Airlines CRJ-900s that have 12 seats in first class, 12 in Delta Comfort+ and 52 in the main cabin. It’s Delta’s latest announcement of increased service at RDU; the carrier is due to begin RDU-Austin flights in March and RDU-Seattle in June; last fall, it added daily service from RDU to Newark and to Washington Reagan National.

Spirit Airlines is adding new service from Pittsburgh to seven cities. (Image: Spirit Airlines)

Spirit Airlines said it will add Pittsburgh International as the 61st airport on its route map this spring, with plans to start flying from PIT to seven cities. On May 25, the carrier will begin daily PIT-Dallas/Ft. Worth year-round service, as well as seasonal daily flights from PIT to Myrtle Beach. It will add three weekly flights from PIT to Ft. Lauderdale on June 15, followed by daily service to Orlando and Las Vegas beginning June 22, and daily flights to Houston and Los Angeles starting July 13.

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Routes: AA, AirAsia X, Southwest, Airberlin, South African Airways + more

American plans to use a 777-200 on its LAX-Beijing route if it ever gets slots from the service. (Image: AA)

American plans to use a 777-200 on its LAX-Beijing route if it ever gets slots from the service. (Image: AA)

In international route developments, American tries to save LAX-Beijing service; Air AsiaX sets its first U.S. route; Southwest starts Oakland-Mexico flights; Airberlin gets aircraft for more U.S. flights and ends a code-share partnership; South African Airways brings a new aircraft with an improved business class to its Washington Dulles route; United expands its Newark-London schedule; and Volaris comes to Miami.

We reported a few weeks ago that American Airlines’ plan to begin daily Los Angeles-Beijing service had hit a big snag because China wouldn’t give it any slots at Beijing’s Capital International Airport. American has been facing a March 16 deadline set by the U.S. Transportation Department to start flying the route, but now it has asked DOT for a one-year extension. AA said in its filing that it has been in regular contact with Chinese aviation officials about the slot situation, and that it is going to send a senior executive to China to discuss the matter. American told DOT it “fully expects” that its efforts will eventually be successful.

Malaysian low-cost carrier AirAsia X has settled on Honolulu as its first U.S. destination following the recent FAA decision to let it fly to this country. The carrier plans to fly four times a week from Kuala Lumpur to Honolulu via a two-hour stopover in Osaka, Japan, starting June 28. The airline has set introductory base fares as low as $112 each way to KL (including taxes and fees), or $673 for its flat-bed premium seats, with a purchase deadline of February 26.

Southwest at Oakland

Southwest Airlines jets at Oakland International Airport (Photo: Port of Oakland)

Southwest Airlines this week kicked off its first international service out of Oakland International Airport, operating daily flights from OAK to both Puerto Vallarta and San Jose del Cabo/Los Cabos. The airport is expanding its International Arrivals Building this year in anticipation of a significant increase in international traffic, officials said. The work should be finished in the third quarter.

Airberlin has acquired three more Airbus A330-200s that it said will allow it to continue building up its service between the U.S. and its German hubs at Berlin and Dusseldorf.  The airline announced a few months ago that it plans to begin new non-stops in May between Los Angeles-Berlin four times a week and San Francisco-Berlin three times a week. It already operates from both U.S. airports to Dusseldorf during the summer. It also said it would expand Miami and New York frequencies to Berlin and add Orlando-Dusseldorf service. And now Routesonline.com is reporting that Airberlin will extend some seasonal routes to year-round service starting this fall, including San Francisco-Berlin and SFO-Dusseldorf, both operating four times a week, as well as Orlando-Dusseldorf (five times a week) and Boston-Dusseldorf (four a week). In other news, American Airlines plans to end its code-sharing agreement with Airberlin effective March 26. Both are members of the Oneworld alliance.

The new business class on South African Airways' A330-300. (Image: SAA)

The new business class on South African Airways’ A330-300. (Image: SAA)

South African Airways has started flying a new Airbus A330-300 on its three weekly flights between Washington Dulles and Johannesburg via Dakar, Senegal, and in June it will add the new aircraft to its four weekly IAD-JNB flights that operate via Accra, Ghana. The SAA A330-300 includes an upgraded 46-seat business class product with flat-bed seats in a 1-2-1 layout, an improved on-demand entertainment system and power and USB ports at each seat. The aircraft has a 203-seat economy class with a 2-4-2 configuration.

United Airlines plans to add a sixth daily roundtrip to its Newark-London Heathrow route for the summer season, effective April 5 to October 28. The extra flight, departing EWR at 9:30 p.m. and arriving in London at 9:40 a.m., will use a two-class 767-300.

Mexican low-cost carrier Volaris this month added Miami International to its route map, kicking off daily A320 service to Mexico City and four flights a week to Guadalajara.

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Battle for Mexico City brings cheaper fares, more flights

Alaska Airlines 737 New Livery

Alaska Airlines wants to fly to Mexico City from San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego. (Image: Alaska Air)

U.S. and Mexican airlines are competing for newly available access to Mexico City as Delta unveils plans to buy a much larger stake in Aeromexico.

The Transportation Department could soon announce new route authority for several carriers to Mexico City, using takeoff and landing slots that Aeromexico and Delta had to give up as a condition for approval of their joint venture. Alaska Airlines, JetBlue and Southwest are all in the running, along with Mexican low-cost carriers Volaris and VivaAerobus.

DOT plans to dole out 14 Mexico City slot pairs this year  for U.S. service, concentrating on low-fare airlines to counteract the greater market power that antitrust immunity will give to the new Delta-Aeromexico joint venture.

Alaska Airlines, which has no service to the Mexican capital, has asked for authority to fly there twice a day from Los Angeles and once a day from San Francisco and San Diego. The SFO route and one of the LAX flights would use 737-900ERs; the others would use regional jets.

Mexico City

Mexico City’s international terminal (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

Southwest wants authority to add a fourth daily Houston-MEX flight, and to move one of the other three flights to more convenient times. JetBlue wants slots that would allow it to move its MEX-Ft. Lauderdale and MEX-Orlando departures out of Mexico City to later times in the day (both currently leave before 6 a.m.), and to add second frequencies on both routes.

Mexican low-cost carriers VivaAerobus and Volaris also want slots. VivaAerobus wants to start flying to Oakland three days a week and to San Antonio four days a week, and to operate daily roundtrips to Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Volaris wants to add new daily service to San Antonio and Washington D.C., and to add frequencies on its routes to New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.

Don’t miss: Why Mexico City is one of Chris’s favorite places- BBC

Delta wants to boost its stake in Aeromexico to 49 percent. (Image: Delta)

Delta wants to boost its stake in Aeromexico to 49 percent. (Image: Delta)

Meanwhile, Delta said this week it plans to buy up a much larger stake in Aeromexico. It currently holds 4.2 percent of that airline’s shares, and now said it will buy another 32 percent. It already holds options to buy 12.8 percent, so after the transaction is over, Delta will hold ownership or options on 49 percent of Aeromexico’s shares – the same as its equity stake in Virgin Atlantic. Delta and Virgin also have a joint venture with antitrust immunity, and have used it to closely coordinate schedules on transatlantic routes to the U.K.

Delta owns smaller stakes in Brazil’s GOL and in China Eastern Airlines.

“The tender offer and investment (in Aeromexico) will further strengthen the relationship that will be established when our joint cooperation agreement is implemented in the second quarter,” said Delta CEO Ed Bastian.

Have you been to Mexico City lately? To me it’s one of the great sleeper cities of the Western Hemisphere. What about you?

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Routes: Delta, Frontier grow Cincinnati + Southwest, Alaska, Spirit

Delta is growing again at Cincinnati. (Image: Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport)

Delta is growing again at Cincinnati. (Image: Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport)

In domestic route news, Delta will grow at Cincinnati, and keeps a key Dallas route for now; Southwest adds new routes from Long Beach and Ontario; Alaska enters a new market from Orange County; Frontier adds new service in 10 markets; and Spirit Airlines expands in the northeast.

For years, Delta has been scaling back operations at Cincinnati, which was once one of its hubs. But now the airline plans to grow there, citing 15 straight months of increasing passenger numbers. Delta said its plan calls for a capacity increase of 6 percent in total seats flown out of Cincinnati, including the addition of more frequencies in five key business markets, with additional daily flights from Cincinnati to Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Orlando and Toronto.

It will also upgrade Cincinnati-Denver service to mainline aircraft, and will offer first class seating on all flights to Minneapolis-St. Paul. Its seasonal winter service from Cincinnati to Ft. Myers will continue to operate daily through the summer, Delta said, and its seasonal Seattle flights will extend into the fall and spring. Finally, departures from CVG to Charlotte, Hartford, Newark and Philadelphia will be retimed to permit easy same-day trips out and back. The airline will have a total of 82 peak-day departures at Cincinnati this summer, to 35 destinations. (More Cincy news below!)

Dallas Love Field will keep Delta service to Atlanta -- for now. (Photo: Chris McGinnis(

Dallas Love Field will keep Delta service to Atlanta — for now. (Photo: Chris McGinnis(

In other news, Delta has won a court victory – for now, at least – that allows it to keep operating five flights a day between Atlanta and Dallas Love Field. Southwest has been eager to kick Delta out of the Southwest gates it has been subleasing at DAL, in a court fight that is going into its third year. A district court has blocked Southwest from doing so until the matter goes to trial, and this week an appellate court upheld that ruling. So Delta’s DAL-ATL route is safe for the time being. Delta offers even more service between ATL and Dallas/Ft. Worth.

Southwest Airlines is adding two new routes out of southern California. From Long Beach, Southwest just started operating twice-weekly 737-700 service to Denver. The flights operate on Saturdays and Sundays. Southwest has also kicked off new daily 737-700 flights between Ontario, California and Dallas Love Field.

Continuing its growth at John Wayne Airport in Orange County, California, Alaska Airlines has set an August 18 start for new service from SNA to Albuquerque. The flights will operate once a day, using Horizon Air E175 jets with 12 first class seats, 12 in premium class and 52 in regular economy. That’s the same date that Alaska will begin recently announced new service between Portland and Albuquerque.

Frontier Airlines is adding 10 more routes this spring. (Image: Jim Glab)

Frontier Airlines is adding 10 more routes this spring. (Image: Jim Glab)

Frontier Airlines plans to kick off new daily service between Cincinnati and New York LaGuardia on April 21, and it also announced new service with less-than-daily frequencies on nine other routes. From Austin, Frontier will begin four flights a week to Washington Dulles on April 21, and three a week to San Diego beginning April 23. Other new service from Cincinnati includes four flights a week to Minneapolis beginning April 21 and three a week to San Diego starting May 21. From Cleveland, Frontier will add four weekly flights to Charlotte on April 21, three a week to Minneapolis starting April 23, four a week to Houston Bush Intercontinental and four a week to San Diego, with both routes starting May 22. Also on the schedule is new service three days week between Chicago O’Hare and San Antonio starting April 23.

Spirit Airlines will add new service out of Connecticut’s Bradley International Airport to sun destinations this spring. On April 27, Spirit will launch daily service from Bradley to Orlando, and four flights a week to Myrtle Beach, S.C. On June 15, the airline will add daily service from Bradley to Ft. Lauderdale.

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Routes: Emirates nonstop NYC to Athens, JAL, Southwest, Delta, Iberia, Qatar

Emirates will begin the only year-round non-stops between the U.S. and Athens. (Image: Jim Glab)

Emirates will begin the only year-round non-stops between the U.S. and Athens. (Image: Jim Glab)

In international route news, Emirates will introduce a new option between the U.S. and Europe; Japan Airlines adds a Haneda flight from New York; Southwest will serve an international market from San Diego; Delta drops a Taiwan route but adds new code-shares to Southeast Asia; Iberia starts selling a new premium economy class; and Qatar Airways sets a date for new Las Vegas flights.

Dubai-based Emirates is moving into a new U.S.-Europe market on March 12, when it plans to begin year-round daily service between Newark Liberty International and Athens; the flight continues to Dubai. The airline already flies between New York JFK and Dubai four times a day. Plus it flies nonstop between JFK and Milan. Emirates noted that there has been no year-round, non-stop service between the U.S. and Greece since 2012 (US carriers offer summer seasonal service only). Emirates fares for March-April flights start at $600 roundtrip. The carrier will serve the route with a 777-300ER that offers first class, business class and economy seating. Predictably, Delta, United and American said the announcement shows that Emirates is “flagrantly violating” the Open Skies agreement between the United Arab Emirates and the U.S., and said they will call on President Trump to block Emirates from the route. Will he? This should be interesting…

Japan Airlines will begin service between New York JFK and Tokyo's close-in Haneda Airport. (Image: Haneda Airport)

Japan Airlines will begin service between New York JFK and Tokyo’s close-in Haneda Airport. (Image: Haneda Airport)

Japan Airlines, which already flies twice a day between Tokyo Narita and New York JFK, said it will add a new daily non-stop between JFK and Tokyo’s close-in Haneda Airport beginning April 1. The company said the new service will give customers more connecting options to domestic flights in Japan via Haneda. The new route will use a coveted daytime international departure slot at Haneda. JAL also said it will change aircraft on its evening departure from Narita to JFK, switching from a 787-8 to a larger, four-class 777-300ER.

Southwest Airlines said it will begin its first international service from San Diego on April 25, when it launches new service to San Jose del Cabo/Los Cabos. Through January 26, Southwest is offering introductory fares on the new route starting at $104 one-way. Flights from Oakland to Cabo and Puerto Vallarta begin in February.

Delta’s route from Seattle to Tokyo Narita to Taiwan will be shortened after May 24 when the carrier reportedly plans to drop the Narita-Taiwan segment. Meanwhile, Routesonline.com reports that Delta will soon – perhaps as soon as this week – start to put its DL code onto partner KLM’s fights from Amsterdam to Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.

Iberia's new Premium Economy seating. (Image: Iberia)

Iberia’s new Premium Economy seating. (Image: Iberia)

Iberia, a subsidiary of British Airways’ International Airlines Group and a member of the BA-American Airlines joint venture, announced the opening of reservations for its new long-haul Premium Economy seating class. The company said the new section is going into 21 of its aircraft, including eight A330-300s and 13 A340-600s; it will also be in A350-900s to be delivered after 2018. Premium Economy will be available for travel starting in May 2017 on Iberia’s routes to Madrid from New York and Chicago, starting in August for Miami-Madrid flights, and beginning in September for Boston-Madrid service. For bookings made before January 31, roundtrip fares start at $1,299. The new seating has increased recline, 37-inch pitch, greater seat width (19 inches) than regular economy, adjustable head and foot rests, 12-inch HD video screens (vs. 9 inches in economy), international Wi-Fi, a free drink, upgraded meal service, amenities kit, and allowance for two checked bags.

Qatar Airways has set January 8, 2018 as the launch date for its planned new service between Las Vegas and Doha, Qatar. Earlier, the airline has said it would start flying to Las Vegas in 2017, although it didn’t give a specific date. Qatar Airways plans to fly the Las Vegas route four times a week, using a 777-200LR. Las Vegas will the airline’s 11th U.S. gateway.

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Routes: Delta at Seattle, Alaska at Portland + AA, JetBlue, Spirit

Delta is adding several more routes out of Seattle (Photo: Jim Glab)

Delta is adding several more routes out of Seattle (Photo: Jim Glab)

In domestic route news, Delta, Alaska and American each announced several new markets for 2017; JetBlue kicks off a California corridor route; and Spirit adds 10 markets.

