AirlinesAir Canada Begins Montreal-Shanghai FlightsAir Canada announced the launch of new daily service on Thursday between Montreal and Shanghai. The route is the carrier’s first non-stop service from Montreal to Asia. Flights will depart Montreal-Pierre Elliot Trudeau International Airport at 1:30 p.m. and arrive at Shanghai Pudong International Airport at 4:40 p.m. the next day. From Shanghai, flights are scheduled to depart at 6:15 p.m. and arrive in Montreal at 6:35 p.m. the same day.
LinkAlitalia closes in on new business planAlitalia says it finally expects to have agreed a new business plan by the end of February. The airline, which reportedly again faces serious financial problems, was instructed by the Italian government in early January to submit a detailed business plan in “the next few weeks.”
LinkAmerican Airlines seeks approval on LAX-Beijing routeAmerican Airlines is awaiting approval from the Civil Aviation Administration of China to begin service between Los Angeles and Beijing. "American has been in regular contact with Chinese authorities concerning the availability of slots, and has made plans to send one of its senior executives to China to discuss the issue in-person," American said in a regulatory filing, noting that the airline "fully expects that its continued efforts will eventually prove successful."
LinkAlaska Hires IT Pro for Virgin America IT IntegrationAlaska Airlines has hired Charu Jain as chief information officer to assist with technology integrations following its acquisition of Virgin America. Jain joins the carrier from IBM Global Business Services, where she led a team helping American Airlines with its own IT system integration. Jain also had a 20-year career at United Airlines. She left that carrier in 2012, when her title was senior managing director of airline operations technology and technology integration.
LinkJetBlue, Virgin America add amenities on transcontinental flightsThere are a number of reasons why US airlines’ customer service fell into such disrepute among the American flying public. US airlines have done a lot to climb out of that reputation hole in the last several years, but there is one thing they must acknowledge and appear to be: all domestic flights aren’t the same. For years, US airlines treated all domestic flights relatively equal, whether it was a 45-90-minute hop or a 5-hour transcontinental flight. No main cabin meal service on all domestic flights. No complimentary beer and wine on all domestic flights. Bag fees, etc., were the same on all domestic flights. No lie-flat business-class seats on any domestic flights.
LinkVolaris 2016 net profit up 42.8%Mexican low-cost carrier Volaris posted a 2016 net profit of MXN3.5 billion ($170 million), up 42.8% over net income of MXN2.46 billion in 2015, on a 29.3% year-over-year rise in revenue to MXN20.8 billion. Volaris, in releasing its earnings, announced it would begin charging a fee for the first bag checked on flights between Mexico and the continental US and Puerto Rico starting March 1.
LinkWizz Air to launch Frankfurt flightsCentral and Eastern European low-cost carrier (LCC) Wizz Air plans to introduce daily flights from Lufthansa’s main hub Frankfurt to Sophia (Bulgaria) beginning May 22 and Budapest (Hungary) from Dec. 15, using a 230-seat Airbus A321. ATW understands Wizz Air will become the second LCC, after Irish LCC Ryanair, to operate from Frankfurt.
LinkXiamen Air opens Fuzhou-New York routeChina Southern Airlines subsidiary Xiamen Air has opened a new route from Fuzhou to New York JFK. The new 3X-weekly service uses a Boeing 787-9 and is its second direct route to the US. In September 2016, Xiamen opened 3X-weekly Xiamen-Shenzhen-Seattle services. Over the past two years, the carrier has opened six intercontinental routes: Xiamen-Amsterdam, Fuzhou-Sydney, Xiamen-Sydney, Xiamen-Melbourne, Xiamen-Vancouver and Xiamen-Shenzhen-Seattle. The airline plans to launch service from Xiamen to Los Angeles in June and more intercontinental routes to Toronto, Paris and London in the future.
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