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March 2003 Frequent Flyer Program News
News Center & Archives
Travel News
Airline NewsHEADLINE NEWS In the face of the conflict in the Middle East that has caused a clear fall in demand for travel to Europe and the target region reflected in relatively low pre-bookings for the first-quarter 2003. Depending on the situation and demand, travel to the Persian Gulf region will be off by 10% to 15% and long-haul routes by up to 20% according to frequency.
New international arriving passenger manifest information being sought from airlines by the US Immigration and Naturalization Service under a recent notice of proposed rulemaking is duplicative, of questionable value, and illegal in many countries, the International Air Transport Assn. charged. The proposal would create lengthy delays for both US and non-US citizens trying to board international flights to or from the US.
Air Canada will operate three new weekly nonstop services between Montreal and Rome from June 18 to Oct. 15 2003 and three weekly nonstop flights between Montreal and Beirut June 3 to Oct. 14 using 767-300s on both routes.
Air France plans to extend its codeshare agreement with Portugalia to routes to Lisbon from Nice, Marseilles, Toulouse and Paris.
Air France launched two daily flights between Paris Orly and Annecy. The services are operated by Brit Air on a franchise basis with ATR 72s.
Air France does not intend to retire its Concorde fleet or modify its operating program at present despite the fact that the services are not profitable. It confirmed that load factor on supersonic flights over the last few months was well under 50%. However, "it's evident we follow what happens at British Airways," GM-Commercial France Christian Boireau said.
AirTran Airways will begin service between Philadelphia and Boston on March 21 2003 using a 717 in a two-class configuration.
AirTran Airways will begin two daily flights each between Atlanta and Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Denver. The Denver service will use a 717 and begin May 21 2003. The flights to Los Angeles, beginning June 4, and Las Vegas, commencing June 11, will be operated initially by AirTran marketing partner Ryan International Airlines using an A320. AirTran recently launched one new daily nonstop between Baltimore/Washington International Airport and Grand Bahama Island using a 717. Also, the carrier began two daily 717 flights between Akron-Canton and New York LaGuardia and resumed four daily nonstop services between Myrtle Beach and Atlanta. AirTran JetConnect partner Air Wisconsin will operate those services using CRJs.
Alitalia will resume flights to China this summer following renewal of the bilateral agreement between Italy and China. With the start of the new summer timetable, the carrier will launch a daily Milan-Shanghai service. Daily flights to Beijing will resume by year end. Additionally, Alitalia's summer schedule includes a new daily flight from Rome to Moscow and increased services to Warsaw, Stuttgart, Algiers, Osaka, Duesseldorf and Frankfurt in collaboration with Air France.
America West Airlines introduced The Low Fare Finder, powered by ITA Software, which searches for fares on the customer's preferred travel dates as well as surrounding days--one day before and one day after--in order to find the lowest fare.
America West Airlines, the nation's second largest low-fare carrier, announced today that it will initiate new daily, nonstop service between its Phoenix hub and Cancun, Mexico, on June 1, 2003. Customers in Phoenix and 12 other cities in the western U.S. will be able to take advantage of this new service to enjoy the powdery sand beaches, warm blue water, sensational shopping, sport fishing, snorkeling and diving available in this beautiful Caribbean city.
Cancun, Mexico is considered one of the top ten vacation destinations in the world and now America West Vacations can take you there. America West Vacations announced the week of march 3 2003 that it is partnering with hotels and resorts in Cancun and the Riviera Maya to offer a wide variety of vacation packages in conjunction with the start of America West Airlines' daily, nonstop, roundtrip service between Phoenix and Cancun on June 1, 2003.
American Airlines and SN Brussels Airlines announced March 5 2003 they will begin new code share service offering customers more convenient travel opportunities around the globe. Beginning in the summer of 2003, American will place its AA code on SN Brussels flights from Brussels to destinations across Europe and Africa. SN Brussels will place its code on American's daily Brussels-Chicago route and a number of connecting U.S. domestic flights beyond Chicago that are operated by American.
The latest American Airlines online enhancement, Flight Check-In on AA.com, is helping to speed passengers through the airport. And from now through June 30, 2003, customers who use this feature will earn a one-time bonus of 500 AAdvantage miles.
Alaska Airlines will begin service between Seattle and Boise June 8 2003, sharing the route with its sister carrier Horizon Air. Alaska will operate two daily flights using an MD-80 while Horizon will offer five daily flights using a Q400 turboprop.
All Nippon Airways will relocate its passenger operations at New York JFK to Terminal 7 on June 1 2003.
All Nippon Airways will introduce its new first-class cabin on May 4 2003 on its daily 747-400 nonstop flights between New York JFK and Tokyo. The sections will feature 10 seats that are 33 in. wide and enclosed in cubicles for privacy. Each seat is configured with a 15-in. personal TV equipped with digital AVOD plus personal telephones and power ports for laptop computers. Additionally, the service will feature a new a la carte menu.
Aloha Airlines has won the coveted Diamond Award for Airline In-flight Services in spirited competition against airlines around the world. "Onboard Services" magazine presented Aloha with a Diamond Award, the highest honor in the competition's Airline in-flight Services category. The judges singled out Aloha for its "extensive passenger in-flight service program, from start to finish." Aloha also came away with the Publisher's Award of Merit for "special efforts in onboard services, and a presentation that covered all aspects of an onboard passenger's needs."
Aloha is marking the third anniversary of its successful transpacific flying program, which began February 14, 2000, with non stops between Honolulu and Oakland in the San Francisco Bay Area. Since then, Aloha has spread its wings to Burbank and Orange County, California; Las Vegas, Nevada; Phoenix, Arizona; and Vancouver, Canada. Service to Sacramento, California begins in April. Aloha also flies to Rarotonga in the Cook Islands in the South Pacific, and Majuro and Kwajalein in the Central Pacific.
Best Western is kicking off April with triple mile promotions on six separate airlines. Best Western Gold Crown Club International members can earn triple miles after each qualifying stay at Best Western hotels in participating states. Guests will qualify for the bonus miles by registering for the promotions online or through specially designated 800 numbers.
British Airways will suspend March 19 2003 flights to and from Tel Aviv and Kuwait until further notice following a warning by the Foreign Office advising against all travel to Israel and Kuwait. BA's flights to Bahrain, Doha, Jeddah, Dubai and Riyadh will continue to operate via Larnaca. Flights to Muscat will remain suspended temporarily. Service will recommence from London via Larnaca to Abu Dhabi.
British Airways recently unveiled its newly redesigned Terminal 7 at New York JFK. The airline invested $250 million in the project that took five years to complete.
British Airways will switch its Moscow operations from Sheremetyevo II to the newly remodeled Domodedovo on July 1 2003. The decision represents a major victory for Domodedovo, which is managed by East Line Group, and for the group's dynamic chief executive Dmitri Kamenchik as well as airport General Director Sergei Rudakov. BA's facilities at the airport will include dedicated check-in counters and "fast, exclusive" immigration, customs and security. Additionally, there will be an exclusive lounge for BA's qualified frequent-flier club members. Other Western airlines that have switched to Domodedovo since the East Line Group took over include Air Malta and Swiss International Air Lines.
A recently re-launched CheapTickets.com is making solid gains in the competitive online travel arena, indicated most recently by market-leading, year-over-year growth in unique monthly visitor traffic. In February, Cheap Tickets welcomed nearly 6 million unique visitors, a year-over-year increase of 123 percent, growth nearly twice as high as the nearest online competitor, according to comScore.
China Southern Airlines began the week of March 10 2003 codeshare flights with Shandong Airlines on 15 domestic routes. The new agreement is a "comprehensive program" on nearly 70 flights that originate, arrive or stop over in Guangzhou, Beijing, Shanghai, Jinan and Qingdao.
The new Swiss carrier Club Airways is taking off with scheduled flights using eight-seat Bombardier Learjet 45s between Geneva, Paris and London - four daily round-trip flights between each city. Services to Milan and Frankfurt (or Munich) will follow in the next few weeks. The airline plans to link around a dozen cities across Europe, including Moscow, Prague and Athens, by the end of 2003. Club Airways is following the example of Lufthansa, which in June 2002 started flights between Duesseldorf and New York-Newark with a 48-seat Boeing Business Jet (a modified 737-700) - the first exclusively business-only scheduled trans-Atlantic airline service - at normal business-class fares. It was an idea that finally became reality after several start-up ventures over the years never got off the ground.
Delta Connection carrier Comair will add two new nonstop services between Atlanta and Buffalo and Atlanta and Rochester, N.Y., June 1 2003. They will be operated with CRJs.
Eastern Airways will expand its route network to London for the first time with the launch of three daily flights between Stansted and Manchester March 31 2003. Eastern's schedule will mirror the existing timetable of British Airways CitiExpress, which is withdrawing from the route. The five-year-old independent Regional is taking over eight routes from BA CitiExpress along with 12 Jetstream 41s.
Emirates, the Dubai-based international airline, which is scheduled to start service to the United States in Spring of next year, was selected as the "Best Airline in the World" by Italian tour operators and travel agents at the BIT International Tourism Exchange in Milan. In receiving this honour, Emirates was awarded the Marco Polo Award for 2003 in the airline category. Emirates provides daily service from Dubai to Rome and four times a week service from Dubai to Milan. The airline recently won Airline Transport World Magazine's "Passenger Service Airline of the Year" award. The award was presented last month in Washington, D.C. One of the world's fastest-growing airlines, Emirates has received more than 200 international awards since its launch in 1985 and is now among the world's 20 largest and six most profitable carriers. Its fleet of 47 Airbus and Boeing jets serves 64 cities in 45 countries in Europe, Middle and Far East, Africa, Asia and Australia and it is now actively preparing to launch services to and from North America.
EVA Air will launch four weekly flights from Taipei to Hanoi May 9 2003 using an MD-90 in a two-class configuration.
Flyeco, which calls itself "the first French low-cost airline," decided to delay the start of its operations owing to fears over a war in Iraq and its potential impact on air travel. The Paris-based group initially planned up to 30 routes, two-thirds domestic and one-third to international destinations including flights to Ryanair's Belgium base at Brussels South Charleroi. Fleyco's first flights were planned for mid-June. The company concluded a lease agreement for five 737-300s in a 148-seat configuration.
JetBlue Airways will inaugurate service between New York JFK and San Diego beginning with a single daily flight June 28 2003 and going to two daily services July 14. San Diego is JetBlue's 22nd destination.
KLM will add its code on services from Budapest to Skopje operated by Malev Hungarian Airlines beginning March 31 2003. The 11 weekly flights will be operated with F70s and CRJ200s.
Lufthansa is expanding its innovative wet-lease arrangement with PrivatAir to two more routes this summer, building on the existing Duesseldorf-Newark service being operated by the Geneva-based VIP travel specialist using Boeing BBJs that seat 48 in an all-business-class configuration. Under an agreement announced Friday, LH will begin offering six weekly BBJ flights from Munich to Newark on May 19 2003 and from Duesseldorf to Chicago beginning June 9.
Lufthansa announced that it will begin daily A340 nonstop service between Montreal and Munich May 19 2003. Flights will be operated as a joint venture in codeshare with Air Canada.
Luxair will launch one weekly Brussels-Bastia (Corsica) service April 26 2003 using a 737-500.
Mesa Air Group announced on March 27 that it is offering private charter flights to Las Vegas for auction on Ebay.com. Consumers may bid to charter an entire 50-seat jet to depart early Saturday evening and return Sunday. Mesa is the first commercial airline to sell charter flights using the online bid format. The 50-seat Bombardier CRJ-200 jet is designed for comfort with its spacious and quiet cabin. The private flights are ideal for large parties, such as: bachelor and bachelorette parties, weddings, corporate functions or other special events. Food and beverage catering is available while aboard and ground transportation and hotel accommodations can be arranged at discount travel rates. The reserve price is set at approximately half the price of a charter in a Gulfstream aircraft.
