News for The Americas

Melbourne Tullamarine Airport announced (15-Sep-2022) United Airlines scheduled to increase San Francisco-Melbourne frequency from three times weekly to daily from 28-Oct-2022. According to OAG, the service is operated using Boeing 787-9 equipment. No other carriers are scheduled to operate the route. [more - original PR]

SkyTeam reopened (14-Sep-2022) its refurbished lounge at Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport's international terminal. The lounge at Pier B near Gate 24 is available to SkyTeam Elite Plus, first and business class customers. The lounge is open from two hours prior to the first flight until the final departure of the day for eligible customers travelling with China Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Garuda Indonesia, Korean Air, Vietnam Airlines and Xiamen Airlines. The lounge features 149 chairs, a live cooking station and self service buffet. Sustainability features include GREENGUARD certified upholstery, the elimination of single use items, water saving fittings in showers and bathrooms, movement sensors to save energy and reduce emissions, participation in Sydney Airport's recycling programme and the use of locally and sustainably sourced produce with procurement management procedures. [more - original PR]

United Airlines and Emirates Airline announced (14-Sep-2022) a codeshare partnership, providing customers with easier access to the carriers combined network. From Nov-2022, Emirates customers travelling through Chicago, Houston and San Francisco will be able to connect to almost 200 destinations via the United network. The carriers will also implement an interline agreement at the remaining US airports served by Emirates, including Boston, Dallas, Los Angeles, Miami, New York JFK, Orlando, Seattle and Washington DC. United will also launch daily New York Newark-Dubai service from 25-Mar-2023 to support the partnership. Travellers may then connect to over 100 destinations via Emirates or its sister carrier flydubai. [more - original PR]

Emirates Airline and JetBlue Airways plan to end their codeshare partnership after 10 years, effective 30-Oct-2022 (Aviaci Online/Travel Daily, 08-Sep-2022). The carriers initiated the partnership in Jul-2012. This follows reports that Emirates Airline and United Airlines are set to announce a codeshare partnership in the coming weeks.

Velocity Frequent Flyer, via its official LinkedIn account, stated (07-Sep-2022) Air Canada's Maple Leaf Lounges are now accessible to Velocity Gold and Platinum members holding a same day ticket on Air Canada marketed and operated flights.

KLM launched (30-Aug-2022) service with its 'Premium Comfort' cabin class on the Amsterdam Schiphol-New York JFK route. The new cabin will be available on Boeing 787-10 services, which will operate to New York JFK, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, Nairobi and Dar es Salaam. More destinations will be added as the Premium Comfort cabin becomes available onboard the Boeing 787-9. By Nov-2023, KLM will equip all Boeing 787 and Boeing 777 with the Premium Comfort cabin class. The cabin is equipped with 21 to 28 seats, separated from the economy class and business class, offering seats with a margin of more than 96cm, 17cm extra leg room and 20cm of incline. The seats have been developed by Collins Aerospace in cooperation with KLM. [more - original PR - German]

Emirates Airline announced (01-Sep-2022) plans to debut its newly retrofitted A380 aircraft featuring premium economy cabins to the following destinations from Dec-2022:

• New York JFK: From 01-Dec-2022;
• Auckland: From 15-Jan-2023;
• Melbourne: From 01-Feb-2023;
• San Francisco: From 15-Feb-2023;
• Singapore: From 01-Mar-2023.

The carrier also plans to add additional premium economy seats on service to London Heathrow from 01-Jan-2023 and Sydney from 15-Dec-2022 as the aircraft's newly refreshed cabins enter service. Emirates Airline is set to operate A380 equipment to 42 cities with over 400 weekly departures, with 85 A380s planned for active service by the end of 2022. [more - original PR]

China Southern Airlines announced (29-Aug-2022) plans to operate the following 32 international services in Sep-2022:

• Guangzhou-London: Weekly;
• Guangzhou-Amsterdam: Weekly;
• Guangzhou-Paris: Weekly;
• Wuhan-Istanbul: Weekly;
• Shenzhen-Moscow: Weekly;
• Guangzhou-Los Angeles: Twice weekly;
• Guangzhou-Toronto: Weekly;
• Guangzhou-Sydney: Weekly;
• Guangzhou-Auckland: Twice weekly;
• Guangzhou-Kuala Lumpur: Weekly;
• Guangzhou-Dhaka: Weekly;
• Guangzhou-Singapore: Weekly;
• Guangzhou-Yangon: Weekly;
• Guangzhou-Ho Chi Minh City: Weekly;
• Guangzhou-Bangkok: Weekly;
• Guangzhou-Manila: Weekly;
• Guangzhou-Vientiane: weekly;
• Wuhan-Islamabad: Twice weekly;
• Guangzhou-Phnom Penh: Weekly;
• Shenzhen-Jakarta: Weekly;
• Guangzhou-Dubai: Weekly;
• Shenzhen-Dubai: Weekly;
• Urumqi-Bishkek: Weekly;
• Urumqi-Almaty: Weekly;
• Urumqi-Dushanbe: Weekly;
• Guangzhou-Tokyo Narita: Weekly;
• Guangzhou-Seoul: Weekly;
• Shenyang-Seoul: Weekly;
• Changsha-Nairobi: Weekly;
• Shanghai Pudong-Taipei: Daily;
• Wuhan-Hong Kong: Weekly;
• Shenyang-Hong Kong: Twice weekly. [more - original PR - Chinese]

Air Premia plans to commence three times weekly Seoul Incheon-Los Angeles service on 05-Oct-2022, as per a 29-Aug-2022 GDS inventory and timetable display. The airline will operate the service with Boeing 787-9 equipment and plans to increase frequency to five times weekly from 21-Oct-2022.

Xiamen Airlines, via its official Twitter account, announced (29-Aug-2022) the following international schedules for Sep-2022:

• Xiamen-Los Angeles: Twice weekly;
• Xiamen-Vancouver: Weekly;
• Xiamen-Amsterdam: Weekly;
• Xiamen-Sydney: Weekly;
• Xiamen-Melbourne: Weekly;
• Xiamen-Seoul: Three times weekly;
• Xiamen-Phnom Penh: Weekly;
• Xiamen-Manila: Weekly;
• Xiamen-Kuala Lumpur: Twice weekly;
• Xiamen-Singapore: Weekly;
• Fuzhou-Tokyo Narita: Weekly;
• Fuzhou-Jakarta: Weekly;
• Xiamen-Bangkok: Twice weekly.