Quantas move
Qantas Airlines moves into American Airlines Terminal 8 in April as American Airlines and Qantas have filed an application with the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) seeking approval to form a joint business to better serve customers flying between North America and Australia and New Zealand.
The proposed joint business will significantly improve service, stimulate demand and unlock more than $300 million annually in consumer benefits that are not achievable through any other form of cooperation they say.
‘Peachy’ merger
ANA Holdings has confirmed it will merge its two low-cost carriers units, Peach and Vanilla Air will be merged into a single entity by end of fiscal 2019, with Peach to be the surviving brand.
Kor-Del alliance
Skyteam members Korean Air (KE,) and Delta Air Lines (DL) are in talks to establish a joint venture, reports Bloomberg. Their strengthened alliance could make them a significant player in the trans-Pacific region.
Howdy, partner
Alitalia and All Nippon Airways (ANA) have agreed to a commercial partnership, which will see them codeshare on each others’ flights beginning in late October.
ANA will place its code on Alitalia’s services from Tokyo Narita to Milan and Rome, as well as on its domestic services to six Italian points (Turin, Milan, Florence,Bologna, Venice and Naples).
Alitalia will meanwhile place its code on ANA’s services to five Japanese points (Sapporo, Sendai, Osaka, Fukuoka and Okinawa).
New low-cost flyer
Eurowings Airlines will begin service out of Terminal 7 JFK in April.
Welcome Connie
Connie” is the nickname give to the favorite Constellation aircraft in the ’60s used extensively at JFK, which is being painstakingly restored in Maine and will be brought to New York to be used as a novel lounge behind the new JFK TWA Hotel sometime in mid-2019.
Virgin grown
Virgin Atlantic is increasing summer travel flights to their popular Heathrow-JFK route by adding daily service to the route, bringing the total count to six daily and 42 flights weekly. This partnership on the service will increase their capacity between the two hubs by up to 6 percent. Upper class Virgin Atlantic ticketing and check in can be fond within the Delta Sky Priority area at terminal 4 at JFK with the Delta with economy check-in in a nearby lane.
Low-low prices
WestJet’s Swoop is in place to become the country’s first ultra-low-cost carrier (ULCC) in light of Canadian startup Jetlines dropping plans to begin flights in June due to regulatory issues and aircraft acquisition problems.
Start your engines
GE Aviation has flown its GE9X engine for the first time under the wing of the company’s Boeing 747 flying test bed. The GE9X, the manufacturer claims, will become the world’s most powerful commercial aircraft engine when it enters service.
Eastern returns
Dynamic International Airways just emerged from bankruptcy and is seeking the use of Eastern Air Lines (EAL) as it begins a new life an airline charter company. The second coming of EAL was absorbed by Swift Air, whose owner Ken Wooley owns the rights to Eastern Air Lines brand. Miami anyone?
Wowie
Wow Airlines set to begin service at JFK International Airport, Terminal One, beginning April 26.
NEXGEN Members of U.S. Congress have filed omnibus spending legislation for Fiscal Year 2018, providing $1.3 trillion in funding through the end of September that includes $18 billion in total budgetary resources for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and several provisions sought by the National Air Transportation Association (NATA) on behalf of the aviation business community.
Air Europa
Air Europa, the Madrid-based airline which flies to JFK daily, announced with Ryanair an extension of its flight partnership. Fliers can now browse and book Air Europa connecting flights from 15 European cities to Madrid and link on to destinations across North, Central and South America. Ryanair is busy with code shares, partnerships and spreading its wings in European travel.