Delta just announced plans to pile on more flights at its growing Seattle hub this year, with tickets for the new routes going on sale January 14. The new service includes a daily roundtrip to Milwaukee beginning March 9; three flights a day to Eugene, Oregon starting April 1; a daily Nashville flight as of May 26; a daily Raleigh-Durham flight effective June 8; a daily roundtrip to Austin beginning June 12; two flights a day to Redmond, Oregon as of June 12; and one a day to Lihue, Kauai starting December 21.

Portland International will get more Alaska Airliners service this spring. (Image: Jim Glab)

Portland International will get more Alaska Airliners service this spring. (Image: Jim Glab)

Alaska Airlines will beef up its operations at Portland this spring and summer with new service in four markets. It will begin a daily roundtrip May 22 from Portland to Philadelphia; another on June 5 from PDX to Milwaukee; and a third on June 6 from Portland to Baltimore/Washington International. Those will all operate seasonally until the last week of August; Milwaukee gets a SkyWest E175 while the other two will use 737s. Then on August 18, Alaska’s Horizon Air will start new daily year-round service from Portland to Albuquerque with an E175.

Routesonline.com reports that American Airlines’ latest schedule updates include new summer service in seven markets, all starting June 2. From its Phoenix hub, American will add service once a day to Eugene, Oregon; Jackson Hole, Wyoming (seasonal until August 21); and Medford, Oregon. Jackson Hole gets an A319 and the other two will use American Eagle/SkyWest CRJ-700s. From Dallas/Ft. Worth, American Eagle/Envoy Air will start flying once a day to Traverse City, Michigan (seasonal through August 21) and to Billings, Montana, using E175s. And from Chicago O’Hare, Eagle/SkyWest will start one daily CRJ-700 roundtrip to Bozeman, Montana (seasonal until October 4).

JetBlue last week revived an intra-California route. (Image: Jim Glab)

JetBlue last week revived an intra-California route. (Image: Jim Glab)

JetBlue, which briefly flew the intra-California route from its Long Beach focus city to San Jose seven years ago, jumped back into that market last week. The airline will use its 150-seat A320s to fly the route four times a day.

Spirit Airlines unveiled plans to add 10 new routes this spring from Houston, New Orleans, Baltimore/Washington and Detroit. From Houston Bush Intercontinental, Spirit will begin year-round service to Newark and seasonal flights to Seattle on April 27. New routes from New Orleans, all operating year-round beginning May 25, include Baltimore/Washington, Cleveland and Orlando. The new BWI service, all seasonal and starting May 25, will be to Oakland, San Diego and Seattle. And new seasonal service starts May 25 from Detroit to Oakland and Seattle.

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Routes: United, China Southern, Hainan, Alaska, Hong Kong Airlines, LOT

United is boosting capacity on its new route from SFO to Auckland. (Image:

United is scaling back its six-month-old route from SFO to Auckland. (Image: Aucklandnz.com)

In international route developments, United will scale back its San Francisco-Auckland and LAX-London service; China Southern will boost capacity to San Francisco; China’s Hainan Airlines seeks two more U.S. routes; Alaska Airlines begins Cuba flights from the West Coast; Hong Kong Airlines schedules its first service to North America; and LOT Polish will resume a Chicago route.

Is there too much new capacity between the U.S. and New Zealand? United Airlines has decided to suspend its San Francisco-Auckland flight this spring and turn it into a seasonal route. United will halt the 787 service April 16 and pick it up again October 28, according to Routesonline.com. But then on December 16, 2017, United will boost frequencies on the route from seven a week to 10, using a 777-200ER. United kicked off the SFO-Auckland route last summer, just after American started flying from Los Angeles to Auckland. And a little over a year ago, Air New Zealand added a new Houston-Auckland route.

In other news, United has dropped plans to add a second Los Angeles-London Heathrow to its schedule this year. The second flight had been scheduled to begin April 4, but United apparently had second thoughts about committing more seats to a crowded market, with five other airlines already offering non-stop service between Los Angeles and London. And from its Newark hub, United this week ended its daily service to Belfast, Northern Ireland, as it previously announced. The Belfast Telegraph reports that Belfast Airport officials are in talks with several other carriers to add a U.S. route.

China Southern to launch new SFO nonstops in December (Photo: Wikimedia)

China Southern will add more seats from San Francisco to Guangzhou (Photo: Wikimedia)

China Southern Airlines has filed plans to increase capacity to San Francisco from Guangzhou, Routesonline.com reports. It will start by changing aircraft as of March 26 from 787-8s to larger 777-300ERs on its four weekly non-stop flights from Guangzhou to SFO and its three flights a week from Guangzhou to SFO via a stop in Wuhan. Then on June 21 it will increase frequencies on the non-stop route from four flights a week to six.

Hainan wants to add 787 flights from Chengdu to LAX and New York. (Photo: San Jose Airport)

Hainan wants to add 787 flights from Chongqing to LAX and New York. (Photo: San Jose Airport)

China’s Hainan Airlines, which has several U.S. routes already, wants two more. The carrier has applied with U.S. authorities to start flying two or three times a week from Chongqing to Los Angeles within the next few months, followed by a similar schedule from Chongqing to New York JFK in the second quarter, using 787s on both routes. Hainan already flies to Beijing from San Jose, Chicago and Seattle, and to Shanghai from Seattle and Boston.

Alaska Airlines has finally launched its new Havana service, becoming the only airline to fly to the Cuban capital from the West Coast. The daily service originates in Seattle, then stops in Los Angeles before continuing non-stop to Havana. The 737-900ER flight leaves SEA at 5 a.m. and departs LAX at 8:50 a.m. Chris was on the inaugural, and will file a report shortly.

Hong Kong Airlines, which has a route network all around East and Southeast Asia as well as Australia and New Zealand, plans to begin its first transpacific service to North America this summer. The airline said it will star flying once a day on June 30 between its Hong Kong base and Vancouver, using an Airbus A330.

LOT Polish Airlines has set a July 2 start for new service between Chicago O’Hare and Krakow, operating one flight a week on the route with a 787-8.

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Southwest announces 22 new routes

Southwest will boost capacity by 3.5 percent this year. (Image: Jim Glab)

Southwest will boost capacity by 3.5 percent this year. (Image: Jim Glab)

Southwest Airlines said its summer schedule, which starts June 4, will feature 22 new domestic and international routes, including some from the Bay Area as well as an expanded Caribbean network based at Ft. Lauderdale and a new presence at Cincinnati.

The company said it expects to increase its overall capacity this year by 3.5 percent (measured in available seat-miles) compared to 2016.

The airline’s new service on the West Coast includes three flights a day between San Francisco International-Portland and one a day between San Jose-Reno, along with seasonal non-stop service from Oakland to Newark Liberty International. At San Diego, Southwest will begin new daily flights to Boise and Salt Lake City, as well as seasonal service to Newark, Spokane and Indianapolis.

However, California’s Orange County Register reported that Southwest will trim its operations at John Wayne Airport due to a shift in capacity allocations among airlines there. Southwest this week ended its Orange County-Mexico City service, the newspaper said, and on January 14 it will eliminate flights from John Wayne to Austin, Kansas City, Portland, St. Louis and Seattle, followed by the end of Puerto Vallarta flights April 25.

At Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood, Southwest said it expects to cut the ribbon in early June on a new international concourse, designated Concourse A in Terminal 1. The facility will serve passengers on flights to eight international destinations, including four new ones: Montego Bay, Jamaica; Belize; Cancun, Mexico; and (subject to government approval) Grand Cayman. Southwest already flies from FLL to Nassau, Bahamas and the Cuban destinations of Havana, Varadero and Santa Clara.

Southwest's ecxpanded Caribbean network put of Ft. Lauderdale. (Image: Southwest)

Southwest’s expanded Caribbean network out of Ft. Lauderdale. (Image: Southwest)

Other new service from Ft. Lauderdale starting June 4 includes daily intra-Florida service to Orlando and daily flights to Washington Dulles and Philadelphia. Elsewhere in Florida, Southwest will kick off two daily non-stops between Tampa-New York LaGuardia and weekend flights between Pensacola and Denver.

Another big focus in Southwest’s summer schedule is Ohio, where it will begin service at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Airport with five flights a day to Chicago Midway and three a day to Baltimore/Washington. At Cleveland, the airline will add service to Atlanta and a second daily roundtrip to St. Louis. On the losing end of the schedule changes in Ohio are Dayton and Akron-Canton, where Southwest will terminate its service.

Elsewhere in the Midwest, Southwest’s summer schedule includes new service between Indianapolis-Newark twice a day and Nashville-Minneapolis once a day.

The airline is offering introductory sale fares on many of the routes for travel this summer. The sale fares’ booking deadline is January 26. Sample one-way starting sale fares include: San Francisco-Portland, $49; San Jose-Reno, $39; San Diego-Boise, $89; Ft. Lauderdale-Washington Dulles, $69; Ft. Lauderdale-Cancun, $89; and Ft. Lauderdale-Montego Bay, $99.

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Routes: American, China Airlines, Xiamen, JetBlue, Alaska + more

American's new premium economy seating is on 787-9s in more markets. (Image: American Airlines).

American’s new premium economy seating is on 787-9s in more markets. (Image: American Airlines).

In international route updates, American Airlines is adding premium economy-equipped 787-9s to more markets; China Airlines planes an aircraft change and more flights to San Francisco; Xiamen opens sales for a new LAX route; JetBlue boosts Bermuda capacity; Alaska adds a Mexico route from Sacramento; Avianca increases Los Angeles service; and Delta expands Caribbean code-shares.

The new premium economy section that American Airlines is putting into its 787-9 Dreamliners will soon appear on more routes. The section first appeared on Dallas/Ft. Worth-Sao Paulo and DFW-Madrid flights in November, and now it is due to debut on DFW-Paris and DFW-Seoul flights starting January 9 and February 16 respectively.  Although the seats are out there, they’re not yet officially on sale as premium economy fares. That will begin early next year, American said. In other news, American is planning to upgrade the aircraft on its Raleigh-Durham to London Heathrow route. On March 5, it will switch from a 767 to a 777-200, offering about 40 percent more seats.

China Airlines will put a new Airbus A350 onto its San Francisco-Taipei route next spring. (Image: Airbus)

China Airlines will put a new Airbus A350 onto its San Francisco-Taipei route next spring. (Image: Airbus)

More flights are coming on the San Francisco to Taipei route, along with a new aircraft type. China Airlines, a member of Delta’s SkyTeam alliance, reportedly plans to boost frequencies on the route from seven a week to nine starting May 14, and to switch aircraft from a 777-300ER to a new Airbus A350. Then in early August, the carrier will add two more weekly flights on the route for a total of 11 a week.

China’s Xiamen Airlines has started taking bookings for its planned new service between Xiamen and Los Angeles International, due to begin on June 27. The carrier will use a 787-9 Dreamliner to fly the route three times a week.

JetBlue is adding more capacity to Bermuda from its Northeast focus cities. Beginning May 18, it will operate daily year-round flights from New York JFK, with a second daily frequency from May 18 through October. The airline will also increase its Boston-Bermuda daily service from seasonal to year-round as of May 18, and will upsize aircraft on its Bermuda routes from 100-seat Embraer 190s to 150-seat Airbus A320s.

Alaska Airlines plans to add a new route from California to Mexico next summer. As of June 10, the airline will offer weekly 737 service (on Saturdays) between Sacramento and San Jose/Los Cabos.

The LAX-Bogota route will get more Avianca Dreamliner flights next year. (Image: Avianca)

The LAX-Bogota route will get more Avianca Dreamliner flights next year. (Image: Avianca)

Got  business in Colombia? The Colombian carrier Avianca will boost its West Coast service in 2017, increasing frequencies on the Bogota-Los Angeles route from four a week to daily starting on March 28. Avianca uses a 787-8 Dreamliner on the route.

Delta is expanding its code-share partnership with Seaborne Airlines on flights beyond San Juan to various Caribbean island destinations. In recent weeks, Delta has put its DL code onto Seabourne flights from San Juan to St. Maarten, Anguilla, St. Kitts and Nevis, and on March 5 it will do the same on Seabourne service to La Romana, Dominican Republic.

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Routes: Air Canada, Virgin Atlantic, Hainan, United, AA, Delta, Volaris

Air Canada will use regional jets like the Embraer 190 on new U.S. routes. (Image: Air Canada)

Air Canada will use regional jets like the Embraer 190 on new U.S. routes. (Image: Air Canada)

In international route news, Air Canada will add some new transborder routes next year; Virgin Atlantic will drop a key U.S.-London service; China’s Hainan Airlines applies for rights to two U.S. cities; United suspends two Europe routes this winter and one next summer; American goes all-787 on a London route; Volaris adds two U.S.-Mexico routes and Delta drops one.

Air Canada said it plans to add or expand half a dozen U.S. routes next spring, using regional jets on all of them. On May 1, the airline will begin new daily service from Toronto to San Antonio and Memphis, and its Vancouver to Phoenix service will be expanded from seasonal to year-round. On the same date, Air Canada will start seasonal Toronto-Savannah, Ga., flights for the summer, operating six times a week through October 15. On May 18, Air Canada will begin twice-daily flights between Vancouver and Denver, and on May 26 it will add daily flights between Montreal and Dallas/Ft. Worth.

Virgin Atlantic’s summer Chicago-London Heathrow flights, which last year operated from mid-May through mid-October, will not resume in 2017, according to Routesonline.com. Virgin said suspension of the Chicago flights will allow it to add a third daily Los Angeles-London flight, as previously announced.

Don’t miss! Transcon fares plunge to around $200 round trip

Hainan wants to add 787 flights from Chengdu to LAX and New York. (Photo: San Jose Airport)

Hainan wants to add 787 flights from Chengdu to LAX and New York. (Photo: San Jose Airport)

What’s the big attraction of Chengdu, in central China’s Sichuan province? For one thing, it has a population exceeding 10 million. China’s Hainan Airlines has asked the U.S. Transportation Department for rights to fly to Chengdu twice a week from Los Angeles in the first quarter of 2017, and three times a week from New York in the second quarter, using 787s on both routes. It already has the approval of China’s government. Chengdu is already served by United from San Francisco, by China Eastern from LAX via Nanjing and Sichuan Airlines from LACX via Hangzhou.

United Airlines plans a temporary suspension of two routes to Germany this winter, according to Routesonline.com. United will drop its four weekly Newark-Hamburg 767 flights from January 9 through May 4, and its five weekly Houston-Munich 767 roundtrips from January 10 through April 3. And next summer, United has reportedly decided not to offer previously planned seasonal daily 757 flights between Newark and Oslo, which had been scheduled to operate from May 5 to September 5.

The main cabin on an America Airlines 787. (Image: American)

The main cabin on an America Airlines 787. (Image: American)

American Airlines, which currently uses 767s and 777s on its Chicago O’Hare-London Heathrow route, reportedly plans to change over to all 787-8 Dreamliners for those flights beginning March 5. The airline’s three daily ORD-LHR flights will be supplemented with a fourth daily 787 roundtrip for the summer starting April 4. AA also will replace its daily 767-300ER flight from O’Hare to Dublin with a 787-8 from July 5 through October 4.

