Asian Carriers Hosts Forum As Regional Travel Restrictions Ease

Friday, November 11, 2022 at 08:00 AM ET

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A Thai Airways Airbus A380 taxis at London's Heathrow Airport. (Photo: AirlineGeeks | William Derrickson)

The Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA)’s 66th Assembly of Presidents is being held in Bangkok, Thailand this week. After two years of virtual assemblies due to the coronavirus pandemic, the airline leaders of the AAPA member airlines have said they are “cautiously optimistic” about the immediate future of air travel in the region.

For some carriers, their home countries have only recently removed some or all of travel restrictions for international travel. For example, it was only on 11 October that Japan lifted the ