Airlines- news

Neelam Mathews Nov 26, 2011

Air Seychelles will terminate flights to Europe from 2012 as it completes a major restructuring of its international network including Paris, Heathrow and Milan. The carrier suspended its flights to Singapore recently and will be left with just domestic and African destinations from spring 2012. 

“Air Seychelles has seen its market share decrease continuously for the last few years.  The result has been that profitability on the long haul routes of Air Seychelles for more than two years has dwindled from marginally profitable to serious losses,” said Bram Steller, CEO, Air Seychelles.
Air Seychelles may also codeshare with Etihad Airways .

Qatar Airways has revealed its network expansion with CEO Akbar Al Baker announcing it was finalising the launch of seven new routes for 2012.

The new flights include services from Doha to Perth, Helsinki, Zagreb; Gassim in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and three East African cities – Zanzibar, Kigali and Mombasa, in Tanzania, Rwanda and Kenya, respectively.  

The table below shows the current network and weekly activities of each of the Middle East’s major carriers’ hub airport. 

MIDDLE EASTERN AIRLINE ACTIVITY FROM BASE AIRPORTS (Top Ten; non-stop weekly flights)
Rank	Airline	Hub	Destinations	Weekly Flights	Weekly Seats
1	Emirates Airline	DXB	97	1,221	399,949
2	Qatar Airways	DOH	94	1,013	212,069
3	Saudi Arabian Airlines	JED	65	767	150,955
4	Saudi Arabian Airlines	RUH	55	764	143,146
5	Etihad Airways	AUH	64	550	117,946
6	Gulf Air	BAH	50	537	75,365
7	Oman Air	MCT	42	393	66,778
8	Royal Jordanian Airlines	AMM	56	369	47,022
9	El Al Israel Airlines	TLV	41	240	45,431
10	Iran Air	THR	24	279	37,252

Credit-Routes

Libyan carrier Afriqiyah Airways is hoping to relaunch scheduled international operations from December 1, bringing a bright end to what has been a very difficult year for the airline.  

Nigeria’s renewed focus on air safety was highlighted by IATA Director General & Chief Executive, Tony Tyler, during  the African Airlines Association (AFRAA) Annual General Assembly (AGA) in Marrakech, Morocco, as the level that others on the continent should strive to achieve, acknowledging his own concerns about air safety in the region.

Nigerian new arrival FirstNation Airways has finally launched operations some seven months after taking delivery of its three Airbus A320s.
 
Chinese carrier Xiamen Airlines has been formally accepted as a member of the SkyTeam alliance by its membership and will now begin the process leading to full entry into the grouping, which is expected to take place by the end of next year.  The airline’s entry will notably increase SkyTeam’s activities in the Chinese market, particularly in the flourishing southeast region of the country. 

Cathay Pacific Airways has announced a further expansion of its code-share services with its oneworld alliance partner Japan Airlines, to cover more destinations within Japan. Cathay Pacific's ‘CX’ code will be placed on selected Japan Airlines domestic flights between Haneda Airport in Tokyo and eight Japanese cities – Izumo, Miyazaki, Misawa, Matsuyama, Nagasaki, Oita, Tokushima and Ube; between Tokyo’s Narita Airport and Nagoya; and between Sapporo and Nagoya.  The arrangement will provide more choice and greater convenience for Cathay Pacific passengers travelling between Hong Kong and Japan, who can now connect to a total of 20 domestic destinations through the codeshare services. 

AirAsia is set to further broaden its business through the launch of a new ‘premium’ airline which will potentially launch flights on regional routes in Southeast Asia.  The carrier, thought to be named Caterham Jet, is expected to be based at Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport, or Subang as it has become better known, the former gateway to the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur. Caterham Jet will be established as a business aviation company providing scheduled air taxi services with a fleet of ten Bombardier CRJ200s and this will enable it to get around the current legislation.  It is expected to serve major regional destinations such as Bangkok, Jakarta and Singapore and will be headed.

United Arab Emirates (UAE) low-cost carrier flydubai is set to move its operations from Dubai International Airport to the new Al Maktoum International Airport in Jebel Ali. The budget airline is expected to become the first scheduled passenger carrier to establish a base at the new airport, which will eventually become the sole gateway to Dubai, and will help ease the congestion at Dubai International and allow its sister carrier, Emirates Airline, to continue its dramatic expansion. 

Emirates SkyCargo, the freight division of Dubai-based Emirates Airline, has launched a new service on the burgeoning UAE - Africa trade route. 

Etihad Airways has confirmed a reciprocal Frequent Flyer agreement with codeshare partner Malaysia Airlines.