News for The Americas

Aer Lingus resumed (26-Mar-2023) daily Dublin-Hartford Bradley service on 26-Mar-2023. The service will be operated through to the end of Oct-2023, using A321neo aircraft. The airline is the sole scheduled operator on the route, according to OAG. [more - original PR]

Lufthansa announced (22-Mar-2023) it will resume regular operations with A380 aircraft from 01-Jun-2023, following a three year interruption. The aircraft will replace the A340-600 on daily Munich-Boston service from 01-Jun-2023 and daily Munich-New York service from 04-Jul-2023. The carrier stated it is "thus noticeably expanding its premium offering at its southern hub, especially with additional seats in business and first class". As previously reported by CAPA, the carrier decided to reactivate the A380s due to a significant increase in demand and the delayed delivery of ordered aircraft. Four A380 aircraft will be redeployed from Munich by the end of 2023. [more - original PR]

Southwest Airlines selected (21-Mar-2023) Sabre's PRISM data solution, designed to streamline sales processes with corporate travel managers and travel management companies. The tool enables travel consultants to develop a more customised travel solution for business customers using automated, real time data insights and trends gathered from global corporate sales information. PRISM also offers daily booking data, new user analytics, API connections linking to airline CRM systems and enhanced user tools. [more - original PR]

Brazil's Government announced (13-Mar-2023) plans to reintroduce visa requirements for citizens of Australia, Canada, US and Japan, effective 01-Oct-2023. The electronic visa requirement had been removed in Mar-2019. [more - original PR - Portuguese]

Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) reported (16-Mar-2023) the following highlights from a report based on survey responses from 151 US corporate travel buyers:

• Most respondents expect their company's business travel to increase and return to pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2023. 77% expect external meetings to reach pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2023, followed by 76% for conference and group travel, 74% for domestic business travel and 69% for internal meetings;
• One in 10 do not expect business travel volumes to return until 2025 or later, citing inflation, rising prices, travel disruptions and a potential recession as their top concerns;
• 64% stated their companies are unlikely to limit business travel. 36% are not seriously considering limiting business travel. 19% reported their companies are already implementing a plan to limit business travel;
• Cost savings are a priority for 65% of senior leadership and 54% of travel managers. Traveller experience is a priority for 51% of travel managers and 42% of executives;
• 72% of travel managers are dedicating more time to traveller communications and answering questions than they did pre-pandemic. 59% are spending more time on overseeing their travel management company (TMC) relationship, 52% are spending more time on data analysis and 42% are spending more time on risk management and traveller tracking;
• The top stakeholder collaborations for travel managers are finance and accounting (69%), senior leadership (49%) and risk management and security (44%). 59% regularly share travel related performance metrics with senior leadership;
• 62% stated cost metrics will be the most important measures to evaluate their programme's success in 2023, followed by 32% for travel experience metrics;
• The top TMC pain points are agents and assistance (48%), data analysis, reporting and dash boarding (37%) and the ability of the TMC to deliver a customised travel programme (33%);
• The top online booking tool pain points are the end user and traveller experience (49%), the ability to manage changes or cancellations (47%) and innovation (41%).

The report was conducted by GBTA and Spotnana. Data collection for the online survey took place from 12-Dec-2022 to 03-Jan-2023. [more - original PR]

London Gatwick Airport announced (16-Mar-2023) Delta Air Lines plans to launch daily New York JFK-London Gatwick service from 10-Apr-2023. According to OAG, the service will be operated using Boeing 767-300 equipment. British Airways, JetBlue Airways, Norse Atlantic Airways and Norse Atlantic UK are also scheduled to operate the route. [more - original PR]

Public Health Agency of Canada announced (16-Mar-2023) Canada's Government plans to ease COVID-19 testing requirements and arrival screening for inbound travellers arriving from China, Hong Kong and Macau, effective 17-Mar-2023. The Government noted data from China, the international community, and wastewater sampling conducted in Canada have not detected any new variants of concerns since the border measures were introduced in Jan-2023. This represents the removal of all federal COVID-19 border restrictions in Canada. [more - original PR]

Air Premia announced (17-Mar-2023) plans to commence four times weekly Seoul Incheon-New York Newark service on 22-May-2023, operating with Boeing 787-9 equipment. The airline will be the sole scheduled operator on the route, according to OAG. [more - original PR - Korean]

Air France-KLM stated (15-Mar-2023) Air France adjusted its winter schedule for 2023/24 on 14-Mar-2023. Air France services between Paris CDG and Punta Cana, Santo Domingo, Malé and Colombo will be suspended. [more - original PR]

Virgin Atlantic Airways joined (02-Mar-2023) SkyTeam at a signing ceremony in London, becoming the alliance's first UK member airline. Virgin Atlantic customers will benefit from booking every SkyTeam member flight on a single ticket, checking in with baggage just once through their final destination. The move builds on the carrier's 2019 trans-Atlantic JV partnership with Delta Air Lines and Air France-KLM and is expected to enhance its trans-Atlantic network to and from London Heathrow Airport and Manchester Airport, as previously reported by CAPA. Codeshare agreements are already in place with Aeromexico and Middle East Airlines, with options for more codeshares to follow later in 2023. SkyTeam CEO and MD Patrick Roux stated: "We are delighted to welcome Virgin Atlantic into SkyTeam, taking an already close relationship to new heights and elevating our customer offering with more routes to exciting destinations and access to aspirational airport lounges... The UK is a key market for SkyTeam and with Virgin Atlantic on board, customers can look forward to more opportunities to earn and redeem miles as they fly, enjoying the iconic travel experience that makes our newest member a globally loved airline". [more - original PR]