Delta’s daily Los Angeles-Guadalajara 737-800 flight is due to be discontinued February 1. But Mexican low-cost carrier Volaris continues to expand transborder service. This month, it started daily A320 roundtrips from Monterrey to Denver, and in March it is due to launch twice-weekly service from Guadalajara to Milwaukee.

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United reveals first Polaris business class routes

United Polaris

Polaris pod seating with alternating row seat arrangement goes domestic first, then transpac (Photo: Scott Hintz)

United Airlines has revealed the initial schedule for introduction of the 777-300ERs equipped with its new Polaris business class cabin, and San Francisco figures prominently in the rollout.

The first scheduled service of a Polaris-equipped 777-300ER will be on a domestic route, linking United’s San Francisco and Newark Liberty International hubs. The new aircraft will fly six days a week from February 16 through May 4, the airline said.

On March 25, the new aircraft will make its international scheduled service debut, replacing a 747-400 on the very competitive San Francisco-Hong Kong route, where Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific both offer non-stop service.

Seatmap of United's newest bird: The Boeing 777-300ER CLICK for details

Seatmap of United’s newest bird: The Boeing 777-300ER CLICK for details

 

The Boeing 777-300ER will have 60 business class seats— that’s up from around 50 in its 747s and 777-200s.  Both Economy Plus and regular economy seating will be 10-across, configured 3-4-3. Economy Plus will offer 34 inches of pitch vs. 31 inches for regular economy. Currently, United’s 777s are 9 across in economy class.

But United Polaris flyers in SFO won’t get the full experience when the new 777-300ER lands there– a spokesperson tells TravelSkills that phase 1 of the Polaris lounge will be complete by midyear, with the lounge renovation complete by the end of 2017. More details on the SFO lounge scene here.

The new Polaris business class provides seating in a “suite-like pod,” United said, with direct aisle access for all passengers. Seats recline 180 degrees, and are 6 feet 6 inches long and 23 inches wide, with one-touch lumbar support, A/C power, two USB ports, a 16-inch high-def video screen, privacy dividers for the middle seats, mood lighting, and an electronic “do not disturb” sign.  The front cabin also has a marble-topped bar where passengers can get drinks and snacks.

United Polaris

Polaris seat storage cubby, noise cancelling headphones, and power ports, amenity kit (Photo: Scott Hintz)

United said it expects to put all 14 of its new 777-300ERs into service during 2017. The aircraft will be configured with 60 Polaris business class seats in a 1-2-1 layout; 102 Economy Plus seats; and 204 regular economy seats.

No word yet on what the other Polaris outfitted routes will be.

Satellite Wi-Fi will be available for purchase, and the economy cabin will offer on-demand entertainment via seatback screens or streaming to personal electronic devices.

United this month started to deploy the new Polaris amenities and services for its business class flyers; here’s a post we ran last month detailing the changes. Of course, the full effect of Polaris won’t be felt until the new seats debut in February.

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Delta: Don’t mess with my peanuts!

Delta has new snack selections for economy class customers. (Image: Delta)

Delta has new snack selections for economy class customers, including honey roasted peanuts. (Image: Delta)

Delta Air Lines has started toying with some changes in its food offerings for economy class passengers, revamping its snack lineup and experimenting with a return to free meals one some flights.

And for peanut purists, the news may not be good.

The airline said that on December 14, it will eliminate its traditional Delta-branded Main Cabin snacks – except for Biscoff cookies, which it will keep — in favor of a new lineup that includes pretzels from Snyder’s of Hanover, NatureBix apple cinnamon yogurt bars, and Squirrel Brand peanuts.

But here’s the thing: The Squirrel peanuts will be honey-roasted, replacing Delta’s traditional lightly salted nuts. And they won’t be available on shorter flights – only the cookies and the pretzels will be. Coach flyers on trips of more than 600 miles will get a choice of all four snacks. (On international flights, the choices will be pretzels or honey-roasted peanuts.)

As a Georgia-based airline, it’s no surprise that Delta is one of only two major airlines that still serve peanuts. (Southwest does, too.) But honey roasted? Maybe it’s just me, but I’m not a fan. Honey roasted peanuts and flavored coffees are two food adulterations I could live without.

Only two US airlines now serve peanuts: Delta and Southwest (Image: Pixabay)

Only two US airlines now serve peanuts: Delta and Southwest (Image: Pixabay)

“It’s good that Delta is looking for ways to spice up the experience. But it’s a bummer that the choices are carb-only for shorter flights. Honey-roasted peanuts are favored by a niche of travelers, but the salted ones probably had broader appeal. If you don’t have a sweet tooth, there’s no more low-carb option,” says frequent Delta flyer and blogger Ramsey Qubein.

Want to try the new snacks in advance? Delta has set up vending machines with free samples at airports in New York, Seattle and Los Angeles. The airline also said that it plans to change the snack lineup more often in the future, “based on direct customer feedback.” So if you’d prefer something else — celery stalks? M&Ms? potato chips? baby carrots? –be sure to let the airline know.

Don’t miss: 12 favorite inflight meals (slideshow)

Meanwhile, economy class passengers on Delta’s New York JFK-San Francisco/Los Angeles flights may see something else on their tray tables: a free meal.

The airline has reportedly started testing a return to free coach meals on those lucrative transcontinental routes, which are among the industry’s most competitive. Delta says that on flights that are participating in the testing, the complimentary meals include the option of a Honey Maple Breakfast Sandwich or Luvo Breakfast Medley on morning flights and an option of Mesquite-Smoked Turkey Combo with chips and a brownie bite or Luvo Mediterranean Whole Grain Veggie Wrap with grapes and a cookie on afternoon flights.

But getting back to the peanuts… Is it just me, or do you think that salted peanuts are better than the honey-roasted variety? Please leave your comments below. 

 

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Routes: Havana, London, Doha, Paris, China, Panama City, Mexico City

Havana this week became the 100th point on JetBlue's route map. (Image: JetBlue)

Havana this week became the 100th point on JetBlue’s route map. (Image: JetBlue)

In international route developments, major U.S. carriers this week started service to Havana; Virgin Atlantic expands capacity out of Los Angeles; Qatar Airways will add another U.S. gateway; Norwegian increases service to Paris; two carriers add Vancouver routes to China, and one begins Las Vegas flights; San Francisco gets more capacity to Panama; and a Mexican low-cost carrier starts a Chicago route.

Major U.S. airlines this week are starting their long-planned new service to Havana, Cuba. American Airlines operated the first scheduled flight in 50 years, on its new Miami-Havana route. American also kicked off Havana service from its Charlotte hub this week. United Airlines started flying from its Newark hub to Havana, and this weekend it will add a weekly Saturday flight from Houston Bush Intercontinental to the Cuban capital. Havana became the 100th city on JetBlue’s route map, with the carrier starting service there this week from New York JFK, Orlando and Ft. Lauderdale.

Delta on December 1 is set to begin Havana flights from Atlanta, Miami and New York JFK. And there’s more to come, including Southwest Airlines service to Havana from Tampa and Ft. Lauderdale beginning December 12, and Alaska Airlines’ service from Los Angeles starting January 5. Despite all the hoopla about U.S. airlines returning to Cuba, there is still some uncertainty about whether or not the incoming Trump Administration will allow these flights – and other Obama-initiated liberalizations – to continue. Trump has threatened to end some or all of the new U.S.-Cuba initiatives unless he can get a better “deal” from the Cubans.

Virgin Atlantic's LAX Clubhouse has views of the runway and the Hollywood Hills. (Image: Virgin Atlantic)

Virgin Atlantic’s LAX Clubhouse has views of the runway and, in a really clear day, the Hollywood Hills. (Image: Virgin Atlantic)

Delta SkyMiles members on the west coast will see more capacity to London Heathrow in 2017 as Delta joint venture partner Virgin Atlantic plans to add a third daily Los Angeles-LHR flight starting on May 1. All three of Virgin’s daily LAX-London flights will use three-class 787-9s. The three flights will depart LAX at 5:50 p.m., 6:30 p.m. (the new one) and 8:55 p.m. (Interesting to note that all of Virgin’s SFO-LHR flights are now on 787s, too.)

Qatar Airways, which started service from Doha to three new U.S. cities this year – Atlanta, Boston and Los Angeles – said it plans to add Las Vegas as its 11th U.S. gateway in 2017, although it hasn’t yet announced a starting date or schedule details.

Norwegian plans to increase capacity between the U.S. and Paris in 2017. (Image: Creative Commons)

Norwegian plans to increase capacity between the U.S. and Paris in 2017. (Image: Norweigan)

According to Routesonline.com, Norwegian plans to add Orlando-Paris Charles de Gaulle as its newest transatlantic route in 2017, starting service July 31 with one 787 flight a week. The report said Norwegian will also increase capacity on other U.S. routes to Paris at the end of July, boosting Los Angeles-CDG frequencies from two a week to four; New York JFK-CDG from four a week to daily flights; and Ft. Lauderdale-CDG from one to two a week for the summer season.

December 2 is the launch date for Hainan Airlines’ new Las Vegas-Beijing route. The carrier will use a 787 to operate three flights a week. In other China developments, China Eastern Airlines is due to begin a new route between Vancouver and Nanjing three times a week beginning December 20, using an Airbus A330-200; it already flies from Vancouver to Shanghai and Kunming. And Hong Kong Airlines plans to launch daily Hong Kong-Vancouver flights – subject to government approvals – on June 30 as its first North American route.

At San Francisco International, Panama’s Copa Airlines — a Star Alliance member — has added a second daily roundtrip to Panama City with the unfortunate departure time of 12:38 a.m. from SFO.  And at Chicago O’Hare, Mexican low-cost carrier Interjet has started flying to Mexico City. The airline is operating two flights a day with 150-seat Airbus A320s.

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Routes: Easier to fly Korean + Norwegian, Aer Lingus, Air Canada, Fiji, more

The Delta-KAL codeshare lets you buy a ticket from Delta, but fly KAL (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

More flights, more availability for award flights on Korean Air (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

In international route news, Korean Air plans to boost West Coast frequencies next year, Norwegian’s Las Vegas routes will be cut back to a seasonal basis;  Aer Lingus adds a new U.S. gateway; Air Canada adds a pair of summer Europe routes from Vancouver; Fiji Airways will boost San Francisco service; two German airlines add new U.S. routes next summer; and ANA will start direct service to Mexico City.

Korean Air’s 2017 schedule plans include more flights to the West Coast, according to Routesonline.com. On March 26, Korean’s San Francisco-Seoul Incheon schedule is tentatively set to increase from seven flights a week to 12, then grow to 13 in June and 14 in September. The carrier will utilize a mix of B747-8 and B777s on the route. KAL likely added more capacity since Singapore Air moved its daily SFO-Seoul nonstop to LA to make way for its nonstop SFO-SIN service. From June through August, the airline will increase Los Angeles-Seoul Incheon frequencies from 14 to 19 flights a week. And Korean’s Seattle schedule shows daily flights during May, September and October, up from five a week for the same months this year. (FYI, Korean Air is a partner in Chase Ultimate Rewards- many readers love to unload their points to fly KAL in first or business class because space is frequently available. Get a new card, earn the bonus, and redeem away!)

Don’t miss: Trip Report – First class on Korean Air Boeing 747-8 from SFO

Here’s how TravelSkills reader JS flew KAL in first class by transferring Chase Ultimate Rewards to Korean Air SkyPass. He told us: “As you probably know it’s incredibly easy to find first class space on Korean since so few people in the U.S. either have those miles or know about the transfer process from Chase.  In addition, even though Delta and Korean are both members of SkyTeam, Delta members cannot redeem their miles for first class on other SkyTeam carriers.”

Norwegian Air Shuttle has been growing at Las Vegas, but it has now decided that its four routes to Europe will operate seasonally instead of year-round. Why? Because it discovered this year that sometimes Las Vegas is just too hot in the summer for its planes to take off, so they’ve had to sit on the ground until temperatures dropped. The cutoff temperature for the airline’s 291-seat Dreamliners is 104 degrees, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, so for 2017 the airline will suspend its service to London, Oslo, Stockholm and Copenhagen from late March until November. The publication said the airline is studying the possibility of rescheduling summer departure times to early morning or late in the day for 2018.

 

Aer Lingus is adding a Miami route next year. (Image: Aer Lingus)

Aer Lingus is adding a Miami route next year. (Image: Aer Lingus)

Ireland’s Aer Lingus will add Miami as its newest U.S. gateway next year. The airline set a September 1 start for the new service, operating three times a week between Miami and Dublin with a 266-seat A330-200. Aer Lingus also said it will boost its Los Angeles schedule from the current four flights a week to daily departures from May 26 through the end of August; increase Chicago O’Hare service from 12 flights a week to twice-daily departures beginning May 26; and add a fourth weekly flight from Orlando effective March 14.

Air Canada will give travelers new options to Europe from Vancouver next summer. The carrier said it will start daily flights from Vancouver to Frankfurt on June 1, using a 787-8 with business class, premium economy and regular economy seating; and three flights a week from Vancouver to London Gatwick with an Air Canada Rouge 767-300ER with premium and regular economy seating.

Fiji Airways is boosting capacity to San Francisco in 2017 (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

Fiji Airways is boosting capacity to San Francisco in 2017. (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

Fiji Airways must be doing well with its San Francisco-Nadi, Fiji route, because it plans to increase capacity next summer. Instead of operating two flights a week for eight weeks, it will keep them going from June 1 through late October, and will add a third weekly frequency from June 19 to August 8 – and it will upgrade the aircraft it uses from an A330-200 to a -300.

New travel options to Germany next year include service from Seattle to Cologne and from Pittsburgh to Frankfurt. The Seattle route be flown by Lufthansa Group subsidiary Eurowings, with three A330-200 flights a week operating seasonally from July 11 through October. And the Pittsburgh-Frankfurt route will be flown by Condor Airlines, with two 767 flights a week from June 23 through September.

Chris McGinnis inspecting ANA's maintenance hangar at Haneda Airport on the day before the 787 was grounded. (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

Chris McGinnis inspecting a Boeing 787 at Tokyo Haneda (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

Want to get from Mexico to Japan without flying through the U.S. or Canada? Japan’s All Nippon Airways announced plans to begin the first non-stop service between the countries, with daily flights from Tokyo Narita to Mexico City beginning February 15. It will be ANA’s longest non-stop flight, and will use a 787-8 Dreamliner with business class and economy seating.

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Routes: Delta, United, Alaska, Southwest, Spirit

The interior of Delta's new Airbus A321. (Image; Delta)

The interior of Delta’s new Airbus A321. (Image; Delta)

In domestic route developments, Delta will put new aircraft types on routes to San Francisco, Portland and San Diego; Alaska adds a couple of transcontinental markets; Southwest grows at Austin and Denver; and Spirit jumps into four Ohio-Florida markets.

Delta this year started to take delivery of new Airbus A321s, and according to Routesonline.com, customers in San Francisco and Portland will start to see them in 2017. The site said Delta’s advance schedule shows the new plane being introduced on a few of its many San Francisco-Atlanta flights starting in early March, and replacing the 737-900ER on its Portland-Detroit service starting in June. Delta said the A321s will feature big, pivoting overhead bins; next-generation seats in all three seating categories; large entertainment screens; USB and power ports; and LED lighting that changes with the phase of flight. (The A321 is the plane that seems to be replacing the aging Boeing 757, which is no longer being made.)

