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April 2003 Frequent Flyer Program News
News Center & Archives
Travel News
Airline NewsHEADLINE NEWS The first class of U.S. commercial airline pilots trained to carry guns in the cockpit will be sworn in as federal flight deck officers. Forty-six pilots took a week-long course, run by the government's Transportation Security Administration, on learning to fight and shoot in the confines of a cockpit. The pilots practiced physical-combat techniques and honed their shooting skills by firing thousands of rounds of ammunition. Following Saturday Apr. 19 2003 graduation, each pilot will be allowed to fly carrying a semiautomatic pistol in a holster as early as Sunday. The pilots will have to inform their employers if they are armed, but will not be required to fly with a weapon. The program is the latest in a series of security measures unveiled following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Congress approved the program late last year.
Frequent fliers might forfeit more than future flights on their favored carrier if any of the country's beleaguered airlines go out of business. They could also lose control over their personal information. The airline industry has been reeling from business losses related to the Iraq war, the slowdown in the economy, the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the recent SARS outbreak. Both United Airlines and Hawaiian airlines are operating under bankruptcy protection, while American Airlines narrowly avoided having to file for bankruptcy this week by securing $1.8 billion in labor concessions. If any of these carriers do go out of business, its assets will go on the auction block or be passed to its creditors. Privacy advocates contend the sale of either frequent flyer databases or general passenger records, if legally permitted, would severely compromise the privacy and rights of airline passengers.
IATA met with the World Health Organization in Bangkok to "refine battle plans" in the war against SARS as WHO expanded its travel advisory to include Toronto. "The impact of SARS on global air transport has been devastating," said IATA Corporate Secretary Kevin Dobby, who heads the association's SARS task force. According to Dobby, WHO "reassured the industry that the screening procedures for passengers being implemented at airports are effective." He said that since the beginning of the crisis, "there have been less than five cases of possible transmission in the cabin--and these were on flights that occurred before screening procedures were put in place."
World Health Organization (WHO), in an unprecedented step on April 4 2003, urged travelers to avoid visiting Hong Kong and Guangdong Province in China owing to the presence of SARS. Airlines already have seen a dramatic falloff in traffic to Asia owing to SARS fears and the WHO announcement is likely to have a further damaging impact.
Yesterday British Airways reported that Asia/Pacific traffic plunged 26.9% last month while Continental Airlines reported a 22% drop in March Pacific traffic. Other airlines confirmed that traffic and forward bookings to Asia are being devastated by the outbreak.
Hong Kong-based Dragonair said it will slash its capacity by 25% in April 2003. Frequencies to major destinations such as Taipei, Beijing and Shanghai will be maintained but with A320s rather than A330s. However, services to nine other destinations in China will be cut significantly while flights to another four will be suspended.
On the international front, flights to Dakar, Kota Kinabalu, Phuket and Phnom Penh have been suspended.
Singapore Airlines announced it will be providing masks for all passengers and crew on flights departing from Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Hanoi, Taiwan and Kaoshiung. The airline said it also intends to step up disinfection measures on its aircraft.
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.
Airlines See Blue Sky In One Area:
Customer Service. The worse the skids for the nation's airlines, the better their service. A new report due out today says airlines are losing fewer bags, making more flights on time and winning higher marks from the flying public. "Airline quality has improved for the second consecutive year," said Dean Headley, one of the study's co-authors and associate professor of marketing at Wichita State University. "That's a good thing, but it should have improved, given that there are fewer passengers and fewer scheduled flights." His study rated carriers on such criteria as on-time performance, denied boardings, mishandled baggage and customer complaints.Passenger outrage peaked in summer 2000 over rampant delays and nightmare customer service. But after the Sept. 11 attacks, passenger traffic fell sharply and service began to improve dramatically, the report said. Two airlines that filed for bankruptcy protection last year - United and US Airways - managed to be on time more often, bungle fewer bags and generate fewer consumer complaints than the previous year, the report said. United also bumped fewer passengers.
The only major airline that made a profit last year, Southwest, also got better. Southwest consistently has the lowest complaint rate - .33 per 100,000 passengers, compared with an industry rate of 1.22, the report said.
Delta increased its rate of denied boardings by more than 40 percent for the second straight year, the report said, though the airline improved in other areas.
Such rankings don't affect travelers' buying decisions, said David Stempler, president of the Air Travelers Association. First, travelers narrow the choice based on price and schedule, he said, and then they make their choice based on frequent-flier programs. "All things being equal, the frequent-flier relationship will often be the tiebreaker," Stempler said.
Aer Lingus plans to operate thrice-weekly direct scheduled services to Palma commencing June 3 2003.
AeroMexico will begin four weekly nonstop services from Ontario, Calif., to San Jose del Cabo July 7 2003.
Aerosvit Ukrainian Airlines this week launched two weekly services from New York JFK to Kiev using 767s.
Amidst the near chaos in the airline industry, Air Canada has filed for bankruptcy. A private sector bailout of the carrier could be its salvation. It has secured $700 million in financing from GE Capital Canada. When Air Canada emerges from protection under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act, expect it to rely more heavily on regional jets.
Air Canada says its North American flight schedule in and out of Toronto has returned to "near normal" following a freak ice storm that battered the city over the last few days. "In order to start clearing the backlog of customers whose flights were canceled on Friday and Saturday, we're adding extra flights where we can out of Toronto and we are also substituting larger aircraft," Air Canada spokeswoman Renee Smith-Valade said Sunday April 6 2003.
Boeing said Air France and American Airlines will test its new data-monitoring and prognostic service, Airplane Health Management, "to ensure its availability to airlines in the first quarter of 2004."
Air New Zealand plans to cancel its thrice-weekly Auckland-Nagoya service between May 15 and June 30, drop two of six weekly Auckland-Osaka services between May 25 and July 1 and switch from 747-400s to 767-300s for the daily service to Tokyo. Auckland-Los Angeles flights will be canceled on May 23, June 11 and June 15 2003.
Air Tahiti Nui launched a weekly one-stop service from Los Angeles to Auckland. The carrier operates two weekly return flights.
Air Tahiti Nui will operate one weekly flight to both Papeete and Paris from Los Angeles this summer.
AirTran Airways installed new ByePass self-service check-in kiosks at Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport. The installations are part of a partnership between the airline and Kinetics.
AirTran Airways will add one daily nonstop service from Newport News/Williamsburg to New York LaGuardia, bringing the total number of daily nonstop flights to three. All services are operated using 717s.
AirTran Airways will add one nonstop flight from Moline/Quad Cities to Orlando on Saturdays beginning June 7 and a third daily flight to Atlanta beginning May 21 2003 using 717s on both services.
All Nippon Airways reduced services from Tokyo to Hong Kong and Singapore as a result of falling traffic levels owing to SARS and the war in Iraq. Double-daily Tokyo-HK service was cut to a single frequency while the airline switched from a 777-200 to a 767-300ER on its daily Tokyo-Singapore service. Changes are in effect at least through April 2003.
Alaska Airlines received government approval to begin daily nonstop service between Los Angeles and Guadalajara July 10 2003 using a 737-400.
American Airlines said it eliminated the need for paper tickets for domestic travel after implementing e-ticketing agreements with 10 domestic carriers. In addition, AA said that effective immediately, it no longer will issue paper tickets for e-ticket eligible domestic US itineraries through its reservations centers, airport ticket counters, Travel Centers and website.
American Airlines and SN Brussels will begin to codeshare on a number of each other's flights effective May 7 2003 following government approval. American will add its code to SN Brussels flights beyond Brussels to Copenhagen, Milan, Munich, Stockholm and Vienna on that date. On May 28, SN Brussels flights to Berlin, Geneva, Marseilles, Nice and Venice will carry the AA code. At the same time, SN Brussels will begin to codeshare on American's daily Brussels-Chicago flight and on AA flights to Atlanta, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Houston, Los Angeles and San Francisco. In a second phase later this spring, more European and US destinations beyond Brussels and Chicago will be added.
ATA Airlines will launch daily nonstop service between Chicago Midway and Pittsburgh June 1 2003.
Austrian Airlines and Finnair joined the growing list of airlines providing passengers with surgical face masks on certain Asian services because of spreading international alarm over SARS.
No-frills Austrian Regional Styrian Spirit launched CRJ services from its hub in Graz to Stuttgart. The fledgling carrier said it plans to add Duesseldorf, Frankfurt and Munich to a network that also will include Linz and Vienna. Fares range up to 40% less than those of Austrian Airlines or Lufthansa, the company declared.
British Airways reintroduced nonstop services between London and Abu Dhabi, Bahrain and Dubai. As part of its plan to resume its full flight schedule to the Gulf region, BA will operate 11 flights a week between London and Dubai and daily services to and from Abu Dhabi and between London and Bahrain. The London-Bahrain service will continue to Muscat, and flights to and from Muscat will increase from two per week to daily. Also, Abu Dhabi-Doha service will become daily.
Britiah Airways has announced special Concorde ticket deals. The airline's chief executive Rod Eddington says the aircraft could be flown from airports other than Heathrow during its last days in service, so as many people as possible could see the plane. "We must retire Concorde gracefully. We want the aircraft to go out on a high," said Mr Eddington. From now, and for travel until the end of August, BA is offering a London to New York one-way ticket on Concorde and a subsonic return in economy class for $3,125 / £1,999. One-way on Concorde and a subsonic return in business class (Club World) will be $4,688 / £2,999, while one-way on Concorde and a subsonic return in first class will be $5,469 / £3,499. BA is also offering a Concorde flight and a Concorde return for $6,250 / £3,999. Available until April 17 2003, these offers are subject to travelers staying on a Saturday night, while tickets cannot be changed or refunded. One thousand seats are available.
British Airways and Air France said on April 10 2003 they will take their Concorde jets out of service later this year, ending more than a quarter century of supersonic commercial travel. Both airlines blamed falling passenger demand and rising maintenance costs for their decision to ground the needle-nosed jets that epitomized the economic and technological confidence of an earlier era. The retirement of the service "will be permanent as of October this year," BA spokeswoman Sara John said. The carrier didn't give a date for its last scheduled flight. Air France, the only other airline to fly Concorde, said its last scheduled flight would be on May 31 2003, and the program would shut down at the end of October.
BWIA West Indies Airways denied a report in a local newspaper that suggested the airline would close in 24 hr. In a statement to staff released Friday, BWIA President and CEO Conrad Aleong said, "BWIA is in no immediate danger of closure today…or in the near future. Like every other airline we have been deeply affected by the war in Iraq…but we are not without plans and without options." Aleong said the company is updating its business plan for representation to the Trinidad government in support of a request for financial aid.
Cathay Pacific Airways, hard hit by the SARS epidemic and the World Health Organization travelers' warning to avoid Hong Kong and southern China, will reduce its systemwide weekly passenger capacity by 14% from April to the end of May in response to weakening demand. Cities affected are Bangkok, Denpasar, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Seoul, Singapore, Taipei and Tokyo. Cathay said most of the destinations will continue to be served by more than one daily flight. London service will be reduced by two flights a week as will service to Melbourne, and Los Angeles will move to one daily from two. The week of March 31st, the airline announced a 4% reduction in weekly passenger capacity. In total, 108 flights have been removed from the weekly schedule.
For its part, Cathay Pacific without specifically mentioning the SARS outbreak is, in effect, applying a policy previously put into effect for war wary travelers to accommodate health concerned travelers. It permits passengers with tickets purchased in the United States, for travel through April 17, to make a one-time change, or to postpone their travel entirely without penalty. The rescheduled travel has to be booked by April 17 with the flight started before June 30 2003.
Cathay Pacific Airways also moved to pare the number of flights to some Asia regional destinations. Services will be reduced between Hong Kong and Bangkok, Denpasar, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Singapore, Taipei and Tokyo. The suspensions will be introduced from mid-April onward and are planned to remain in place until May 31 2003.
Cayman Airways launched six weekly nonstop flights between Ft. Lauderdale and Grand Cayman using 737s.
China Airlines is taking aggressive steps to counter any in flight spread of SARS. For one thing, all flight attendants have been issued germ-proof respirators to wear "should the situation require." Additionally, extra respirators have been put aboard aircraft for use by passengers who are suspected of being infected, as well as those sitting near them. CAL says it will refuse to board any passenger suspected of carrying SARS. If anyone infected has traveled aboard CAL aircraft, the planes will be "thoroughly cleaned and sterilized." By April 1, a sterilized recommended by Boeing is expected to be available for such use in Taipei. China Airlines will waive the $100 penalty on changed reservations on tickets issued before March 26 and if the new travel will take place before May 31. However, any fare differences that are involved in the new travel date will be assessed. Additionally, the $100 cancellation penalty will also be waived for tickets issued prior to March 26, but the application for refund must be submitted by April 30.
China Northern Airlines and Xinjiang Airlines International, effective April 2003, will use China Southern Airlines' code on all flights.
China Southern Airlines will launch two weekly services from Guangzhou to Lhasa April 30 2003 using a 757.
China Southern Airlines will let passengers with tickets purchased before March 21 postpone their travel through April 30 with no penalties. For tickets involving travel between May 1-31, there will be no penalty for postponements, but the traveler will be responsible for any fare differences and the travel agent must reissue the ticket. There will be no refund on cancellations, though, beyond existing rules. A CZ spokesman said that the airline is trying to be flexible particularly regarding business travel to Guangzhou for the big trade fair scheduled for the last two weeks of April 2003.
Continental Airlines will suspend temporarily its five weekly services between Newark and Hong Kong in response to a "dramatic reduction" in traffic on the route. The airline said traffic from Hong Kong has "remained stable" but passenger demand from the US has "plummeted." It will continue to operate the flights through Saturday and said it will reinstate the service June 2 2003, subject to revision. In the interim, Continental will continue to provide US-Hong Kong service over Tokyo, where it will connect passengers to Northwest Airlines. In addition, it will continue to operate two weekly flights on the Hong Kong-Guam route.
Copa will initiate daily flights between Tegucigalpa and Panama City June 1 2003.
CSA Czech Airlines added Cork, Edinburgh and Tallinn to its route network effective with the start of the summer timetable March 30 2003 and plans to resume Prague-Newark services June 16. Four aircraft will join the fleet this year, raising the total to 35.
Delta's new airline-within-an-airline Song launched its inaugural flight on April 15 2003 from New York JFK to West Palm Beach. Initially the carrier will operate two daily flights between the cities. Song plans to operate 144 daily nonstop flights by Oct . connecting five cities in Florida with all three New York metropolitan area airports as well as Boston, Hartford, Washington Dulles and Las Vegas.
Delta Air Lines new discount product Song will introduce redeye service between Orlando and Las Vegas July 21 and Orlando-San Juan service July 1 2003, with daily roundtrips in each new city-pair.
Delta Air Lines will begin in June 2003 to restore most of its international and domestic service that was suspended in April and May. The carrier will resume its service from New York JFK to Athens, Barcelona, Frankfurt, Istanbul, Madrid, Nice, Rome and Venice. Additionally, it will reinstate service between Atlanta and Madrid as well as its second daily Atlanta-Frankfurt flight and its third flight between Atlanta and London Gatwick.
Delta Air Lines and SNCF-French Rail expanded their codeshare service on SNCF-operated trains from Paris Charles de Gaulle to four additional destinations. Presently, Delta codeshares on SNCF to eight destinations in France beyond Paris.
Delta Air Lines and SNCF-French Rail announced on April 21 2003 that they have expanded their present code share service on SNCF- French Rail operated trains from Charles de Gaulle International Airport to four destinations. Presently, Delta code shares on SNCF to eight destinations in France beyond Paris. The SNCF-French Rail station is located in Terminal 2C of Charles de Gaulle International Airport, and passengers will find a very convenient connection to and from these French destinations. Delta's SkyMiles members will earn a minimum of 500 miles (or the actual miles flown, whichever is greater) and elite status accrual for Delta marketed/French Rail operated train segments in the Delta SkyMiles program.
Delta Air Lines today announced the launch of interline electronic ticketing (ET) with Continental Airlines, extending the convenience of electronic ticketing to customers who travel on Delta and Continental in the same itinerary. With today's announcement, Delta now has interline electronic ticketing in place with the nation's top major carriers -- American, United, Northwest, and Continental. Today, 90 percent of Delta customers worldwide take advantage of electronic
Delta Air Lines introduced Apr. 7 a sale which allows customers to travel anytime before October with fares as low as $44 each way. The sale is available in more than 250 markets throughout the United States, including Delta's Atlanta hub. The fares are valid for travel Monday through Thursday and on Saturday April 14 through Oct. 1, 2003, except for select Florida cities where day-of-week validity varies for travel prior to April 29. Fares require a seven-day advance purchase; tickets must be purchased by April 16, 2003. A roundtrip purchase is not required.
Delta Air Lines launched April 1 2003 interline e-ticketing with American Airlines. Delta has similar agreements in place with Northwest Airlines and United Airlines.
Delta Connection carrier Chautauqua Airlines will launch three daily nonstop flights between Orlando and New Orleans June 11 using ERJs. Delta Connection carrier Atlantic Southeast Airlines will add a daily service between Macon, Ga., and Atlanta June 1 using a CRJ. ASA will launch additional flights between Dallas/Ft. Worth and Ft. Walton Beach and Lubbock July 1 and Sept. 1 2003 respectively using CRJs.
Emirates will increase its Dubai-Cochin flights from three to five per week. The added services began Saturday and will be operated using A330-200s in a three-class configuration.
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 honor, 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 is taking a cue from airlines that are waiving fees for travelers canceling flights due to the war in Iraq and adopting many of the same policies for folks wary of the SARS outbreak. For example, EVA will waive ticket-refund charges for passengers ticketed to Hong Kong before March 26 who opt not to travel. For people who want to defer travel, EVA is waiving date-change penalties. The date-change penalty is waived if the valid ticket is for travel on or before May 31.
EasyJet suffers from war fears. Tickets being sold at near giveaway prices to keep people flying despite Iraqi war fears, failed to prevent a fall in passenger growth numbers at easyJet. More concern for investors - though not customers - easyJet has been slashing fares on average by more than 10% to keep passengers using its services.
Germanwings, the low-frills subsidiary of Lufthansa equity partner Eurowings, will launch daily flights May 22 2003 between Cologne-Bonn and Budapest.
Horizon Air will begin twice-daily nonstop service from Seattle to Kamloops/Sun Peaks, B.C., Dec. 15 2003.
Iberia is increasing the number of weekly frequencies on its Madrid-San Jose, Costa Rica, service, operating 747s from Madrid to Miami and A319s from Miami to San Jose.
Interstate Jet will begin new service from Lehigh Valley International Airport to Las Vegas May 29 2003 using 757-200ERs and two weekly services from Stewart International Airport in Newburgh, N.Y., to Las Vegas May 29 2003 using a 757-200.
Japan Airlines Group announced further reductions in flights in response to the SARS outbreak and the Iraq situation. The changes include frequency cuts and temporary suspension of additional flights and are in addition to previous cuts announced on March 13, March 26 and April 8 2003. They are effective for May and June and include reducing twice-daily Tokyo-Hong Kong service to daily and elimination of some frequencies to Guangzhou, Guam and Shanghai. Daily Fukuoka-Hong Kong and twice-weekly Osaka-Guangzhou flights have been suspended. Also, Japan Airlines is cutting back a range of codeshare flights with American Airlines, Vietnam Airlines, Thai International and Cathay Pacific.
Japan Airlines hasn't initiated any policies resulting from the SARS outbreak but has in place procedures for those changing their travel plans due to the war in Iraq. JAL will permit passengers holding international tickets, which have fare rule restrictions, issued on and before March 18, 2003, for travel before April 22, 2003, to make one change to the travel schedule at no charge. Changes must be for itineraries to be completed up until and including December 31, 2003.
KLM will increase its business-class cabin configuration from five-abreast to six-abreast as it replaces its European Business Class product with KLM Europe Select. Seat pitch will remain unchanged at 33 in. At the same time, the carrier will reduce its business-class fares, depending on local market conditions, as part of a broader fare restructuring. For the Dutch market this implies a 5% to 13% cut on average.
In bid to counter tough economic times and falling passenger numbers, struggling Dutch flag carrier KLM and various travel bureaus have joined forces to offer 20 to 30 percent discounts on travel packages during the summer months. The low prices will apply for holidays booked between Saturday 19 April until 13 June 2003 and include 34 destinations spread across Europe, Africa, South America and the Dutch Antilles, newspaper De Telegraaf reported.
Ninety KLM air hostesses have applied to take part in a nude photo shoot planned by the Dutch edition of the Playboy men's magazine. The applications came after Playboy placed an advertisement in various morning newspapers, it was reported in newspaper Algemeen Dagblad. The nude spread of the Dutch flag carrier's staff will feature in the magazine's July 2003 issue.
KLM will resume flight operations to Abu Dhabi on a daily basis, Dammam twice a week, Bahrain three times a week, Doha twice a week, Beirut four times a week and Amman and Damascus three times a week. Flights to Kuwait will remain suspended for the time being, but KLM is closely monitoring the situation in the Middles East and will return to its normal schedule when the situation allows. Flights to Dubai, which were never suspended, will remain daily.
KLM said that it is moving to a "net fare" basis for tickets sold in Scandinavia and no longer will pay commission to travel agents in Norway, Sweden and Denmark effective July 1 2003. The measure also applies for tickets issued by KLM partner Northwest Airlines. SAS introduced a net fare strategy in its home markets in Jan 2003.
LanChile launched new service from Miami and Los Angeles to Rosario, Argentina.
Lufthansa, in response to inroads of no-frills competitors, is discounting tickets booked at least 42 days in advance from Germany to 13 European destinations. For example, a roundtrip from Munich to Barcelona now could cost eur173 ($189) versus the previous cheapest offer of eur323.
Lufthansa is suspending its three weekly flights between Munich and Tel Aviv effective May 1 2003, citing a severe drop in passenger traffic, according to LH's Israel country manager, Ofer Kisch. The move will be reevaluated after the summer season ends in Oct. LH will continue to offer twice-daily widebody flights between Tel Aviv and Frankfurt and remains the leading foreign carrier in Israel.
Lufthansa and Scandinavian Airlines have made further cutbacks in services to Asia in response to the SARS epidemic. LH has canceled its six weekly flights from Munich to Hong Kong and its daily service from Munich to Shanghai, Dow Jones Newswires reported. SAS will suspend its daily Copenhagen-Singapore service May 1 to 22 2003.
Midwest Airlines discontinued its short-term policy allowing customers to change travel plans without paying the standard change fee.
Northwest will launch daily service between Detroit and Tulsa June 6 2003. Northwest Airlink partner Pinnacle Airlines will operate the flights with CRJs.
Orbitz for Business and Universal Air Travel Plan said Orbitz for Business now accepts UATP accounts for travel payment from its corporate customers.
Ryanair confirmed that it is halting London Stansted-Grenoble service, a former buzz route that it planned to keep, owing to contractual difficulties with the airport.
Scandinavian Airlines subsidiary Spanair is joining the Star Alliance officially today. Spanair's membership was approved by Star's chief executive board last June 2003.
Scandinavian Airlines will resume three daily return flights from Bromma to Copenhagen. The route will be operated using Dash Q400s.
Singapore Airlines is permitting a one-time reservation change without penalty for passengers if they make the change by May 31 and complete the travel by November 30. This policy was already in place and instituted related to the Middle East situation and a possibility of a Red security level. There are no fee waivers at this time for trip cancellations in which the passenger seeks a refund. A policy related specifically to the SARS epidemic is to be announced soon. The spread of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome has prompted the airline to slash 13.6 percent of its capacity. Latest cuts include suspension of all service from Kaohsiung, Taiwan from April 15, and from Hiroshima from April 9. SQ is also delaying launch of thrice weekly Singapore-Bangalore service until June 12 and is pulling two more services on the LAX-Singapore run due to demand drops stemming from the war and SARS cancellations. Effective April 7 through May 31, SQ's Tuesday and Thursday flights via Narita, Japan, will be dropped. Last month, SQ had already canceled two other services: the LAX-SIN services on Monday and Wednesday via Taipei.
