Airports & Routes

The White House in its FY2020 budget request indicated plans to reform the Essential Air Service (EAS) program, opening up a schism between the Trump administration and rural airport operators who depend on the pre-deregulation-era program to make sure carriers continue flying to their communities.

A total of 16 African states have signed a memorandum of implementation (MOI) that formally opens their markets, simplifying intra-African air-transport liberalization and giving the project new momentum.

Air China plans to strengthen its Paris-Beijing operation by adding a third daily flight between the two cities from March 2020, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC).

LCC Air Arabia plans to use its incoming Airbus A321neoLRs to serve new routes in Southeast Asia.

More Chinese airlines are applying for more service rights to Paris from Beijing, raising the total of recent proposals to 31 weekly flights.

Philippine Airlines (PAL) is postponing the launch of its planned Manila-New Delhi route because political tensions between India and Pakistan have reduced demand.

Central and Eastern European LCC Wizz Air has accelerated the expansion of its base in Krakow, Poland, adding a third Airbus A321 and six new routes.

British Airways (BA) has brought in assistance on another route as it seeks to cope with the continuing disruption caused by problems with its Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines.

Etihad Airways and Gulf Air are to step up their recently signed wide-ranging cooperative agreement by instituting a codeshare from the start of the industry’s summer timetable season.

Airline Routes-March 19, 2019

European nations are making uneven progress toward meeting Single European Sky surveillance and communications technology requirements, according to the organization tasked with coordinating air traffic management (ATM) common projects.

The European Commission (EC) has given the go-ahead for French airports operator and infrastructure specialist Vinci to acquire majority control of London’s Gatwick Airport.

Austria’s Supreme Administrative Court has granted permission for Vienna Airport to add a third runway.

Infrastructure investor Macquarie has agreed to sell its 36% stake in Brussels Airport to a consortium of investors, made up of Netherlands-based pensions investor APG, Queensland Investment Corp. (QIC) and finance specialist Swiss Life.

The French parliament has approved a law governing the plan to reduce the state’s majority stake in Groupe ADP, bringing privatization of the Paris airports operator a step closer.

Air Belgium said it would not be resuming scheduled flights from Brussels Charleroi Airport to Hong Kong by March 31 as expected, in a setback to the startup airline’s expansion plans, which also include offering flights to mainland China.