Edelweiss Air plans the following new long haul routes with A340-300 aircraft for winter 2018/19, according to a 04-Dec-2017 GDS inventory and timetable display:
Royal Air Maroc applied (01-Dec-2017) to the US Department of Transportation for a two year renewal of exemption authority to operate between Casablanca and Washington Dulles. The authority was initially granted on 17-Dec-2015 and expires on 17-Dec-2017. [more - original PR]
Air Canada commenced (01-Dec-2017) seasonal Vancouver-Melbourne Tullamarine service, operating three class Boeing 787 equipment with 30 business, 21 premium economy and 247 economy seats. The route will operate four times weekly until 04-Feb-2018. The carrier plans to commence year-round Vancouver-Melbourne Tullamarine service from 01-Jun-2018. The seasonal service is presently the only nonstop service linking Canada and Melbourne. Melbourne is the airline's third destination in Australia, following Sydney and Brisbane. [more - original PR]
Joon announced (30-Nov-2017) the following new destinations to be operated with 174 seat Airbus A320 and 212 seat A321 aircraft from 25-Mar-2018:
The carrier also announced the following new long haul destinations with A340 aircraft from spring 2018:
Joon commences operations on 01-Dec-2017 with services from Paris CDG to Barcelona, Berlin, Lisbon and Porto. [more - original PR - English/French]
Avia Solutions Group stated (29-Nov-2017) the Gulf region remains one of the most attractive destinations for aviation specialists, adding: "Dubai remains one of the top players in the industry and still attracts a significant amount of qualified specialists". The company stated: "The Gulf region is still one of the strongest competitors in the aviation industry and specialists from all over the world still choose to work there". [more - original PR]
Correction: American Airlines VP sales Asia Pacific Shane Hodges, speaking at the ACTE-CAPA Global Conference Sydney, stated (29-Nov-2017) he is hopeful the carrier's relationship with Qantas Airways "will move to the next level". He confirmed American plans to refile with the US Department of Transportation (US DoT) for a new joint business arrangement. As previously reported by CAPA, the first proposed joint agreement was rejected by the US DoT. "We hope for good news next year", Mr Hodges said. CAPA previously erroneously reported American has already refiled the application.
Air France-KLM and Jet Airways signed (29-Nov-2017) an "Enhanced Cooperation Agreement" for the development of operations between Europe and India. The agreement strengthens the partnership between the airlines established in 2014. The cooperation was expanded in 2016 with an extensive codeshare agreement for connections between Europe and North America and India. Air France-KLM chairman and CEO Jean-Marc Janaillac said the agreement is the "first cooperation agreement of its kind on the India-Europe market, one of the markets at the heart of the group's strategy for the coming years", adding that the airlines are "innovating within the airline industry by offering connections between two partnerships for the first time". He noted more than 1.2 million passengers are handled between India and Europe across all airlines, half of whom are travelling onward to North America. Details are as follows:
The agreement will complement Air France-KLM and Delta Air Lines' trans Atlantic partnership. [more - original PR]
Qatar Airways plans to deploy Boeing 777-300ER aircraft equipped with the 'Qsuite' business class cabin on Doha-New York JFK service from 16-Dec-2017 and Doha-Washington Dulles service from 16-Jan-2018 (Travel Weekly/airwaysmag.com, 28-Nov-2017). As previously reported by CAPA, the airline introduced the 'Qsuite' cabin in Jun-2017 and expects to complete retrofitting aircraft with the product by mid 2018, while all new 777s and A350-1000s will be delivered with the cabin.
Tourism Ireland reported (28-Nov-2017) a 3.1% year-on-year increase in overseas visitors to Ireland for Jan-2017 to Oct-2017. Details include: