—First: What effect will the bankruptcy of Avianca Brazil have on service to and from the USA?
According to a statement from the company, which declared bankruptcy last week, operations are not expected to be affected and “passengers can have complete peace of mind to make reservations and buy tickets, since all sales will be honored and flights will be operating.” Currently, the carrier serves 37 destinations—all but five are within Brazil. Of those five, only two are long-haul: to Miami and New York JFK. However, it serves as a feeder into Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, from which passengers can make international connections. It should be noted that Avianca Brazil, a brand of Oceanair Linhas Aereas SA (Oceanair), is not part of the group Avianca Holdings S.A, based in Colombia. The airline recorded net losses in the first half of the year of 175.6 million reais ($44.9 million), up 24.4 percent from the same period last year.
—Starting June 1st next year, TAP Air Portugal will run five return flights per week from Lisbon to Chicago O’Hare. On 16 June 2019 the airline will additionally add five weekly trips from Lisbon to Washington-Dulles. The new Chicago route will leave Lisbon at 1:05 p.m. and will arrive at Chicago O’Hare at 4:05 p.m.; the return leg will depart Chicago at 6:05 p.m. and will arrive in Lisbon at 7:50 a.m. on the following day. To Washington-Dulles; the flights will leave Lisbon at 4:30 p.m. and arrive at 7:20 p.m. and the return will depart at 10:40 p.m. and will arrive in Lisbon at 10:50 a.m. the next day.
—Also from TAP, the carrier will fly five weekly nonstop round-trips year-round, between San Francisco and Lisbon starting in June next year. The SFO flights will operate Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays, from June 10, departing SFO on at 4:10 p.m., and arriving in Lisbon at 11:25 a.m. the following morning. Returning flights leave Lisbon at 10am, arriving into SFO at 2:40 p.m. Economy fares from SFO to Lisbon start at just $380 one way, all-inclusive of taxes, or from $800 round-trip.
—Air India has returned to the Mumbai to New York JFK route after an eight-year absence. On Dec. 1st, it began three-times-a-week service on a route it last flew in October 2010 when it offered a daily rotation. Flights to JFK will leave Mumbai at 1:00 a.m. on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays, returning from JFK at 11:05 a.m., landing back in Mumbai just after midnight the following morning.
—Air New Zealand launched its longest non-stop flight on Nov. 30th, beginning three times weekly service between Auckland and Chicago O’Hare. The route measures 13,176-kilometers (8,187 miles). With this launch, the New Zealand flag carrier connects Auckland to five US destinations, with it already flying to Honolulu, Houston Intercontinental, Los Angeles and San Francisco. The airline also operates a daily service to Vancouver in Canada from New Zealand’s largest city and its home base.
—Eurowings began operations on its latest transatlantic route on December 1st, with the carrier taking over from Lufthansa on the 6,035-kilometre link between Düsseldorf and New York Newark). Eurowings already offers six times weekly service between Düsseldorf and New York JFK. No other airline will link Düsseldorf and New York this winter, giving Eurowings a monopoly in the market where it will offer 11 weekly flights.
