News

Shenzhen Airlines, via its official Weibo account, announced (23-Mar-2023) the following international schedules changes:

• Shenzhen-London: Resume five times weekly from 26-Mar-2023;
• Shenzhen-Seoul Incheon: Daily service from 26-Mar-2023 and increasing to 12 times weekly from 03-Apr-2023;
• Shenzhen-Taiwan Taoyuan: Resume on 26-Mar-2023, increasing to daily from 29-Mar-2023;
• Wuxi-Osaka Kansai: Resume weekly from 06-Apr-2023;
• Shenzhen-Tokyo Narita: Increasing from weekly to daily from 14-Apr-2023;
• Shenzhen-Phuket: Increase from three times weekly to daily from 19-Apr-2023;
• Shenzhen-Ho Chi Minh City: Resume daily service from 02-May-2023.

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]

BCD Travel reported (21-Mar-2023) three quarters of  travel buyers lack knowledge of ISO 31030, the new international guidance specific to travel risk management. BCD Travel reported that 14% of buyers have read ISO 31030 and 11% are somewhat familiar with the standard, according to a Jan-2023 survey. [more - original PR]

Emirates Airline and TAP Air Portugal expanded their codeshare partnership, with Emirates codesharing on the following TAP operated services from mid Mar-2023, according to OAG:

• Lisbon-Bissau;
• Lisbon-Casablanca;
• Lisbon-Marrakech;
• Lisbon-Marseille;
• Lisbon-Porto Santo;
• Lisbon-Toulouse.

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]

Qantas Airways stated (20-Mar-2022) Jetstar Airways and Jetstar Asia will move to Terminal 4 from Terminal 1 at Singapore Changi Airport from 22-Mar-2023. This will increase the minimum connecting time from 60 to 90 minutes. Qantas Airways amended its commercial policy following the terminal change. Passengers may rebook onto another Jetstar Airways or Jetstar Asia service. Or for connections Singapore-Kuala Lumpur and vv sector, rebook on a connecting Malaysia Airlines operated flight. Passengers may also retain the value of the ticket in credit or receive a refund. [more - original PR]

Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport reported (20-Mar-2023) the following traffic highlights for Feb-2023:

• Passengers: 2.7 million, -19.6% compared to Feb-2019;
  • Domestic: 1.7 million, -17.1%;
  • International: 1.0 million, -23.7%;
• Top 10 nationalities travelling through Sydney Airport for Feb-2023:
  
  • Australia: -11.6% compared to Feb-2019;
  • New Zealand: -23.2%;
  • US: -19.1%;
  • UK: -21.6%;
  • China: -75.1%;
  • South Korea: -12.6%;
  • India: -1.6%;
  • Japan: -31.2%;
  • Canada: -23.2%;
  • Philippines: -0.1%. [more - original PR]

UK's Department of Health and Social Care, Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and Department for Transport (DfT) announced (17-Mar-2023) UKHSA's voluntary on-arrival testing programme of travellers arriving from China to London Heathrow Airport will end on 17-Mar-2023. Additionally, travellers flying from mainland China to England will no longer be required to provide proof of a negative pre-departure test, effective 05-Apr-2023. The UK Government stated the removal of measures comes as China has "increased information sharing regarding testing, vaccination and genomic sequencing results, providing greater transparency on their domestic disease levels". [more - original PR]

Air Mauritius announced (17-Mar-2023) plans to relocate from London Heathrow Airport to London Gatwick Airport, effective 29-Oct-2023. The airline will also increase Mauritius-London frequency from five times weekly to daily from the same date. The carrier will operate the service with A330-900 and A350-900 aircraft. [more - original PR]