SN Brussels Airlines started code sharing with Alitalia on the Brussels to Bologna, Milan Malpensa, Rome, Turin and Venice routes. The agreement replaces a previous code share partnership with Virgin Express on the Brussels-Rome route. SN Brussels will operate a new A319 on that route.
Swiss International Air Lines was saddled with a government minder on May 1 2003 in the wake of rising doubts about its long-term survival in its present form.
Swiss International Air Lines said it will make new cuts in service reflecting the continuing impact of SARS and the Iraq war. In the long-haul sector, from April 21 to May 31 2003 the airline is suspending "some flights" to Beijing, Hong Kong, Johannesburg, Boston, Washington, Cairo, Dar-es-Salaam and Nairobi. In Europe the carrier will reduce capacity by using smaller aircraft in May on its Basel-London service and its flights from Zurich to Athens, Frankfurt, Duesseldorf, Hamburg, Berlin, Paris, Rome, Belgrade, London Heathrow, Vienna, Brussels, London City, Geneva, Pristina, Istanbul and Milan. Also in May, midday flights from Basel to Duesseldorf and Munich will be canceled and midday flights from Basel to Manchester, London City and Barcelona will be "partially canceled."
Syrian Arab Airlines bans Iraqi travelers. Doha: Syrian Arab Airlines will not carry Iraqi nationals traveling from Doha and other points on its network to Damascus, the airline's Regional Manager in Qatar, Amal Oubari, said on April 17 2003. The move came in the wake of a ban issued by the Syrian immigration department on entry of Iraqi nationals into the country, she added. Speaking to The Peninsula, Amal explained that the restriction applied to all Iraqi nationals including those holding diplomatic or official passports. However, persons of Iraqi origin holding foreign passports can enter Syria and travel on the carrier, provided all their documents such as visas are valid and they hold return air tickets between their point of origin and Damascus.
Thai Airways International is offering small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) located in Thailand special discounts for overseas business trips. Ticket discounts are already available for SMEs in general and better discounts are negotiable if they contact the airline in groups. The airline had also suffered a 20% drop in overseas passenger volumes as a result of the war and Sars. However, the number of its domestic passengers has been increasing, and that has helped the airline's operations to remain stable.
United Airlines launched interline e-ticketing with Alaska Airlines April 23 2003.
United Airlines added new codeshare flights with Star Alliance partner Lufthansa under their enhanced marketing agreement. United said it now will have new routing options and additional frequencies to destinations in Germany including Berlin, Cologne, Duesseldorf, Hamburg, Munich and Stuttgart. Late last year the carriers agreed to share revenues on North Atlantic flights, align pricing and sales strategies in the market and work "more closely" in scheduling, customer service and marketing beginning in 2003. United now has its code on nearly 340 daily Lufthansa departures and LH has placed its code on an average of 320 daily United flights.
United Airlines announced the week of April 14 that customers who purchase a flight on United.com will earn a free night at a participating Hyatt Resort with a two-night minimum stay. Plus, customers will also earn 500 Mileage Plus miles when they stay at any Hyatt property. To qualify: Book a flight at www.united.com. On the confirmation page, click the Hyatt link within the Featured Promotion section. Select a resort from the "list of participating resorts" and book your stay by May 5, 2003 for Hyatt stays before December 15, 2003. (The Hyatt stay does not need to be in conjunction with the United flight) Stay with Hyatt and enjoy one free night.
WestJet commenced daily nonstop flights between Montreal Dorval and Calgary the week of April 21 2003.
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Sources: Airlines, Airports, Air & Business Travel News, Airliners.net, Prnewswire.com and Travelocity.com
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