Fares Should Fall Soon: Lower oil prices and stronger worldwide GDP growth are helping boost global airline profitability and should trigger a drop in passenger fares. Airlines are expected to post a collective global net profit for 2014 of $19.9 billion—a 10.5 percent increase over the $18 billion estimate projected just last June— according to latest estimates from the International Air Transport Association (IATA). The figure looks set to increase to $25 billion in 2015. “Consumers will benefit substantially from the stronger industry performance as lower industry costs and efficiencies are passed through,” IATA said, with average return air fares, excluding taxes and surcharges, expected to fall by some 5.1 percent from 2014 levels.
FLIGHT WATCH:
New Flights: Increased demand, in addition to the regular ramp-up in summer service announced at the beginning of the year, has generated the following:
- United Airlines announced it will operate additional flights to Shanghai and Chengdu, China. The current daily service between San Francisco and Shanghai will increase to two flights daily from May 6 to Oct. 24, 2015, and the three-times-weekly service between San Francisco and Chengdu will increase to daily service from June 4 to Sept. 1, 2015, both routes subject to government approval. The new summer-season service will operate in addition to United’s current daily year-round flights between San Francisco and Shanghai.
- EVA Air will initiate non-stop flights between Taipei and Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport on June 19, 2015. The airline will start the new service with three flights a week and increase frequency to four on July 1, 2015. The route will give passengers a comfortable way to fly from the Southwestern region of the United States to Taipei, and, then connect onward to major destinations throughout Asia, including more than 30 in Mainland China.
- After a four-year hiatus, Delta Air Lines will resume daily non-stop flights from Pittsburgh to Paris for the summer. Daily service to Paris-Charles de Gaulle operates from June 15 through September 6 and marks the first year of daily flights on the route since 2011. The service actually kicks off May 10 with five weekly flights and drops back again to five days a week starting September 7 through October 24 after the peak summer period.
• VivaAerobus will launch new international service to DFW International Airport from two of Mexico’s largest cities, Guadalajara and to Monterrey, starting on March 28, 2015. VivaAerobus currently serves 21 destinations in Mexico with hubs in Monterrey and Cancun, and also serves three other U.S. destinations (Houston, San Antonio and Las Vegas) in addition to DFW Airport. - ANA plans to connect Tokyo and Houston, Texas with nonstop air service beginning in the spring of 2015. The new flight will operate between Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport and Tokyo’s Narita International Airport. The flight will depart Houston at 11:20 a.m. (CST).
- Air Canada will start flying nonstop from Toronto to Delhi, India starting November 2015.
It will operate four times a week from Nov.1, 2015.
