- On September 1, Qantas has launched year-round direct flights between Melbourne, Australia and San Francisco. The 12,646-kilometer (7,858 miles) ultra-long-haul route will be operated four times per week.
- Icelandic airline WOW air is to launch seasonal flights from the UK to Florida in December with one-way fares starting from under £130 ($169). The inaugural flight to Orlando International Airport will depart on December 18 from London Gatwick and Edinburgh. There will be three flights a week, but all of them will operate via Reykjavik, giving a total journey time from London and Edinburgh of just under 14 hours.
- American Airlines is expanding its international network with new flight offerings out of Philadelphia International Airport to a handful of European destinations. Starting next summer, American will add a total of nine new European routes, with four of them available out of Philadelphia.
From Philadelphia, flights will now be available to Dubrovnik, Croatia; Berlin, Germany; and Bologna, Italy. American will also begin offering daily summer flights to Edinburgh, Scotland from Philadelphia for the first time.
Service to Dublin, Ireland and Munich, Germany are being added at Dallas-Fort Worth, while Chicago is getting flights to Athens, Greece and Phoenix’s offerings expand to include London. In Charlotte, daily year-round service to Munich will be added. The new flights will function on a seasonal basis. Service starts between next March and June and will last through September and into October, coinciding with peak summer travel season.
- Also from American Airlines: Next March 31, the carrier will launch daily flights between London and Phoenix, Arizona. The summer only service will operate between Lond Heathrow and Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, will be operated by a two-class Boeing 777 featuring Premium Economy. It will be American’s first transatlantic flight from Phoenix and it will complement the service operated to Phoenix by British Airways, its transatlantic partner.
- Is a deal close between those seeking agreement between United Airlines and three Latin American carriers? In a process that has been in the works for more than a year, according to a consensus among the observers who cover the matter, United Airlines is closer to finalizing joint-venture agreements with Colombian flag carrier, Avianca, Panamanian Copa Airlines and Brazil’s Azul.
“I think we will do it in the not too distant future, but it is difficult to predict the exact moment. All the turmoil in Latin America complicates things,” said company president Scott Kirby at the recent International Aviation Forecast Summit in Denver,” adding, “These agreements would improve connectivity between the US and Latin American aviation markets and create growth opportunities.”
