—Following last week’s approval by the Mexican government of an agreement that will ultimately give Delta Air Lines a 49 percent stake in Aeroméxico, it was announced that—according to the schedule of share purchases and other steps that will have to be taken—the two carriers plan to grow their daily flights by 42 percent, reaching 100 flights a day between Mexico and the United States starting in the first months of 2018. More details later …
—On Oct. 28 this year, United Airlines will start to fly daily from New York/Newark to Buenos Aires in a new route that is still subject to government approval. United has also announced extra service to Bogota, Colombia (also from New York/Newark) from June 8 to August 14, totaling two daily flights during the period. With these new flights, United will be the North American company with the largest volume of services to South America, with a total of 14.
—Beginning this month, Condor has launched service from its base at Frankfurt to San Diego, California, as airline expand the number of its North American destinations to 16 this summer. Other new cities, where service has yet to start, include New Orleans and Pittsburgh. The three new destinations will supplement Condor’s existing North America 2017 collection, adding to Austin, Baltimore/Washington, Las Vegas, Portland (Oregon), Minneapolis-St. Paul, Seattle-Tacoma, Anchorage, Calgary, Fairbanks, Halifax, Toronto Pearson, Vancouver and Whitehorse †
—Israeli flag carrier El Al is coming back to South Florida with the announcement that it will resume nonstop flights from Israel to Miami in November with three flights a week. The airline last served Miami in 2008. El Al also flies to Boston, New York JFK, Newark and Los Angeles. “This decision is part and parcel of the strategy in which we recognize the importance of trans-Atlantic routes and our desire to expand EL AL’s presence in North America,” said David Maimon, El Al’s CEO.
—On May 1st, Air Canada began three new cross-border routes between Toronto Pearson Airport and: Memphis; San Antonio; and Savannah. The 2,290-kilometer (1,423 miles) flight to San Antonio in Texas is the longest of the three routes launched last week, while the distance to Memphis is 1,305 kilometers (811 miles), and the distance is 1,291 kilometers (802 miles) to Savannah. All are daily flights, according to OAG schedules, and none of Air Canada’s three new routes will face direct competition. †
† Source: anna.aero