Meanwhile, following the recent news that JetBlue plans to extend its front-cabin Mint service onto the New York-San Diego route next August, thepointsguy.com reports that Delta apparently will be putting a 757 with front-cabin lie-flat seats onto one daily flight in the same market effective in June 2017. (Update: Airlineroute.net tells us that Delta had this aircraft on a SAN-JFK flight this past summer as well.) It’s the same aircraft type Delta uses for the lucrative JFK-San Francisco/Los Angeles routes. JetBlue has embarked on a long-term expansion of Mint service onto more transcon routes. Similarly, United has deployed a couple widebody B777-200s on SFO-BOS (but with standard first, not lie-flat) to take on JetBlue’s Mint expansion.

screen-shot-2016-11-16-at-10-49-35-am

Alaska Airlines 737 New Livery

Alaska Airlines is adding more transcontinental flights. (Image: Alaska Air)

Speaking of San Diego and transcontinental routes, Alaska Airlines just announced a new one: The carrier said it will begin daily roundtrips between San Diego and Baltimore/Washington International starting March 15. The eastbound leg will be a red-eye. Alaska already flies to BWI from Los Angeles and Seattle, and its other San Diego transcons include Boston, Orlando, and new service to Newark starting next week. Last week, Alaska also kicked off a new daily roundtrip between Portland and Newark. Next spring, Alaska will start San Jose-Newark service as well. In other news, Alaska just began weekly seasonal service on Saturdays between Bellingham, Washington and Kona, Hawaii.

Southwest Airlines will begin new service on March 13 linking Kansas City with Austin, offering one daily roundtrip. Southwest also plans to expand its limited service between Denver and Albany, N.Y. The airline currently flies that route on weekends only, and just on a seasonal basis, but on April 25 it will make Denver-Albany a year-round route with daily flights.

Spirit Airlines has added Ohio’s Akron-Canton Airport as the newest dot on its route map. Last week, Spirit launched daily flights from Akron-Canton to Orlando, Tampa, Ft. Lauderdale and Ft. Myers. The Tampa and Ft. Myers routes will be seasonal only. Next spring, Spirit will add seasonal flights from Akron-Canton to Myrtle Beach and year-round service to Las Vegas.

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Routes: Southwest, JetBlue, Delta, American, Surf Air

Southwest has added two more California routes out of San Jose. (Image: Jim Glab)

Southwest has added two more California routes out of San Jose. (Image: Jim Glab)

In domestic route developments, Southwest kicks off new service out of San Jose; JetBlue sets one new transcontinental route and plans the extension of Mint service to another; Delta and American establish new spokes from their Seattle and Charlotte hubs respectively; and all-you-can-fly Surf Air has a new way for customers to meet its membership fees.

Southwest Airlines this week launched service on a pair of new routes out of Mineta San Jose Airport. The carrier started flying once a day from SJC to Baltimore/Washington International and twice a day to Salt Lake City. The eastbound BWI flight is not a redeye, but it departs very early – at 6:35 a.m.

JetBlue's front-cabin Mint service is coming to San Diego-JFK next year. (Image: JetBlue)

JetBlue’s front-cabin Mint service is coming to San Diego-JFK next year. (Image: JetBlue)

JetBlue Airways has announced plans to add yet another transcontinental route next spring. The airline set a May 3 start for once-daily service linking its Long Beach, California focus city with its Florida counterpart at Ft. Lauderdale. The new flight – which operates as a redeye eastbound – will give JetBlue a total of 35 daily flights to 13 destinations out of Long Beach. Earlier this year, it started new service form Long Beach to Reno/Tahoe and to San Jose. Meanwhile, Routesonline.com says that JetBlue is targeting its San Diego-New York JFK route for the next expansion of its Mint service. The site said the carrier has tentatively set August 15, 2017 for the introduction of Mint service on one of its two daily JFK-SAN flights.

Delta’s next expansion of its growing Seattle base will be a daily flight linking SEA with Milwaukee, due to begin operating on March 9 – a route already served by Alaska Airlines and Southwest. Delta plans to use a Delta Connection/SkyWest Embraer 175 on the route.

American Airlines this week inaugurated service on a new spoke out of its Charlotte hub, offering twice-daily flights to Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The service uses CRJ-700s operated by American Eagle/PSA Airlines.

Surf Air offers private aircraft flights around California. (Image: Surf Air)

Surf Air offers private aircraft flights around California. (Image: Surf Air)

Want to try out Surf Air, the all-you-can-fly membership club that offers small-plane flights on a California intrastate network? If you’re a member of Lufthansa’s Miles & More loyalty program, you can take advantage of a special promotion through the end of March 2017. The company said it is inviting Lufthansa frequent flyers to try out a single roundtrip flight for 25,000 award miles, or an all-you-can-fly membership for travel within California (and to Las Vegas) with redemptions starting at 50,000 for a one-month participation.

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A new way to China on American Airlines

Beijing China

American Airlines has won tentative approval to fly from Los Angeles to Beijing (Photo of lunch in Beijing: Chris McGinnis)

There a new nonstop option to China on the horizon for American Airlines flyers.

The U.S. Transportation Department has tentatively approved American Airlines’ request for a new route from Los Angeles to Beijing.

Once it wins final approval, American is expected to start flying the route in 2017. American currently flies to Beijing from its Dallas/Ft. Worth and O’Hare hubs.

The new China authority is for daily non-stops from LAX to Beijing, a route not currently served by any U.S. carrier. Both American and Delta had applied for the route, but DOT tentatively decided that giving it to American would even things out among the Big Three serving Beijing from west coast, since Delta already flies there from Seattle and United does the same from San Francisco.

DOT said it couldn’t assign the LAX-Beijing route to both American and Delta because the U.S.-China aviation agreement limits the number of flights between the two countries, and the allotment for U.S. carriers has nearly been used up. The agency said it will continue to hear objections and counter-arguments to assigning the route to American until November 29, after which it will issue a final decision.

The only carrier currently offering LAX-Beijing non-stops is Air China.

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Routes: SFO, LAX, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Miami, Newark, JFK

United is boosting capacity on its new route from SFO to Auckland. (Image:

United is boosting capacity on its new route from SFO to Auckland. (Image: Aucklandnz.com)

In the latest international route news, United boosts capacity on a new transpacific route out of San Francisco but drops a transatlantic route; a Chinese carrier starts new flights to Los Angeles; Chicago O’Hare gets a new route to Taiwan; low-cost Icelandic carrier WOW adds another U.S. gateway; KLM revives Miami flights; and Delta resumes service to a Canadian destination.

United Airlines just started its San Francisco-Auckland service in early July (after a 13-year hiatus), but now the New Zealand Herald reports that the airline is increasing capacity on the route. It said United has boosted flight frequencies between SFO-Auckland from five a week to daily service, and has also switched out the 787-8 it was using on the route to a larger 777. SFO-AKL fares are currently in the $1,000 roundtrip range, but occasionally dip slightly below that.

Across the Atlantic, meanwhile, United plans to drop its current service linking Newark with Belfast, Northern Ireland effective January 9. Why? Because the subsidy paid to United over the last three years ran out. The cancellation has caused much consternation as it was the only nonstop link between Northern Ireland and the US.

At Los Angeles International, Chinese carrier Sichuan Airlines is due to start new service on December 6 to Jinan, with continuing same-plane service to Chengdu. The carrier will use an Airbus A330-200 for the service, which will operate twice a week, according to Routesonline.com. News of the new route comes just a couple of weeks after Sichuan Airlines, with little fanfare, kicked off its first U.S. route; in mid-October it started flying, also twice a week with an A330, from LAX to Hangzhou with continuing service to Chengdu.

EVA's "Hello Kitty" 777-300ER now flies between Houton and Taipei. (Image: EVA)

One of EVA’s  777-300ERs  has “Hello, Kitty” livery. (Image: EVA)

Taiwan’s EVA Air last week started flying between Taipei and Chicago O’Hare, operating four flights a week with a 777-300ER. EVA offers extensive connections beyond Taipei to other Asian destinations, including 27 cities in mainland China. EVA also flies to New York, San Francisco, Houston, Los Angeles, Seattle, Toronto and Vancouver.

Wow Air, Iceland’s fast-growing low-cost airline, will add yet another U.S. gateway on June 17, when it begins service from Pittsburgh International to its hub at Reykjavik’s Keflavik Airport with an Airbus A321. The carrier will offer fares starting as low as $99 each way to Iceland, with connecting service starting at $149 each way to European destinations including Paris, London, Frankfurt and others – plus add-on ancillary fees, of course.

WOW Air

Wow Air will use a narrow-body for new Pittsburgh service. (Photo: WOW Air)

KLM, which dropped service to Miami in 2011, started it up again last week. The Dutch airline is offering three flights a week (Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays) from Miami to Amsterdam Schiphol using an Airbus A330-200. The seasonal service will continue through June 2017.

Delta Air Lines will revive service from its New York JFK hub to Halifax, Nova Scotia, effective January 9. The carrier said it will use a 76-seat CRJ-900 on the route, offering first class, Comfort+ and regular economy seating.

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Routes: United at San Jose + Delta, JetBlue, American, Virgin America

United will fly E175s from San Jose to the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. (Image: United)

United will fly E175s from San Jose to the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. (Image: United)

In domestic route developments, United will offer special service out of San Jose for a big convention in January; Delta adds an Austin route and expands in the Twin Cities; JetBlue is about to jump into the fray on one of the northeast’s busiest routes; American exits three Philadelphia markets; and Virgin America will operate a pair of seasonal services out of New York City.

With a nod to the big temporary demand coming out of Silicon Valley, United Airlines plans to operate a virtual shuttle service for techies going to the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas next January. According to Airlineroute.net, United Express/SkyWest will offer seven daily roundtrips between SJC and Las Vegas from January 4 through January 9 only, using Embraer 175s. The temporary United service will offer an alternative to Southwest’s heavy schedule in the SJC-LAS market.

Austin Bergstrom Airport will get new Delta service to Raleigh-Durham. (Im,age: City of Austin)

Austin Bergstrom Airport will get new Delta service to Raleigh-Durham. (Image: City of Austin)

Delta has set a March 9 starting date for new daily service linking Austin, Texas with its growing Raleigh-Durham base. The carrier said Austin is the “largest unserved non-stop market” from RDU. The flights will be operated by Delta Connection/GoJet with a 76-seat, two-class CRJ-900.

Meanwhile, Delta also announced some additional service out of its Minneapolis-St. Paul hub next year. A key development for SkyMiles summer vacationers: Delta’s winter seasonal service from MSP to Honolulu, which begins on October 29, will now continue operating continuously through Labor Day 2017 instead of stopping in April as previously planned. Also coming from Delta at MSP next summer: The addition of a third daily flight to San Jose, a sixth to Phoenix, and a second to Richmond.

JetBlue will use E190s for its new LaGuardia_Boston flights. (Image: JetBlue)

JetBlue will use E190s for its new LaGuardia-Boston flights. (Image: JetBlue)

October 31 is the launch date for JetBlue’s entry into the busy New York LaGuardia-Boston market, which is dominated by the Delta and American shuttle operations. JetBlue plans to offer six daily roundtrips between LGA and BOS, using E190 aircraft with 100 seats, including 16 in JetBlue’s Even More Space section and 84 in regular economy. The entry into the LaGuardia market will make JetBlue the only airline serving Boston from all three New York-area airports. In another part of the country, JetBlue recently started daily service between New Orleans and Ft. Lauderdale, in competition with Southwest and Spirit.

As part of an ongoing rethinking of the Philadelphia hub it inherited from US Airways, American Airlines plans to end service next February in three regional markets. Getting the axe are AA’s three daily CRJ200 fights between PHL and Newark, along with its twice-daily service from Philadelphia to Binghamton., N.Y. and Elmira, N.Y.

Virgin America said this week it plans to bring back service next month in two seasonal markets out of New York JFK. On November 1, it will begin daily non-stops between JFK and Ft. Lauderdale, and on November 19, it will begin service between JFK and Palm Springs, California.

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Routes: SFO, LAX, DFW, New Orleans, Orange County, Miami, JFK, Houston

An Etihad Boeing 777-3FX (Photo: Etihad)

Etihad will shrink its San Francisco schedule and increase DFW service. (Photo: Etihad)

In international route news, Etihad will trim its San Francisco schedule and grow at Dallas, but WOW Air will increase service at SFO and Los Angeles; British Airways adds a new U.S. gateway; Southwest drops a Mexico route out of southern California; and Mexico’s Volaris adds more U.S. service.

Two years ago, Etihad Airways added San Francisco to its route map with daily flights to its Abu Dhabi base using a Jet Airways B777 and prompting “Jetihad” snickers. Etihad finally deployed its own metal on the route earlier this year, but now Routesonline.com reports that Etihad plans to cut its schedule by more than half. Effective next February 1, Etihad is due to reduce SFO service from seven flights a week to just three – and that is expected to continue into next summer. Then on February 2, Etihad will boost its Dallas/Ft. Worth-Abu Dhabi schedule from the current three flights a week to daily service, noting that traffic on that two-year-old route has “exceeded expectations.”

Skúli Mogensen, the founder and CEO of WOW Air (Photo: WOW Air)

Skúli Mogensen, the founder and CEO of WOW Air (Photo: WOW Air)

While Etihad cuts back west coast service, ultra-low-cost Icelandic carrier WOW Air will grow. Last June, the company started operating five flights a week from San Francisco to Reykjavik, and four a week from Los Angeles. But on March 26, WOW will increase its schedule to daily flights from both west coast cities – with one-way fares starting as low as $99 (plus heavy-duty fees, of course). WOW operates single-class A330-300s, although it does offer some extra-legroom seats for an extra charge.

On March 26, British Airways will begin flying a transatlantic route that currently has no non-stop service: New Orleans to London Heathrow. BA will fly the route on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays with a three-class 787-8 and a 9:10 p.m. eastbound departure.  The carrier said roundtrip fares will start at $734 in economy and $2,145 in Club World business class (based on current exchange rates).

British Airways will use a Dreamliner on its new route to New Orleans. (Image: British Airways)

British Airways will use a Dreamliner on its new route to New Orleans. (Image: British Airways)

Southwest Airlines flyers in southern California’s Orange County will have to find another way to get to Mexico City after January 4. That’s the date when Southwest is due to discontinue its daily 737 flights between John Wayne Airport and the Mexican capital.

Mexico’s low-cost Volaris just keeps expanding its transborder network. According to Routesonline.com, the carrier has plans to bring on four new U.S. routes this winter. On February 1, Volaris will begin daily service between Miami and Mexico City, along with four flights a week linking Miami with Guadalajara. Then on March 1, it will add daily flights from Mexico City to New York JFK and four a week between Mexico City and Houston. Just this month it added nonstops between SFO and Mexico City.

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Routes: Airberlin to SFO, LAX; Emirates, Lufthansa, Etihad, Southwest

Airberlin will add Berlin service from San Francisco and Los Angeles. (Image: Airberlin)

Airberlin will add Berlin service from San Francisco and Los Angeles. (Image: Airberlin)

In international route news, Airberlin plans a big increase in U.S. service for 2017, including new flights from Berlin to San Francisco and Los Angeles; Emirates adds another U.S. gateway starting in December; Lufthansa will add more capacity out of Denver; Etihad will more than double frequencies out of Dallas/Ft. Worth; and Southwest sets the starting date for its new Havana service.

