Delta Air Lines is launching a new flight from Rio de Janeiro to New York. The new flight begins on Dec. 21 and, through its strategic alliance with Gol, will expand the reach of this service to 23 other destinations in Brazil with uninterrupted connections at the Antônio Carlos Jobim International Airport in Rio de Janeiro.
On Dec. 11, Xiamen Airlines launched its first long-haul route from Qingdao to Los Angeles. Xiamen will offer three weekly flights on the 6.282-mile route. By launching services between Qingdao and Los Angeles, Xiamen Airlines now offers five non-stop transpacific city pairs. The airline also serves New York JFK, Seattle-Tacoma and Vancouver in North America.
Air China has begun a flight from Shenzhen to Los Angeles that will operate three times weekly
on its 787-9s. The new route means that Air China is now the second Chinese carrier after Xiamen Airlines to link the Chinese city to the US, with the latter carrier linking Shenzhen to Seattle-Tacoma.
Copa Airlines began flights to Colorado on Dec. 11, connecting Panama City to Denver. The new service is offered offer four times a week, with the route facing no direct competition. With the launch of flights to Denver, Copa now serves 13 destinations in the US, with it already having a presence at Boston, Chicago O’Hare, Fort Lauderdale, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York JFK, Orlando, San Francisco, Tampa and Washington Dulles. According to the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), Copa carried 2,282,022 passengers to/from the U.S. in 2016.
