Corporate Travel News For Europe/MEA

Friedrichshafen Airport confirmed (17-Nov-2017) Norwegian Air Shuttle plans to launch weekly London Gatwick-Friedrichshafen service with Boeing 737-800 equipment, effective 23-Dec-2017 to 16-Apr-2018. Monarch Airlines previously served the route before suspending all services in Oct-2017. According to OAG data, British Airways and easyJet also operate the route. [more - original PR - German]

Aer Lingus announced (17-Nov-2017) plans to commence four times weekly Dublin-Seattle service with Airbus A330-200 equipment on 18-May-2018. The aircraft is configured with 23 flat bed business class seats and 243 economy class seats. Connections to to 24 European cities will also be available to outbound Seattle passengers. The service will be the first trans Atlantic service to Seattle with US pre-clearance, meaning arriving passengers will not need to go through US passport control. Aer Lingus will be the third new international carrier to begin operations at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in 2018. The service will be Aer Lingus' 12th trans Atlantic route from Dublin Airport. Ireland's Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport Shane Ross commented: "The convenience of US Customs and Border Protection services at Dublin has enhanced the continued growth of Aer Lingus' Dublin operation as a connecting gateway". [more - original PR] [more - original PR - II] [more - original PR - Port of Seattle] [more - original PR - Dublin Airport] [more - original PR - Irish Government] [more - original PR - Tourism Ireland]

Joon applied (17-Nov-2017) to the US DoT for an application for exemption and statement of authorisation to engage in operations from EU member states to the US under codeshare arrangements with any duly authorised US air carrier. The application also includes a blanket statement of authorisation permitting Joon to display the two letter designator code of Delta Air Lines on services operated by Joon between and beyond points in EU member states. Under the arrangement, Air France will display Delta's designator code on services operated by Joon aircraft under wet lease to Air France. [more - original PR]

Budapest Airport and KÉSZ Építő Zrt announced (17-Nov-2017) the conducted the topping out ceremony of the new pier on the Terminal 2 B side at Budapest Airport (Pier B). The parties also jointly announced that the pier would be completed by 2H2018. The new facility will have capability to simultaneously serve up to ten narrowbody aircraft, or three widebody aircraft and four narrowbody aircraft. It is estimated that the new pier will increase the annual passenger service capacity of Budapest by five to six million passengers p/a. EUR160 million is being invested in the five year 'BUD 2020' airport development project, including more than EUR25 million in Pier B. [more - original PR]

Emirates president Tim Clark said greater cooperation between Emirates and Etihad Airways is "possible" but would be a matter for the Governments of the UAE and Dubai (CNN Money, 13-Nov-2017). Sir Tim said: "My own take on it is that's probably what the ownership wants, but it's early days". He commented: "If they want to take it on, we can do a lot of things" and added: "There are things that we can do immediately with them without conflicting with competition rules in the overseas markets and getting better value for both".

Emirates president Tim Clark said other carriers "are now realising that there is a lot of demand by going direct between third and fourth level city pairs" (Bloomberg, 13-Nov-2017). Sir Tim added: "That's not to say that the hub or the super hub's day is over. It's more a question of a greater distribution of traffic flows served by a better type of aircraft".

Nigeria's Minister of State for Aviation Hadi Sirika, via his official Twitter account, stated (16-Nov-2017) Boeing "Can't wait to discuss their proposal for the Nigerian National Carrier". Mr Sirika said a MoU will be signed at the ICAO World Aviation Forum in Nov-2017. As previously reported by CAPA, Mr Sirika said Airbus also expressed interest in the proposed new airline.

Bombardier president and CEO Alain Bellemare, commenting on the manufacturer's recent C Series contracts with EgyptAir and an unidentified European customer, said he is "convinced that we are going to see much better sales moving forward" and is talking with large airlines about the aircraft (The Canadian Press, 14-Nov-2017). The EgyptAir contract is a firm order for 12 CS300 aircraft and the European contract is a LoI for 31 C Series aircraft. Mr Bellemare said while work on the orders predates the company's C Series partnership with Airbus, the deal with the larger European OEM for 50.01% of the aircraft programme "keeps on building the momentum up."

SA Airlink CEO and MD Rodger Foster said the airline applied to South African authorities for traffic rights and designation to operate several international services, including Cape Town-Luanda, Johannesburg-Abuja, Johannesburg-Douala and Johannesburg-Libreville (tourismupdate.co.za, 16-Nov-2017). The airline also applied to operate to Brazzaville, Cotonou, Mayotte and Moroni and has "applications pending for additional routes in Africa", according to Mr Foster.

Jambojet CEO Willem Hondius stated (15-Nov-2017) the carrier is "looking at retiring our narrowbody fleet and transitioning to an all-Q400 fleet" by end of 2017. The carrier has entered an agreement with Nordic Aviation Capital to lease two Bombardier Q400s. According to the CAPA Fleet Database, Jambojet operates two Boeing 737-300s and three Q400s. [more - original PR]