Airberlin, which started new routes this year from Dusseldorf to San Francisco and Boston, will increase frequencies in those markets for 2017 and will also add more new U.S. routes including San Francisco-Berlin, Los Angeles-Berlin and Orlando-Dusseldorf. The company said its current U.S. operation will have up to 50 percent more flights when its 2017 summer schedule kicks in during May.

Among the changes: San Francisco-Dusseldorf service will increase from the current five weekly flights to daily service, and so will the current four flights a week between Boston and Dusseldorf. New service to Berlin’s Tegel Airport will include four weekly flights from SFO and three a week from Los Angeles. The new Florida route will bring five flights a week between Orlando and Dusseldorf; the carrier already flies to Miami and Ft. Myers. Airberlin said it is getting three more A330-200s to handle its increased U.S. schedules.

Emirates will use a 777 on its new Ft. Lauderdale route. (Image: Emirates)

Emirates will use a 777 on its new Ft. Lauderdale route. (Image: Emirates)

Emirates has announced a December 15 start for service to its 11th U.S. destination. The carrier will begin daily flights from Ft. Lauderdale to its Dubai base using a three-class 777-200LR. Emirates already flies to Orlando, a route it launched last year. The new Ft. Lauderdale service will benefit from Emirates’ code-share partnership with JetBlue, which has a hub at that Florida airport.

Lufthansa sees room for growth on its Denver-Munich route, which began earlier this year, so the carrier said it will boost frequencies on March 26 from the current five flights a week to daily departures, using a 255-seat A330-300. “Preliminary data show that for the first summer of service, the number of people traveling between Denver and Munich has increased by nearly 50 percent,” a Denver Airport spokesperson said, adding that the top connecting markets for Denver-Munich passengers include Budapest, Prague, Krakow and Kiev. Lufthansa also flies from Denver to Frankfurt.

Etihad will boost frequencies out of Dallas/Ft. Worth (Photo: Etihad)

Etihad will boost frequencies out of Dallas/Ft. Worth (Photo: Etihad)

Finding more traffic than it initially expected on its almost two-year-old route between Dallas/Ft. Worth and Abu Dhabi, Etihad Airways plans to boost service from the current three flights a week to seven effective February 2. The carrier will continue to use a 777-200LR on the route. Etihad offers connections to 100 destinations from its Abu Dhabi hub, and also offers American travelers pre-screening by U.S. Customs and Border protection at that airport.

Southwest is the latest U.S. carrier to announce a starting date for its new rights to serve Havana, Cuba. The company said that on December 12, subject to Cuban government approval, it will begin flying to Havana from both Ft. Lauderdale and Tampa. (Southwest also set a November 13 inaugural date for flights from Ft. Lauderdale to the Cuban beach resort of Varadero.) The carrier is offering introductory Havana fares starting at $59 each way for purchase through November 20. Southwest set up a web page at www.Southwest.com/Cuba with details of the requirements for travel to Cuba and its flight schedules.

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New California routes: Southwest, AA, Delta, JetSuiteX, Mokulele + more

Southwest will add two more California routes in March. (Image: jim Glab)

Southwest will add two more California routes in March. (Image: Jim Glab)

In domestic route news, much of the action is in California, including a pair of new Southwest routes, new American flights from northern California and LAX, a new Delta market from Los Angeles, and new intrastate service from JetSuite and a small Hawaiian carrier; meanwhile, Alaska upgrades its equipment on two California routes.

Southwest Airlines, which has focused much if its recent growth on California, plans to add another pair of routes there. The carrier said that beginning March 9, it will start new service to Salt Lake City from both Sacramento and Burbank. Southwest is offering introductory fares starting at $59 one-way for booking through October 20.

American will begin Phoenix flights from Santa Rosa's Charles M. Schultz Airport. (Image: Charles M. Schultz Airport)

American will begin Phoenix flights from Santa Rosa’s Charles M. Schultz Airport. (Image: Charles M. Schultz Airport)

On February 16, American Eagle/SkyWest will kick off new daily non-stops between Sonoma County’s Charles M. Schulz Airport in Santa Rosa and AA’s Phoenix hub. The carrier will use a CRJ-700 on the route. Elsewhere in California, American plans to initiate summer seasonal service next year from Los Angeles International to Grand Junction, Colorado. The flights will operate from June 3 through August 19, also with an American Eagle/SkyWest CRJ-700.

Outside of California, American will begin new regional jet service on February 16 from Phoenix to Bullhead City, Arizona; and AA this month began American Eagle/Envoy Air flights twice a day from its Chicago O’Hare hub to Akron/Canton.

As we mentioned the other day in a post about the expansion of lie-flat premium seats on transcontinental routes, Delta plans to launch new service on April 24 between LAX and Washington D.C.’s close-in Reagan National Airport, using a 757-200 equipped with fully-flat seats in the front cabin. At the same time, Delta will drop one of its two daily Salt Lake City-DCA flights, replacing it with a Salt Lake-Washington Dulles service.

This Phenom 100 jet from JetSuite seats six (JetSuite)

A Phenom 100 jet from JetSuite (JetSuite)

JetSuiteX, which offers small-plane public charters within California, will begin new service October 17 between San Jose and McClellan-Palomar Airport in Carlsbad, north of San Diego. The company will use a four-seat Phenom 100 to fly the route four times a week, on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. On the same day, JetSuiteX will boost frequencies between San Jose and Burbank to two flights a day– and currently flights from both Concord and San Jose to Burbank are on sale for just $59 each way (for November trips) and that includes checked bags and wi-fi.

Following United’s recent decision to stop flying between San Francisco and Santa Maria, California, that town just got new service from an unlikely source: Hawaii-based Mokulele Airlines. The carrier is flying four times a day between Santa Maria and Terminal 6 at Los Angeles International Airport using nine-passenger Cessna Grand Caravan turboprops.

In nearby Santa Barbara, meanwhile, Alaska Airlines has started to use new 76-passenger Embraer 175s on its routes to Seattle and Portland, replacing 70-passenger CRJ-700s. The new planes have first class, Preferred Plus and regular coach seating, and are equipped with Wi-Fi service.

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Love a lie-flat seat? You’ll love this…

Lie-flat front cabin seating on a Delta 757-200. (Image: Delta)

Lie-flat front cabin seating on a Delta 757-200. (Image: Delta)

Delta’s announcement this week that it will introduce lie-flat first class seats next spring on a new transcontinental route is just the latest step in a growing expansion of flat-bed front-cabin seats on routes across the country – an expansion largely fueled by JetBlue’s increased commitment to its Mint premium service.

Delta said it will use a 757-200 with flat-bed seats in first class when it starts flying on April 24 between Los Angeles International and Washington D.C.’s close-in, Reagan National Airport (DCA) which is preferred by most with business in the district. (Because perimeter rules limit DCA to just a handful of flights longer than 1,250 miles, Delta said it will drop one of its two daily DCA-Salt Lake City flights, but will begin a new flight from Salt Lake to Washington Dulles.)

The introduction of lie-flat front-cabin seats on domestic flights a few years ago was initially limited to service between the New York area and San Francisco and Los Angeles, where it is now offered by American and Delta out of New York JFK and by United’s “p.s.” service out of Newark Liberty International. When JetBlue rolled out its competing Mint premium cabins with lie-flat seats, it initially did so in those same two transcon markets out of JFK.

TravelSkills editor Chris McGinnis is in Washington DC this week-- flew nonstop SFO-Washington National on Virgin America

Washington National Airport gets lie-flat seats from Delta (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

But Delta has also introduced lie-flat seats on 757-200s between JFK and its growing Seattle hub. And that market has become one of several targeted by JetBlue in a big expansion of its Mint service.

JetBlue recently added the Mint option to its Boston-San Francisco route, and is doing the same on Boston-LAX this fall. And earlier this year, the carrier announced its intention to bring lie-flat Mint seating to even more transcontinental routes, with plans to increase the size of its Mint-equipped A321 fleet from 17 planes to 31 by 2017.

Transcontinental routes that JetBlue has targeted for Mint service expansion in the months ahead include Seattle-Boston, Seattle-JFK, San Diego-JFK, San Diego-Boston, San Francisco-Ft. Lauderdale, Los Angeles-Ft. Lauderdale and Las Vegas-JFK.

JetBlue has big plans for expanding its Mint service. (Image: JetBlue)

JetBlue has big plans for expanding its Mint service. (Image: JetBlue)

Two months ago, Delta unveiled plans for new routes out of Boston next year, including twice-daily service to San Francisco with 757-200s. (Although the announcement didn’t specify that these aircraft will have lie-flat front-cabin seating, it seems a safe assumption given JetBlue’s Mint service in that market.) JetBlue then said it will lay on a fourth daily Mint-equipped Boston-San Francisco flight next summer.

Virgin America has a nice premium cabin on its transcon routes, but the seats do not recline fully flat. The airline has talked about refreshing its front cabin, but that has taken a back seat to the impending merger of Virgin and Alaska Airlines. The combined carrier (assuming they are eventually combined rather than remaining as separate brands under common ownership) will have a big stake in transcon Seattle markets as well as SFO-JFK and LAX-JFK. The question is, what will Alaska decide to do with the front cabin product?

Whatever it decides, Alaska is already committed to adding a new Premium Class cabin to its 737-800s, 900s and 900ERs – not just regular coach seats with extra legroom, but an actual premium product with extra amenities and perks, situated between first class and economy.

Will that be the next big battlefield in transcontinental passenger options? How important is a lie-flat seat to you on transcon flights? Please leave your comments below. 

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Routes: LOT at LAX, AA seats, KLM popup, 2 new US cities for Icelandair

LOT Polish will use a 787 for new Los Angeles service in 2017. (Image: LOT Polish)

LOT Polish will use a 787 for new Los Angeles service in 2017. (Image: LOT Polish)

In international route news, LOT Polish Airlines will begin new service to Los Angeles and Newark; American Airlines officially launches its new international premium economy class in a few weeks; British Airways drops a Philadelphia flight but American adds one; KLM will fly to Minneapolis-St. Paul and offers San Franciscans a 787 sneak peek; and Icelandair plans to open up two more U.S. gateways.

LOT Polish Airlines will kick off the first non-stop service between the West Coast and Poland on April 3, 2017 when it begins service between Los Angeles International and Warsaw. LOT will fly the LAX route four times a week using a 787-8 Dreamliner. Also in April, the Polish carrier will resume service from Warsaw to Newark Liberty International, a hub for its Star Alliance partner United.  The Newark flights will begin April 28, initially operating three times a week with a leased 767-300ER, but switching to a 787 in August. With the addition of Newark flights, LOT will trim its 2017 summer schedule out of New York JFK from 12 flights a week to nine.

American's new Premium Economy section will have leather seats in a 2-3-2 layout. (Image: American Airlines)

American’s new Premium Economy section will have leather seats in a 2-3-2 layout. (Image: American Airlines)

When American Airlines puts its new 787-9s into international service next month, they’ll come equipped with the carrier’s new premium economy cabin – a first for U.S. airlines on international routes.  The first flights to offer the premium cabin will be from Dallas/Ft. Worth to Sao Paulo on November 3 and from DFW to Madrid on November 4. The premium economy service is in addition to (and priced higher than) the airline’s extra-legroom seating in the regular economy cabin. Premium economy seats have a 38-inch pitch, greater width than regular economy, adjustable headrests and footrests, larger video screens, noise-reducing headphones, free drinks and more.

British Airways’ longstanding Philadelphia schedule of two daily flights to London Heathrow will change in March 2017 when it drops one of them – the 10 p.m. departure. But joint venture partner American Airlines will pick up the slack, boosting its own PHL-LHR schedule from one flight a day to two.

Delta’s transatlantic joint venture partner KLM plans to kick off service on March 27 from Delta’s Minneapolis-St. Paul hub to Amsterdam using an Airbus A330 for three flights a week (Monday, Wednesday, Saturday). It hasn’t flown the MSP-Amsterdam route for 15 years, according to Airlineroute.com. Delta serves the route with two to three flights a day. Elsewhere, KLM is about to resume Miami service, as previously announced. October 30 is the launch date for the carrier’s three weekly flights from MIA to Amsterdam, which will continue through March 23 with a two-class A330.

KLM 787

Business class seats on KLM’s 787 Dreamliner (Photo: KLM)

In San Francisco, meanwhile, KLM is inviting travelers to visit a Pop-Up location that the carrier will open at Union Square (445A Sutter Street) October 14 to 22, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Pop-Up’s purpose is to promote KLM’s 787 Dreamliner, which it put onto its SFO route a few months ago. Visitors can experience the airline’s World Business Class and a virtual reality simulation of the 787, and will get a chance to win free tickets to Amsterdam.

Icelandair will expand its U.S. network in 2017 with the addition of two new gateways. The carrier will begin seasonal summer service to Reykjavik from Philadelphia four days a week beginning May 30, along with year-round flights from Tampa twice a week starting September 6. Also for the 2017 summer season, Icelandair will boost Denver-Reykjavik service from seven to nine weekly flights from June 1 through mid-September; and will increase its Portland schedule from three a week to four on May 20, adding a fifth weekly flight June 14 through August 31.

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Routes: SFO, Seattle, Oakland-Rome, JFK, Boston, Montreal, Detroit

China Eastern is using an A330 for its new San Francisco flights. (Image: Airbus)

China Eastern is using an A330 for its new San Francisco flights. (Image: Airbus)

In international route developments, Norwegian hints at Oakland-Rome nonstop; China Eastern adds San Francisco service; China’s Xiamen Airlines comes to Seattle; Delta will add new Europe routes from the East Coast next spring; Air Canada plans a very long haul from Montreal; and Aeromexico will begin a Detroit route.

Shanghai-based China Eastern Airlines, a member of Delta’s SkyTeam global alliance, this week kicked off new service to San Francisco from Kunming – the capital of Yunnan Province in southwest China – via a stop in Qingdao, a port city in Shandong Province. China Eastern will use an Airbus A330 and will operate the flight three times a week, with SFO departures on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

A Xiamen Airlines 787 now flies to Seattle from Xiamen (Image: Boeing)

A Xiamen Airlines 787 now flies to Seattle from Xiamen and Shenzen (Image: Boeing)

Another new China route also opened up this week: Xiamen Airlines started service to Seattle from its hometown of Xiamen, operating via a stop in Shenzen. It’s the airline’s first U.S. route (although it also flies to Vancouver) and the first non-stop service between Shenzen and the U.S. The carrier’s future plans include service from Xiamen to Los Angeles and Fuzhou-New York, officials said. Xiamen has inked a partnership pact with Alaska Airlines for easy connections at SEA. It’s also a member of the Delta-led SkyTeam Alliance. The carrier will use a 787 Dreamliner on the route, which operates on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

Rome Colusseum

A new nonstop between the Bay Area and Rome? Hope so! (Photo: Pixabay)

It was really big news when Norwegian Air announced new Oakland-Barcelona and Oakland-Copenhagen nonstops starting next spring. When TravelSkills attended the announcement event at Oakland’s Jack London Square, we snagged a few minutes with Norwegian Air execs. They told us that since they’ve received such a positive reception in the Bay Area, the carrier will soon announce nonstops between Oakland and Paris…. AND that the carrier is looking to add Oakland-Rome and Oakland-Madrid, too! Stay tuned for more details.