Mesa Air Group also announced that the Lake Havasu City Council approved an enhanced air service revenue guarantee agreement with the company. Under the agreement, Mesa will enhance air service between Lake Havasu and Phoenix by adding one flight per day bringing the total number of daily flights to Phoenix to three. In addition, Mesa will begin two roundtrip flights per day to Ontario International Airport in California. The regional carrier has serviced Lake Havasu for more than 12 years. Service is tentatively scheduled to begin in the summer of 2003.
Business aviation specialist PrivatAir will be operating on behalf of Lufthansa two additional brand new aircraft to provide direct non-stop flights between Munich and New York's Newark airport starting May 19, 2003 and between Dusseldorf and Chicago's O'Hare airport starting June 9, 2003. The routes will be served six days per week. The aircraft, equipped with only 48 seats, provide passengers with real added value in terms of comfort, saving them time and the convenience of a direct routing. The long haul all business class concept has proved to be eminently successful since June of last year, when PrivatAir and Lufthansa launched the world's first transatlantic business-class-only scheduled service between Dusseldorf and Newark.
With the redesign of its web site, LuxRes.com now takes the hassle out of vacation planning and secures savings from 20-40% for leisure vacations worldwide at luxury hotels, resorts and premier cruise lines.
Ryanair announced seven new routes from London Stansted to Ostend, Groningen, Leipzig, Palermo, Bergerac, Rodez and Blackpool. The routes, representing 105 flights per week, will commence May 1 2003 and bring Ryanair's network up to 115 routes across 16 countries.
SN Brussels Airlines signed a codesharing agreement with American Airlines. The agreement, which starts during the summer season, will allow SN Brussels to put its code on AA's daily Brussels-Chicago service and a number of connecting US domestic flights while American will be able to add its code on many SN European and African routes from Brussels.
Snowflake will join Tango and Song among offbeat names for airlines when Scandinavian Airlines' proposed low-fare unit takes off under the wintry moniker on March 30 2003. Snowflake will have an initial fleet of four 737-800s staffed with SAS pilots and cabin crew. As previously announced, the airline-within-an-airline will operate from Stockholm to Alicante, Athens, Barcelona, Bologna, Budapest, Dublin, Istanbul, Malaga, Nice, Prague and Rome. From Copenhagen it will serve Alicante, Athens, Bologna, Lisbon, Malaga, Palma de Mallorca, Pristina and Sarajevo
Spirit Airlines beginning in March will add frequencies for its summer schedule at Atlantic City, Denver, Ft. Lauderdale, Ft. Myers, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Myrtle Beach, New York LaGuardia, Orlando, San Juan and Tampa.
Swiss International Airlines will suspend the week of March 17 2003 two of its six weekly connections between Zurich and Cairo Thursday owing to a "sharp drop in demand."
Swiss International Air Lines signed codeshare agreements with Japan Airlines covering the Zurich-Tokyo route from April 1 and with Qantas covering daily Zurich-Sydney flights via Frankfurt and Singapore beginning with the summer timetable. Swiss plans to expand the arrangement to include domestic flights, Japan-Asia flights and flights from Zurich to other cities in Europe. Additionally, Swiss aligned its frequent-flier program with Qantas and said it will do the same with JAL in the near future.
Southwest Airlines announced March 27 that its Customers have until Dec. 31, 2003, to benefit from the carrier's bonus promotion for Rapid Rewards members who book online. The promotion, which allows members of its frequent flyer program, Rapid Rewards, to book their travel at www.southwest.com and receive bonus credits, began in 1997. The bonus promotion was to expire on June 6, 2003. Rapid Rewards will offer bonus credits for travel booked online and traveled by Dec. 31, 2003.
Travelocity, the most popular travel site on the Web, launched March 17 the site's new Travel Information Center, which provides the latest information on all travel company policies affecting consumers in light of geopolitical uncertainties. The new feature adds to Travelocity's already strong set of tools to help customers in good times and bad. From information on consumer guidelines to tips on how to travel smart in the current environment, Travelocity has created tools to help travelers stay informed. In addition to industry-leading customer service, Travelocity offers information on air traffic delays, the latest industry changes, airline security guidelines, flight status, travel trends in an uncertain environment, and even general customer advice.
US Airways began nonstop service March 2003 on Boston-Cancun, Pittsburgh-Montego Bay and Charlotte-St. Croix routes.
US Airways, following the moves of other carriers, will begin selling "gourmet deli-style meals" to economy passengers on select flights in a two-week test program. In-flight Cafe, which is being conducted in concert with LSG Sky Chefs and restaurant franchise Einstein Bros., will run until March 31 2003 on flights between Pittsburgh and Denver, Ft. Lauderdale, Kansas City, Nashville and New Orleans.
US Airways will begin nonstop service between Philadelphia and Punta Cana March 9 2003 using an A319 in a two-class configuration.
US Airways announced March 5 2003 that it has introduced a "Peace of Mind" flexible travel policy to ease customer concerns about making advance reservations during this period of potential conflict in the Middle East. Among the changes that will be allowed are:
- Full value of unused tickets can be applied to future travel within a
- 90-day period from the start of the action or "code red" alert
- Dates of travel can be changed within a 90-day window from the start of a military action or "code red" alert
- Destination city can be changed within the same 90-day window
- En route changes could be made for those customers whose itineraries have not been completed at the time that the policy is implemented
US Airways Express will introduce daily nonstop service between New York LaGuardia and Huntsville June 8 2003. Chautauqua Airlines will operate the service using an ERJ-145.
Virgin Express decided to discontinue its codeshare agreement with SN Brussels Airlines between Brussels and Scandinavia and opted instead for a similar accord with Malmo Aviation on routes between Copenhagen, Gothenburg and Stockholm beginning March 30. Virgin Express will operate the three daily rotations on the Brussels-Copenhagen route with its 737s while Malmo Aviation's Avro RJ100s will operate the three daily flights between Brussels and Stockholm and the two daily flights between Brussels and Gothenburg. The carriers will share capacity on all of the flights. Although Virgin Express used to offer flights to and from Stockholm Arlanda, those in cooperation with the Swedish Regional airline will operate to Bromma Airport.
WestJet began nonstop service between Halifax and Hamilton the week of March 3 2003 using a 737-700.
People should not be afraid to travel, even in these days of heightened security concerns, according to experts from four prominent travel organizations. Representatives from MEDJET Assistance, iJET Travel Intelligence, Peachtree Travel Clinic and Travelex Insurance Services agree that proper planning and extra precautions are the best measures travelers can take when preparing for trips today. The four groups expressed agreement on this advice at a conference in Atlanta. Unlike many insurance or platinum card plans, MEDJET Assistance is the only medical evacuation program that will transport members regardless of medical necessity. For more information about MEDJET Assistance, call 800-963-3538 or visit www.medjetassistance.com
Travel Guard Assistance, Travel Guard's 24-hour, toll-free hotline for assistance with emergency medical needs, cash transfers, replacement of lost travel documents, pre-trip health and safety advisories and live e-mail and phone messaging to family and friends, is also included, as well as Livetravel, Travel Guard's 'round-the-clock hotline for making emergency travel changes such as rebooking flights, hotel reservations and rental cars, and tracking lost luggage. For more information about the Air Travel Protection Plan, travelers can visit www.travelguard.com, call Travel Guard's World Service Center at 1-800-826-4117 or see their travel agent.
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Sources: Airlines, Airports, Air & Business Travel News, Airliners.net, Prnewswire.com and Travelocity.com
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