Page 028-032 Flying 16/09/2013 10:40 Page 2
Aviation with Gerry O’Hare
OCTOBER 2013 PAGE 29
THE FLYING COLUMN
RYANAIR became the first European airline to carry 9m passengers in one month. .
AER LINGUS reported that its long haul flown load factor was a spectacular 94.9pc in August.
DUBLIN Airport said it expects transatlantic traffic this year is set for a new record, with more than 1.8m passengers. The figure had fallen to 1.5m in 2010. Overall numbers at the airport are up 6pc. AIR LITUANICA have scheduled flights from Dublin to Vilnius and Palanga over Christmas and New Year.
BRITISH Airways launches non-stop flights from Heathrow to the Texan state capital, Austin, next March. A fare of €600 return is available for some dates. But BA is ending its link to Lusaka in Zambia from November, due to rising losses.
ETIHAD will maintain their Boeing 777300ER service on Dublin to Abu Dhabi through the winter.
Newcastle: a new winter route for Aer Lingus Regional
Winter cities
Lingus brings significant capacity increase to Boston
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er Lingus have finalised their winter schedule including a new weekly wintersun service from Shannon to Lanzarote October 26th to March 29th. The Shannon flight will provide an additional 8,000 seats over the winter season, commences on October 26th. Aer Lingus regional is to fly Dublin-Newcastle from October 24, 13 per week using an ATR 42/72, The new routes schedule was officially unveiled, with most media ac-
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cepting Dublin-Toulouse as a new route, despite the fact that the route operated as a charter last year and will be 80pc sold by Topflight this winter. The 60pc capacity increase to Boston is the most significant development in the announcement, and there are capacity increases on 11 other routes such as Lisbon, Malaga, Lyon, Paris, Geneva and Hamburg. Customers travelling between Dublin and Boston will benefit from an extra four weekly flights, bringing
TURKISH TO CARRY 46m PASSENGERS
urkish Airlines has opened their 104th country and 238th Destination, Kathmandu in Nepal. In the recent Skytrax awards Turkish Airlines was named the Best Airline in Europe for the third year and the airline recently won the Marketing Award at the Airline Strategy Awards
2013. Turkish Airlines introduced Comfort Class this summer offering seat pitch of 45.7 inches (116 cm) and the seat width is 19.5 inches (49 cm). Each row has a 2-32 seating configuration. Turkish carried 22.4m passengers in the first six months of the year, up 26pc year-on-year and
aims to increase passenger numbers to 46m this year from 39m last year. Turkish minister Binali Yildirim who said the proposed third airport in Istanbul, located in Silivri would have a capacity of 150m.
the total number of services per week to eleven. Flights from Shannon to Boston will operate daily services, year-round, from January. Aer Lingus says customers connecting between Europe and the U.S. this winter have more choice than before. U.S. cities of New York, Boston and Chicago can be easily reached from Rome, Malaga, Stockholm, Cardiff, Newcastle and Aberdeen, via Dublin Airport.
TURKISH added Kathmandu as its latest transfer destination through Istanbul, the 104th country and 238th destination. Since last weekend TK726 departs Istanbul Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday at 21:45, and TK727 departs KTM Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday at 08:45. Etihad will increase its Abu Dhabi-Kathmandu service from seven flights per week to a double daily schedule from Nov
GOODBODY stockbrokers aviation investor conference in the Gibson hotel speakers included Christophe Mueller; Leo Varadkar; Domhnal Slattery of Avalon; Willie Walsh and Michael O’Leary. ETIHAD Airways is introducing a dedicated nanny service to assist families during long-haul flights.
BAGGAGE THEFT Seven baggage handlers at JFK Airport in New York were arrested for allegedly stealing jewellery, watches and ipads from checked baggage.
MERGERS There was speculation that Brussels will adopt a system used in Britain and Germany where minority stakes can trigger an investigation by competition authorities. DELTA said they will buy ten A330-300s
and 30 A321s for delivery between 2015 and 2017. observers say underscores the carrier's desire for a deal as well as the competitiveness between the world's two biggest jetmakers. Delta has signed a firm order for 30 Airbus A321s, likely to be used mostly on domestic flights, and 10 A330 widebodies that are geared toward long-haul international routes. The new planes are to be delivered to Delta between 2015 and 2017. Delta's order is only the second that it has ever placed with Airbus, with the last coming more than two decades ago.
Murat Balandi: Country manager for Turkish Airlines operations in Ireland
ETIHAD launched its inaugural flight
from Abu Dhabi to Sana’a, Yemen’s political and commercial capital.