Delta will add some new service to Europe next spring. On May 25, Delta will begin daily flights from Boston to Dublin as well as daily service from New York JFK to Lisbon. At the same time, Delta will resume daily flights between JFK and Berlin. The Dublin and Lisbon routes will use 164-seat 757-200s, while the Berlin service will be operated with a 225-seat 767-300, Delta said. Meanwhile, Delta also announced an expansion of its six-month-old code-sharing partnership with India’s Jet Airways. In addition to the existing connections at Amsterdam to Delhi and Mumbai, starting October 30 Delta flyers will also be able to connect via Paris Charles de Gaulle to Jet Airways flights to Mumbai and beyond to 20 other Indian destinations. Delta joint venture partner Air France KLM is also a party to the code-sharing deal with Jet.

Air Canada will put a 787 onto its new Montreal-Shanghai route. (Image: Air Canada)

Air Canada will put a 787 onto its new Montreal-Shanghai route. (Image: Air Canada)

A new route between North America and China will begin on February 16, when Air Canada is due to begin flying once a day from Montreal to Shanghai with a 787-8. It will be Air Canada’s first use of a 787 out of Montreal. Onward connections at Shanghai will be available from Star Alliance partners Air China and Shenzen Airlines, Air Canada said. The carrier plans to begin another ultra-long-haul starting July 1, with three non-stop flights a week between Toronto and Mumbai, using a 787-9. Air Canada hasn’t served that route since 1991. Also on tap for the Canadian carrier: Daily Vancouver-Taipei 787 flights beginning June 8, and three 767-300ER flights per week between Vancouver and Nagoya, Japan, starting June 1.

Aeromexico will add a new U.S. route starting January 10, when it begins flying between Detroit and Monterrey, Mexico. The carrier will use an Embraer 190 for the daily service.

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Airlines start rolling out Havana schedules, fares

Cuba cars

Vintage cars serve as tourist taxis in Havana’s Plaza de la Revolucion (Chris McGinnis)

One Caribbean capital is about to experience what could be the biggest influx of new airline service from the U.S. of all times. In early July, the Transportation Department approved routes to Havana, Cuba for several U.S. airlines. Those route awards were finalized in late August, and airlines have started to announce their inaugural service dates for late fall and winter. Some are still subject to Cuban government approvals.

Alaska Airlines, which will have the only non-stop service to Havana from the West Coast, has set a January 5 start for its new Los Angeles-Havana flights, which will depart LAX at 8:50 a.m. The flight will originate in Seattle. Roundtrip fares from LAX start at $490.

Because the purpose of a traveler’s visit must fall within one of a dozen specific categories, and other formalities and requirements must be met, Alaska has posted  a handy blog page with details for customers to know before they book their flight. Alaska said it is working with Cuba Travel Services to help customers obtain visas, accommodations and ground transportation at the destination.

Here is a link to the U.S. government’s official restrictions on travel to Cuba; scroll down to Page 10 to find specifics of the 12 categories of travel.

Havana nonstops

Nonstops to Havana from U.S. airlines. (Image: Great Circle Mapper)

Delta has targeted December 1 for the launch of daily flights to Havana from Miami and New York JFK along with one-stop service from Atlanta. For travel in February, we found roundtrip fares starting at $200 from Miami, $410 from JFK and $452 from Atlanta.

United Airlines has set a November 29 start for daily non-stops from Newark to Havana, followed on December 3 by weekly Saturday service from Houston Bush Intercontinental to the Cuban capital. Fares in January start at $413 roundtrip from Newark and $513 from Houston.

November 30 is the target date for American Airlines’ new daily flight to Havana from its Charlotte hub. American was also awarded rights for four daily roundtrips from Miami, although it hasn’t yet announced a starting date for those. January roundtrip fares start at $421 from Charlotte.

Shave in Cuba

Chris getting a shave in Cienfuegos, Cuba in May 2016

Frontier Airlines on December 1 is expected to start daily service from Miami to Havana, and will offer connections to that flight from Denver and Las Vegas.

Other new Havana routes expected to start in the next few months include JetBlue service from JFK, Ft. Lauderdale and Orlando; Southwest Airlines flights from Ft. Lauderdale and Tampa; and Spirit Airlines from Ft. Lauderdale. Several airlines have already started or are about to launch service on routes to secondary cities and beach resorts in Cuba; those routes were awarded earlier.

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Routes: Finnair to SFO, Delta, Virgin Australia, Austrian, AA, SAS + more

Finnair will use an A330 on its San Francisco route. (Image: Finnair)

Finnair will use an A330 on its San Francisco route. (Image: Finnair)

In international route news, Finnair will add San Francisco service next year; Delta expands sales of Comfort+ seats and Caribbean code-sharing, Virgin Australia will revive Melbourne service, Austrian Airlines is coming to Los Angeles, American suspends some Europe flights, SAS comes to Miami Aer Lingus adds a pair of gateways, United code-shares to India, and a Mexican carrier adds three U.S. routes.

Finland’s national carrier is coming to San Francisco next year. Finnair said it will operate seasonal SFO-Helsinki flights three times a week (Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays) from June 1 through September 30, using an A330. The new service will be a part of the transatlantic joint venture that includes Oneworld partners American, British Airways and Iberia as well as Finnair. “Thanks to Helsinki’s geographical location, Finnair’s new northern route to San Francisco will offer competitive travel times for customers from Scandinavia, the Baltics, Russia as well as from many European cities,” a spokesperson said. Finnair currently flies to New York, Chicago and Miami. At first glance, SFO-HEL roundtrip economy fares appear to be in the steep $1,900 range, but we’ll be on the lookout for lower introductory promo fares.

Delta said it has expanded the sale of its extra-legroom Comfort+ economy seating to a number of international routes, including: from the U.S. and Canada to Latin America and the Caribbean (except Brazil, Argentina, Peru and Chile); between North America and Asia-Pacific destinations (except China and Hong Kong); and on flights within the Asia-Pacific region (except China and Hong Kong). Last fall, Delta created a new fare category for Comfort+ and started selling it for travel within the U.S. and Canada. Meanwhile, Delta has expanded its agreement with Caribbean-based Seaborne Airlines to allow single-ticketing for connections through San Juan to St. Croix, Anguilla and Beef Island in the British Virgin Islands; and between St. Thomas and St. Croix.

The new business class on a Virgin Australia 777-300. (Image: Virgin Australia)

The new business class on a Virgin Australia 777-300. (Image: Virgin Australia)

Virgin Australia has set a launch date of April 4, 2017 for a revival of service between Los Angeles and Melbourne. On the same date, it will trim LAX-Brisbane schedules from seven flights a week to six. The carrier also flies from LAX to Sydney. Its transpacific operations are part of a joint venture with Delta. Virgin said it will fly the LAX-Melbourne route five times a week (no westbound departures on Wednesdays or Mondays), using a 777-300ER.

Los Angeles will get another new international route beginning April 10, 2017, when Austrian Airlines plans to launch up to six flights a week between LAX and Vienna, using a 777.  The 12 and a half hour seasonal flight will depart Los Angeles daily except Sundays at 3:05 p.m. Austrian, a part of the Lufthansa Group, also flies to New York JFK, Newark, Chicago, Washington D.C. and Miami.

American Airlines plans to cut back its international schedule out of Philadelphia. After ending its Philadelphia-Brussels service last month, American now says its seasonal PHL-Zurich service, which ends September 30, will not be revived next year; and its year-round PHL-Frankfurt flights will now operate seasonally, with no service from October 30 through April 5. AA also plans to drop its twice-weekly Philadelphia-Halifax flights in January.  Elsewhere, American will suspend Chicago O’Hare-Paris CDG flights from December 5 through December 13, and from January 10 to March 25; and its New York JFK-Manchester flights from January 9 through March 29.

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On September 28, SAS is introducing new non-stop service from Miami International to Copenhagen and Oslo. The carrier will offer flights to Copenhagen on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays; and to Oslo on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

Aer Lingus is adding two U.S. routes this month. (Image: Aer Lingus)

Aer Lingus is adding two U.S. routes this month. (Image: Aer Lingus)

Aer Lingus this month introduced new daily year-round service between Dublin and Newark Liberty International, using an Airbus A330. And on September 28, the Irish carrier is slated to inaugurate a new route linking Hartford, Connecticut with Dublin, operating four days a week (Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, Friday) with a 757.

United flyers will get a new option for travel from the West Coast to India next month. United is putting its code onto Star Alliance partner Air Canada’s new Vancouver-Delhi seasonal service, which will operate from October 20 through April 6.

Mexican low-cost carrier Interjet will expand its transborder network this fall with a trio of new U.S. routes. On October 20, it will inaugurate twice-daily service between Mexico City and Los Angeles, followed on November 10 by a daily Las Vegas-Mexico City roundtrip and on November 17 by two daily Mexico City-Chicago O’Hare flights. The airline will use Airbus A320s for all the flights.

Don’t miss out on these popular TravelSkills posts! Shocked passenger refuses to pay $3 for water | More Delta SkyMiles for Asian trips | Tips from a Hawaiian Vacation | JetBlue-Delta slugfest means lower fares | Test your planespotting skills! )

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Routes: AA, Air India, Cathay, WOW, Air Canada, Royal Air Maroc + more

Business class seats on an American 777-300ER. (Image: American)

Business class seats on an American 777-300ER. (Image: American)

The latest international route developments include American’s launch of a new transpacific route, along with its plans to add some flights to Europe and cancel others; Air India boosting San Francisco frequencies; Royal Air Maroc adding a new U.S. gateway; a new SFO route from a U.K. carrier; increased service between Boston and Hong Kong; a European carrier adding Miami service; and new U.S. routes from Air Canada and Aeromexico.

American Airlines last week kicked off its new non-stop daily service between Los Angeles International and Hong Kong, a 15-hour trip with an unfortunate LAX departure time of 1:55 a.m. American also code-shares with Oneworld partner Cathay Pacific’s three daily LAX-Hong Kong flights. American is using a three-class 777-300ER on the route; it also flies to Hong Kong from its Dallas/Ft. Worth hub.

Across the Atlantic, American plans to add a trio of new routes next spring, and to cancel some others. May 5 is the starting date for new daily AA service from Chicago O’Hare to Barcelona, using a 787-8; from Dallas/Ft. Worth to Amsterdam, with a 767-300ER; and DFW to Rome, using a 777-200ER.  The airline will discontinue its New York JFK-Birmingham 757 service effective January 6, and will not operate the seasonal summer service it had previously offered from Chicago to Dusseldorf, Philadelphia to Brussels, and Philadelphia to Zurich. Meanwhile, American will also change aircraft this winter on two routes out of DFW, replacing 777-200ERs with 787-9s on flights to Paris starting January 9 and to Seoul as of February 16.

Air India's first flight from New Delhi arrived at SFO before dawn. (Image: Peter Biaggi)

Air India uses a 777-200 on its San Francisco route. (Image: Peter Biaggi/SFO)

Air India started flying between San Francisco and Delhi last December, with three flights a week. But now it plans a big change in that route, one that will let it increase frequencies to six a week. The schedule increase takes effect November 21. Air India will still use a 777-200LR, but will change the flight from a transatlantic one to a transpacific routing. Although the transpacific distance between the cities is longer than the current routing, the flight time from Delhi to SFO is expected to be reduced by three hours due to strong tailwinds on the eastbound sector.

Moroccan carrier Royal Air Maroc has added its third North American gateway, launching new service last week between Casablanca and Washington Dulles. The airline also flies to New York JFK and Montreal. Royal Air Maroc is using a 787 Dreamliner on the Dulles route, which departs Washington three times a week, on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

Virgin Atlantic will be getting a little competition on the new San Francisco-Manchester route that it announced last spring. Virgin will fly the route three times a week starting next summer, using an A330. Now Thomas Cook Airlines, a leisure-oriented U.K. carrier, says it will also fly between SFO and Manchester, operating two flights a week starting in May 2017. The carrier already flies to six other U.S. cities from Manchester.

Cathay Pacific, which started flying from Hong Kong to Boston last year with four flights a week, announced plans to expand that schedule to daily non-stops beginning on March 27. The carrier uses a 777-300ER on the route, with first class, business class, premium economy and regular economy seating.

WOW Air will use an A330 on its new Miami-Reykjavik route. (Image: WOW Air)

WOW Air will use an A330 on its new Miami-Reykjavik route. (Image: WOW Air)

WOW, the Icelandic ultra-low-cost airline, plans to add Miami as its next U.S. gateway. The carrier will use an Airbus A330 to begin service April 5 between Miami and Reykjavik, offering one-way fares to Iceland starting at $99 and connecting fares to European capitals starting at $149 – plus add-ons, of course.

In North America, Air Canada said it will begin new service on February 5 linking Vancouver with Dallas/Ft. Worth, operating a daily 75-seat CRJ-705 flight under the Air Canada Express brand. And on November 17, Aeromexico will start flying four days a week between Mexico City and Austin, using a 76-seat Embraer 170.

Don’t miss out on these popular TravelSkills posts! Shocked passenger refuses to pay $3 for water | More Delta SkyMiles for Asian trips | Tips from a Hawaiian Vacation | JetBlue-Delta slugfest means lower fares | Test your planespotting skills! )

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International routes update: Delta, Air China, United, Hainan, Turkish, Southwest, American + more

Air China will use an A330-200 between San Jose and Shanghai. (Image: Mehdi Nazarinia/Wikimedia Commons)

Air China will use an A330-200 between San Jose and Shanghai. (Image: Mehdi Nazarinia/Wikimedia Commons)

In international routes news, Air China comes to San Jose; Delta is dropping routes to Tokyo and Moscow; Las Vegas gets a Beijing flight; Southwest and American plan new service to Mexico from LAX; LaCompagnie suspends London flights; Copa doubles up on San Francisco service; Air Canada trims San Diego-Vancouver capacity; Turkish trims flights to US and EVA adds more seats from Seattle to Taipei. Also, stay tuned to TravelSkills for some really good route news for Oakland coming out this Thursday.

Mineta San Jose International Airport added another international route last week when Air China kicked off new service from SJC to Shanghai – the airline’s only route to Shanghai from North America. Air China is using a two-class, 237-seat Airbus A330-200 on the route, departing San Jose on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Departure time from SJC is 1:30 p.m. for the 12.5-hour flight, with arrival in Shanghai at 4:40 p.m. the next day.

Delta, which recently won new rights to operate daytime flights to Tokyo’s close-in Haneda Airport from Los Angeles and Minneapolis-St. Paul, said it plans to discontinue its daily New York JFK-Tokyo Narita service on October 2. On October 3, Delta will axe its daily Narita-Osaka flight, and on October 29 it will end its daily Narita-Bangkok service. The airline will still fly to Narita from Seattle, Portland, Detroit and Atlanta. Meanwhile, Delta this week suspended its New York-Moscow non-stop service for the season, with plans to resume the flights in May 2017.

Las Vegas will also get new service to China by year’s end. Hainan Airlines has applied for government approval to fly three times a week between Las Vegas and Beijing, with a starting date of December 2. Hainan has been growing its U.S. presence in recent months, and currently flies from San Jose to Beijing, Los Angeles to Changsha, and Seattle to Beijing and Shanghai.

(We’re back from summer vacation! In case you missed our other recent round-up posts, here they are: Domestic Routes Roundup | Tips from a Hawaiian Vacation | August’s most important travel news)

Southwest will add three routes from LAX to Mexico. (Image: Jim Glab)

Southwest will add three routes from LAX to Mexico. (Image: Jim Glab)

Both American Airlines and Southwest Airlines apparently see room for growth in the Los Angeles-Mexico market. American is planning to start new daily 737-800 flights on December 15 from LAX to both Cancun and Puerto Vallarta. And Southwest on December 4 will launch twice-daily service from LAX to both Cancun and San Jose del Cabo, as well as one flight a day between LAX and Puerto Vallarta. Meanwhile, Mexican low-cost carrier Volaris plans to begin new service December 1 between Denver and Monterrey, Mexico, operating two A320 flights a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays).

United is switching up equipment on key routes between SFO and Europe for the winter season starting October 30. On SFO-London it will run two 777-200ERs instead of the current 777 and 787 Dreamliner. On SFO-Paris, the current 767-300ER will be replaced with a 787.

Panama’s Copa Airlines, a member of United’s Star Alliance, plans to increase service between Panama City and United’s San Francisco hub. Effective November 1, Copa will increase its schedule on the route from one to two 737-800 flights a day. (Regrettably both departures from SFO are red-eyes, arriving Panama City in the morning.)

All-business-class La Compagnie blames Brexit for dropping Newark-London flights. (Image: La Compagnie)

All-business-class La Compagnie blames Brexit for dropping Newark-London flights. (Image: La Compagnie)

La Compagnie, a niche carrier that offers transatlantic all-business-class flights with 74-seat 757s, said that it will drop its route linking Newark with London’s Luton Airport effective September 25. In October, the carrier will add a second daily flight to its Newark-Paris CDG route. In explaining its decision to drop Newark-London service, La Compagnie said that the recent decision by British voters to take the U.K. out of the European Union – aka Brexit – “has created an unprecedented level of legal and economic uncertainty for airlines that service Great Britain.” 

Taiwan’s EVA Air will boost capacity this fall on its route to Taipei from Seattle. The carrier plans to add a second flight three days a week, for a total of 10 a week, beginning November 19. EVA will use a 777-300ER for the extra flights.

Turkish Airlines

Turkish Airlines is cutting back on weekly frequencies, but not to SFO, pictured here (Chris McGinnis)

Turkish Airlines is reducing frequencies to several US cities in the wake of the downturn in demand due to recent events as well as the slower winter season ahead. Airline Routes is reporting service cutbacks (but no elimination of service) between Istanbul and Atlanta, Boston, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami.

Air Canada currently operates an Air Canada Rouge A319 on its daily San Diego-Vancouver route.  But the carrier plans to temporarily suspend the route effective October 17, and when it resumes service December 14, it will downsize to a CRJ-705 operated by Air Canada Express. Elsewhere in Canada, Westjet plans to convert its seasonal Calgary-New York JFK service into a year-round route, operating six flights a week when its winter schedule begins October 30.

(We’re back from summer vacation! In case you missed our other recent round-up posts, here they are: Domestic Routes Roundup | Tips from a Hawaiian Vacation | August’s most important travel news)

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Routes Roundup: United, Delta, JetBlue, AA, Southwest, Alaska, Frontier

United SFO

United & Delta adding even more flights at SFO (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

There’s plenty of domestic route news to catch up on from the last few weeks. United and Delta are adding routes from San Francisco; Alaska and Delta are doing the same at Seattle; United is growing at San Jose; JetBlue is adding service at Long Beach; and new routes are coming at American, Southwest and Frontier. (We’ll post an international routes update later this week.)

At San Francisco, United plans to begin service next spring to both Detroit and Cincinnati. Effective June 8, the airline will operate one daily A319 roundtrip in each market, competing against Delta. And from December 17 through April 1, United will fly once a week (on Saturdays) with a CRJ-700 from San Francisco to Kalispell, Montana.

United also revealed plans to bulk up at San Jose by adding new 737-800 flights starting March 9 from SJC to its hubs at Chicago O’Hare and Newark. The carrier will fly twice a day to O’Hare and once a day to Newark. (United’s planned San Jose-Newark flight will begin just three days before Alaska Airlines’ recently announced new service on the same route, which will have the same departure time from SJC.) American and Southwest both fly from SJC to Chicago, and JetBlue serves the SJC-New York JFK market. Meanwhile, United on September 7 is due to launch new service to Chattanooga, Tenn., from both Newark and Chicago O’Hare, with two daily flights in each market.

In October, United will discontinue its existing twice-daily intra-California service between San Francisco and Santa Maria, which is operated by United Express/Skywest with a CRJ-200. On the other coast, United set a November 29 termination date for its twice-daily United Express service between Newark and Binghamton, New York.  But on December 16, United plans to resume seasonal flights between its Washington Dulles hub and Ft. Lauderdale, with one flight a day through January 4, then two a day until May 4.

(We’re back from summer vacation! In case you missed our other recent round-up posts, here they are: Tips from a Hawaiian Vacation | August’s most important travel news)

Delta's premium economy seat, Economy Comfort (Photo: Delta)

Delta adding SFO-Boston nonstops using a 757s (Photo: Delta)

Delta has unveiled plans for a growth spurt at Boston next spring, including a resumption of Boston-San Francisco service. The carrier will offer two BOS-SFO flights a day, using 757-200s, beginning June 8. On the same date, Delta will double its Boston-Seattle schedule from one daily flight to two. Delta will also begin new Delta Connection/Endeavor Air service between Boston and Nashville, with one daily flight using a two-class CRJ-900. Also coming from Delta is new service from Seattle to Eugene, Oregon, with three daily CRJ-700 flights beginning April 1; and a new daily roundtrip between Seattle and Raleigh-Durham effective June 8.

Long Beach, California will get more service from JetBlue next year. The carrier set a January 4 launch for new Long Beach-San Jose service, where it will offer four daily roundtrips. The airline will also beef up its schedules on existing Long Beach routes, adding three more flights a day to Las Vegas, one extra departure to San Francisco, and one more to Salt Lake City. (The Bay Area will also get new service to Long Beach from Southwest in June, when the carrier is set to launch four flights a day from Oakland.) Elsewhere on its system, JetBlue plans to add new daily service on January 12 between Chicago O’Hare and Ft. Lauderdale, but on January 11 it will discontinue service between O’Hare and San Juan, Puerto Rico.

JetBlue will begin San Jose-Long Beach flights in 2017. (Image: Jim Glab)

JetBlue will begin San Jose-Long Beach flights in January. (Image: Jim Glab)

Alaska Airlines will continue to build up its Seattle hub next spring with the addition of two more routes to the Midwest. On April 13, Alaska will kick off new daily service from SEA to Wichita, Kans., with a SkyWest Embraer 175; and on May 11 it will add new daily 737 roundtrips between SEA and Indianapolis.

The spring schedule from Southwest Airlines, which begins in March, includes new daily service between Houston Hobby and Omaha, along with new twice-daily flights between Newark and Ft. Lauderdale. At the same time, the airline will begin seasonal daily service linking Las Vegas with Minneapolis-St. Paul.

SkyWest, operating as American Eagle, will begin new daily service November 4 linking AA’s Phoenix hub with St. George, Utah. The flight will use a 50-seat CRJ-200. On the east coast, American has scheduled a December 15 start for new American Eagle/Republic Airlines service between New York’s Westchester County Airport and Miami, offering two flights a day with two-class E-175s.

Ultra-low-cost Frontier Airlines plans a December 6 expansion at Phoenix, where it will begin service to Milwaukee and St. Louis, each with four flights a week; and to Nashville and Des Moines, each with three flights a week.

On December 15, American will launch daily roundtrips from Phoenix to Santa Fe and Sioux Falls. The Santa Fe flights will use a SkyWest CRJ 700, and the Sioux Falls service will be operated by a Mesa Airlines CRJ 900.

–Chris McGinnis

(We’re back from summer vacation! In case you missed our other recent round-up posts, here they are: Tips from a Hawaiian Vacation | August’s most important travel news)

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Routes: LAX-Paris for $446 + Atlanta, San Francisco, Dallas, New York

Norwegian started new 787 flights from LAX and New York to Paris. (Image: Norwegian)

Norwegian started new 787 flights from LAX and New York to Paris. (Image: Norwegian)

In international route news, a low-cost airline launches a pair of new transatlantic routes; Delta will beef up Atlanta-London service; San Francisco attracts a Mexican airline; and Emirates and Etihad reshuffle their U.S. A380 plans.

European low-cost specialist Norwegian this week kicks off its newest transatlantic routes, beginning service to Paris Charles de Gaulle from New York and Los Angeles with two-class 787s. The carrier’s schedule calls for twice-weekly flights from LAX and four flights a week from New York JFK. When we checked Norwegian’s website, we found low-season (i.e. December) roundtrip no-frills fares as low as $446 from Los Angeles and $396 from New York. This comes on the heels of Air France warning about its concerns about France as a destination.

Related: Norwegian Air- low fares, low frills

According to Routesonline.com, Delta will adjust its Atlanta-London schedule next spring along with partner Virgin Atlantic. Effective May 25, Delta is due to restore a third daily ATL-London departure, while Virgin will scale back from two flights a day to one. Meanwhile, Delta is also planning to end its seasonal  Pittsburgh-Paris CDG service at the end of September, a month earlier than previously planned. The carrier will cut back frequencies in early September from daily departures to five a week.

Mexico's Volaris will start San Francisco-Mexico City flights this fall. (Image: Volaris)

Mexico’s Volaris will start San Francisco-Mexico City flights this fall. (Image: Volaris)

Mexican low-cost airline Volaris will introduce a new route linking San Francisco with Mexico City starting October 10. The carrier plans to operate four flights a week on the route, on Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, with one-way fares starting at just $125. It’s a trip for night owls, however: The southbound flights are scheduled to arrive in Mexico City at 2:29 a.m.

A schedule update posted by Emirates for its Dallas/Ft. Worth-Dubai route says that the carrier will not put an Airbus A380 super-jumbo back onto the route September 1 as previously planned, but instead will keep operating it with a 777-300ER. Meanwhile, Etihad next spring is planning to go all-A380 on its Abu Dhabi-New York route after June 1, 2017. The carrier will use the super-jumbos on both of its daily JFK flights after that date; currently, one of the two uses a 777-300ER.

Related: How Emirates welcomes a new A380. Wow!

NOTE: Be sure to click here to see all recent TravelSkills posts about: How to get the BEST summer fare deals | One airline fee fading fast | Trip Report: Aer Lingus Economy Class | 5 top jobs for frequent travelers  | First class phase out coming soon

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Routes: United, Virgin America, Spirit, Frontier

United will use 737s on two new Florida nonstops (Image: Tampa International)

New nonstops to connect bay cities (Image: Tampa International)

In domestic route news, there’s lots of extra capacity coming to Florida, including new United routes from San Francisco and Spirit Airlines routes from Ohio, plus a new Florida destination for Frontier Airlines. Meanwhile, Virgin America plans to increase  capacity from the West Coast to Newark Liberty International Airport.

United will use 737s on new San Francisco routes to Florida. (Image: United)

United will use 737s on new San Francisco routes to Florida. (Image: United)

United’s newest domestic routes from San Francisco will be to Florida, starting in late fall and winter. The airline said it plans to begin a daily San Francisco-Miami flight on December 16, reviving a route that it dropped 12 years ago. United will also introduce a daily SFO-Tampa flight beginning February 16. Both routes will use 737s.

Just a few days after Alaska Airlines announced some new routes to Newark, Virgin America said it will also take advantage of the FAA’s plan to open up more slots at that airport this fall. Effective November 18, Virgin plans to increase Newark frequencies from three flights a day to four from both San Francisco and Los Angeles. The extra SFO flight is scheduled for a 9:40 a.m. departure from San Francisco, while the fourth LAX departure will be at 7 a.m.

Spirit Airlines is adding new service from Ohio to Florida (Image: Spirit Airlines)

Spirit Airlines is adding new service from Ohio to Florida (Image: Spirit Airlines)

Spirit Airlines plans a big expansion of service at Akron/Canton, adding four Florida destinations beginning November 10. The schedule includes new daily flights from Akron to Ft. Lauderdale and to Orlando, along with seasonal service from Akron to Ft. Myers four days a week and to Tampa three days a week. On the same date, meanwhile, Spirit will also suspend service between Cleveland and Dallas/Ft. Worth, changing that route from year-round to seasonal; the DFW flights will begin again on April 26.

Punta Gorda, Florida is about 25 miles north of Ft. Myers, and it has an airport that’s a lot less busy than the latter city’s Southwest Florida International; Punta Gorda is currently served only by Allegiant Airlines. So Punta Gorda is the newest airport that will go onto Frontier Airlines’ route map. On October 30, Frontier will add new service to Punta Gorda from Trenton, N.J., operating year-round four days a week. On the same date, Frontier will begin seasonal service three days a week between Punta Gorda-Philadelphia and Punta Gorda-Chicago O’Hare, continuing through April.

NOTE: Be sure to click here to see all recent TravelSkills posts about: How to get the BEST summer fare deals | One airline fee fading fast | Trip Report: Aer Lingus Economy Class | 5 top jobs for frequent travelers  | First class phase out coming soon

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Routes: United, Singapore, Delta, American, Airberlin, LATAM, Volaris

United will add a second daily San Francisco-Shanghai flight with a 787-9. (Image: United)

United will add a second daily San Francisco-Shanghai flight with a 787-9. (Image: United)

In international route news, United will increase Shanghai service but drop Vietnam; Singapore Airlines will reroute its eastbound Houston to Singapore flight; Delta will increase its Caribbean presence via code-sharing; American will trim its LAX-Brazil schedule; Airberlin will add more U.S. flights and expand code-sharing with American; LATAM adds a new Miami market; and Mexico’s Volaris plans two new U.S. routes.

According to Routesonline.com, United Airlines plans to add a second daily flight between San Francisco and Shanghai Pudong, and has already opened it up for reservations. The second frequency is due to begin on October 14, using a 787-9 Dreamliner, although the carrier is expected to replace that with a 787-8 next spring.  Meanwhile, United also plans to discontinue service to Vietnam at the end of October when it terminates its current Hong Kong-Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) route, which it serves with a 737-800. A United spokesman tells TravelSkills that the carrier is working with its joint venture partner ANA to offer a greater number of new connections to Ho Chi Minh City via Tokyo Narita than United currently offers through Hong Kong.

Effective October 30, Singapore Airlines will make a big change in its eastbound flight from Houston Bush Intercontinental to Singapore, which currently operates via a stop in Moscow. After October, the carrier will drop Moscow from that route, replacing it with a stop in Manchester, England. The five-days-a-week service will depart Houston at 8:15 p.m., arriving in Manchester at 10:05 a.m. and eventually in Singapore at 8:20 a.m.

Delta will add Caribbean destinations via code-sharing with Seaborne Airlines. (Image: Delta)

Delta will add Caribbean destinations via code-sharing with Seaborne Airlines. (Image: Delta)

Delta has filed for Transportation Department approval to begin code-sharing with San Juan-based regional carrier Seaborne Airlines. The planned code-sharing would put Delta flight numbers onto Seaborne flights from San Juan to five destinations not currently served by Delta: Beef Island in the British Virgin Islands; Dominica; Nevis; Anguilla; and La Romana in the Dominican Republic. The code-sharing would also increase Delta-coded flights from San Juan to destinations already served by the Atlanta-based carrier, including St. Kitts, Antigua, St. Croix, St. Thomas and St. Maarten.

American Airlines plans to reduce frequencies between Los Angeles and Sao Paulo, Brazil from seven flights a week to five effective December 1, and will also change planes on the route from a 787-8 to a 777-200ER.

Airberlin will boost U.S. schedules this winter. (Image: Airberlin)

Airberlin will boost U.S. schedules this winter. (Image: Airberlin)

In Europe, meanwhile, American has added more code-share routes with partner Airberlin, putting its code onto the latter’s flights from Dusseldorf to Bologna, Florence, Stockholm and Venice; Frankfurt to Palma de Mallorca; and Munich to Berlin, Cologne and Hamburg. Meanwhile, effective with its winter schedule starting in November, Airberlin will increase Miami-Berlin service from two flights a week to four, and New York-Dusseldorf service from seven flights a week to eight. The carrier is also adding a new daily New York-Berlin flight, and extending its Los Angeles-Dusseldorf service from seasonal to year-round. Airberlin will also boost Chicago-Berlin frequencies from four flights a week to five, and Ft. Myers-Dusseldorf from three a week to four.

LATAM Airlines Brazil has set a September 24 start for new once-a-week service on Saturdays between Miami and Recife, Brazil, using a two-class 767.

Mexico’s low-cost Volaris Airlines has added a couple of more U.S. routes, launching service three times a week from Seattle to its Guadalajara hub, and twice a week from Dallas/Ft. Worth to Monterrey. Both routes use A320s.

NOTE: Be sure to click here to see all recent TravelSkills posts about: How to get the BEST summer fare deals | One airline fee fading fast | Trip Report: Aer Lingus Economy Class | 5 top jobs for frequent travelers  | First class phase out coming soon

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Routes: Alaska, JetSuite, Southwest, United, American, Spirit, Frontier

Alaska Airlines 737 New Livery

Alaska Airlines will add several routes into Newark (Image: Alaska Air)

In domestic route news, Alaska will add several routes into Newark; JetSuite plans a new California Corridor route; Southwest has its eye on Long Beach-Las Vegas service; United and American grow at Memphis; and Frontier and Spirit expand their Florida presence.

Taking advantage of the FAA’s decision to open up more takeoff and landing slots at Newark Liberty International Airport this fall, Alaska Airlines said it plans to add new flights there from four West Coast cities. On November 10, Alaska will begin one daily roundtrip from Portland to Newark, followed on November 21 by a new daily flight from San Diego to Newark; neither of the eastbound flights will be red-eyes. Then in 2017, Alaska will add a daily flight from San Jose to Newark on March 12, along with a third daily Seattle-Newark roundtrip beginning May 14.

Alaska also said it will begin twice-weekly seasonal service between Portland and Sun Valley, Idaho, operating from December 17 to April 1 and again from June 14 to September 16, 2017, using a Horizon Air Q400 turboprop.

JetSuiteX will add another California Corridor route. (Image: JetSuite)

JetSuiteX will add another California Corridor route. (Image: JetSuite)

Earlier this year, a private jet operator called JetSuite launched a new service between Burbank and Concord, California (just east of San Francisco) called JetSuiteX, selling single seats on scheduled departures of 30-seat Embraer 135s. And now the company plans to add a new JetSuiteX route on August 15, linking Burbank and San Jose with 12 weekly roundtrips and introductory fares as low as $99.

Last month, Southwest Airlines added Long Beach, California to its route map, launching four daily roundtrips to Oakland. And now Southwest plans to add daily Long Beach-Las Vegas flights beginning September 18, with introductory fares starting at $39. But the Long Beach-Las Vegas service is only scheduled to continue through the end of December.

American and United are planning to increase capacity out of Memphis, according to the Memphis Business Journal. It said that on August 23, American will replace smaller regional jets and an MD-82 with 160-seat 737s for its two daily Memphis-Dallas/Ft. Worth flights; and on October 6, it will add a fourth daily weekday flight between Memphis and Washington Reagan National. On October 31, the publication reported, United plans to replace a CRJ-700 with a 166-seat 737 for one of its two daily Memphis-Denver flights. This month, American eclipsed Delta as Memphis’ largest carrier.

Spirit Airlines is expanding its Florida network. (Photo: Spirit)

Spirit Airlines is expanding its Florida network. (Photo: Spirit)

Spirit Airlines will boost its presence at Orlando this fall, adding daily service to five cities, including Boston and Philadelphia starting October 7; Kansas City beginning November 10; and Niagara Falls and Plattsburgh, N.Y. as of November 17. Also on November 10, Spirit will kick off new daily non-stops from Baltimore/Washington to both Tampa and Fort Myers, Fla.

On October 30, Frontier Airlines is planning to launch daily roundtrips from San Diego to Orlando, as well as three weekly flights linking Orlando with Des Moines, Iowa. Meanwhile, Frontier will also trim its schedule at Pittsburgh at the end of October, discontinuing service to Atlanta and to Chicago O’Hare.

NOTE: Be sure to click here to see all recent TravelSkills posts about: How to get the BEST summer fare deals | One airline fee fading fast | Trip Report: Aer Lingus Economy Class | 5 top jobs for frequent travelers  | First class phase out coming soon

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Tokyo Haneda daytime rights: The winners are…

Four U.S. airlines won rights to use daytime slots at Tokyo's close-in Haneda Airport. (Image: Haneda Airport)

Four U.S. airlines won rights to use daytime slots at Tokyo’s close-in Haneda Airport. (Image: Haneda Airport)

Ever since Japan opened up Tokyo’s close-in Haneda Airport to transpacific flights, U.S. carriers have struggled to make their Haneda routes work – mostly because they were stuck with consumer-unfriendly takeoff and landing slots in the middle of the night. Since the U.S. and Japan recently negotiated some changes that allow for daytime slots at the airport, U.S. airlines have been clamoring to win those rights – and now the Transportation Department has made a tentative decision on those applications.

The agency said its initial decision awards daytime slots at Haneda to American Airlines and Delta from Los Angeles, United from San Francisco, Hawaiian from Honolulu and Delta from Minneapolis-St. Paul.

“Three of the cities – Los Angeles, Honolulu, and San Francisco – already have service to Haneda, but those services have been required to operate at night only.  Under the new agreement, carriers may arrive and depart Haneda during more favorable daytime hours.  The new route from Minneapolis also is included in that group,” DOT said.

Earlier, DOT had awarded Hawaiian a new nighttime slot for service from Kona and Honolulu to Haneda. The agency said service on all the newly awarded Haneda daytime routes could begin as soon as this fall.

American had also applied for daytime slots at Haneda for service from Dallas/Ft. Worth, but that was not among the new rights granted by DOT. Likewise Delta did not win authority for new Haneda service from Atlanta (it already flies Atlanta-Narita). The DOT suggested that if Delta’s service to Haneda from Minneapolis-St. Paul doesn’t work out, those rights might be shifted to American for a DFW-Haneda route.

NOTE: Be sure to click here to see all recent TravelSkills posts about: How to get the BEST summer fare deals | One airline fee fading fast | Trip Report: Aer Lingus Economy Class | 5 top jobs for frequent travelers  | First class phase out coming soon

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Southwest Airlines adds new Mexico flights from Bay Area

Southwest at Oakland

Southwest Airlines jets at Oakland International Airport. (Photo: Port of Oakland)

Members of Southwest Airlines’ Rapid Rewards loyalty program who live in and around the Bay Area will soon have access to new international vacation destinations in Mexico

The carrier said this week it has applied for government approvals to start operating the first non-stop flights from Oakland International Airport to Puerto Vallarta and San Jose del Cabo/Los Cabos, Mexico, targeting a February 2017 launch for both routes. (Fare information not yet available)

Since its merger with AirTran, Southwest has been slowly adding international destinations to its route map, all of them in Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. But from California, the transborder route growth so far has all been from Los Angeles and Orange County.

There’s already service to Los Cabos and Puerto Vallarta from San Francisco International and Mineta San Jose airports offered by United, Alaska Airlines and Virgin America, but Bay Area flights there from Southwest are a first for Rapid Rewards members.

Southwest's current Latin American route map

Southwest’s current Latin American route map

Bryant Francis, the Port of Oakland’s aviation director, said that Los Cabos, in particular, “is the most requested international destination from the East Bay and North Bay that does not have a non-stop option.”  Southwest’s plan to add Mexico routes from Oakland will dovetail nicely with the airport’s big Terminal 1 renovation, which will bring a new security checkpoint and international check-in and arrivals area to the facility by the second quarter of next year, followed by an expansion of federal inspection services a few months later.

Oakland has been Southwest’s airport of choice for much of its Bay Area growth. Currently, it flies to OAK to: Albuquerque, Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Boise, Burbank, Chicago (Midway), Columbus, Dallas (Love Field), Denver, Houston (Hobby), Kansas City, Las Vegas, Long Beach, Los Angeles (LAX), Nashville, New Orleans, Ontario, Orange County/Santa Ana, Phoenix, Portland (PDX), Reno/Tahoe, Salt Lake City, San Diego, Seattle, Spokane, St. Louis.

NOTE: Be sure to click here to see all recent TravelSkills posts about: How to get the BEST summer fare deals | One airline fee fading fast | Trip Report: Aer Lingus Economy Class | 5 top jobs for frequent travelers  | First class phase out coming soon

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New Routes: San Francisco, Los Angeles, Newark, JFK, San Diego

Hangzhou, China is United's newest transpacific destination. (Image: City of Hangzhou)

Hangzhou, China is United’s newest transpacific destination. (Image: City of Hangzhou)

In international route developments, United kicks off another transpacific route from San Francisco to China’s Silicon Valley; Turkish Airlines and Philippine Airlines boost capacity in a key west coast market; an African carrier begins service to Newark; New York JFK welcomes a new European airline; and a Mexican carrier drops a San Diego route, but adds a new one from SFO.

July 13 is the launch date for United Airlines’ fifth route to mainland China and its 14th transpacific route from San Francisco International. That’s the day when United begins new service from SFO to Hangzhou, the capital of China’s Zhejiang Province. The carrier will fly the route three days a week (Monday, Wednesday, Saturday) with a 787-9, departing SFO at 2:15 p.m. for the almost 13-hour flight. Hangzhou is about 102 miles southwest of Shanghai. Regarding Hangzhou, United says it is a city of nearly 9 million on China’s southeastern coast, is one of the country’s Seven Ancient Capitals and today boasts a vibrant and entrepreneurial business climate. Known as the “Silicon Valley in Paradise,” Hangzhou has a growing reputation for innovation in technology and e-commerce, and is an important manufacturing and logistics base for coastal China.

Ethiopian is using a 787 on its new Newark route. (Image: Ethiopian Airlines)

Ethiopian is using a 787 on its new Newark route. (Image: Ethiopian Airlines)

Ethiopian Airlines last week revived the Newark route that it abandoned in 2004. It is now flying between Newark and Addis Ababa via a stop in Lome, Togo, three times a week, using a 787 Dreamliner. Connections are available from both Lome and Addis Ababa to other African destinations. Ethiopian also flies to Addis Ababa from Washington D.C. and from Los Angeles via Dublin. It plans to add a fourth weekly flight on the Newark route starting August 5.

Need to get to Belgrade? Air Serbia has kicked off the first direct service between Belgrade and the U.S. in 24 years, with a new route to New York JFK. Air Serbia is a reincarnation of the former Yugoslavian carrier JAT, aided by a big capital injection from Etihad Airways, which owns 49 percent of Air Serbia.  The Serbian airline is flying to JFK-Belgrade route five times a week, using a two-class A330-200 leased from India’s Jet Airways – which is also partially owned by Etihad.

Turkish Airlines is using a 777-300ER on its new Atlanta route. (Image: Boeing

Turkish Airlines is using a 777-300ER on its expanded LA service. (Image: Boeing

A couple of airlines are adding more flights to their Los Angeles schedules. Turkish Airlines, citing “growing consumer demand,” this week boosted frequencies on its LAX-Istanbul route from seven a week to 11, adding second eastbound flights on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays. The carrier will use 777-300ERs, representing a total capacity increase of 64 percent.  Meanwhile, Airlineroute.net reports that Philippine Airlines plans to upgrade its Los Angeles-Manila schedule from the current four flights a week to daily service starting December 6, with a 777-300ER replacing the Airbus A340-300 that the airline currently uses on the LAX route.

Mexico’s low-cost carrier Volaris is ending its service to San Diego from Mexico City after a six-year run. It’s currently down to four A320 flights a week on the route, and will drop that to two a week on August 18, before eliminating the route August 28. On July 1, Volaris launched nonstops between SFO and Guadalajara.

NOTE: Be sure to click here to see all recent TravelSkills posts about: How to get the BEST summer fare deals | One airline fee fading fast | Trip Report: Aer Lingus Economy Class | 5 top jobs for frequent travelers  | First class phase out coming soon

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Havana, Cuba airline tickets from US cities coming soon

Havana

Refrigerator magnets from a recent trip to Havana (Chris McGinnis)

Last month, the U.S. Transportation Department awarded U.S. carriers new route rights to serve secondary cities in Cuba, but not the biggest plum – Havana.

This week, DOT finally acted on all the requests it had from U.S. airlines to operate regular scheduled service to the Cuban capital, awarding Havana routes to eight airlines for flights that are likely to start sometime this fall.

The preliminary route awards are still subject a public comment period before being finalized. Tickets are not yet on sale, but should be later this summer. Right now, round trip charter flights from Miami to Havana are running at about $450 round trip, a price that we expect to drop significantly when competition cranks up in the fall.

The only Havana route from the West Coast went to Alaska Airlines, which will operate daily non-stops from Los Angeles using a two-class, 181-passenger 737-900ER. The flight will originate in Seattle, offering same-plane service top Cuba. Alaska said it expects to begin the service by year’s end. From LAX or SFO, current fares to Havana via Mexico City (Aeromexico) or Panama City (Copa) are about $625 round trip.

Recent: Curious about Cuba? Don’t miss this!

Cuba cars

Vintage cars serve as tourist taxis in Havana’s Plaza de la Revolucion (Chris McGinnis)

Most of the new routes will be from the eastern U.S., especially Florida. The exception to that rule was DOT’s selection of United to operate Houston-Havana flights, but only once a week. United will also operate daily non-stops to Havana from its Newark hub.

American Airlines will offer four daily roundtrips to Havana from Miami and one a day from Charlotte; Delta’s new route authority includes daily roundtrips to Havana from Atlanta, New York JFK and Miami; JetBlue won rights for two daily flights from Ft. Lauderdale and one each from New York JFK and Orlando; Southwest’s new route authority provides for two daily roundtrips from Ft. Lauderdale and one from Tampa; Spirit Airlines got two daily Ft. Lauderdale-Havana flights; and Frontier will be allowed a single daily flight from Miami to Havana.

Don’t miss: Cruising into Cuba: It’s complicated!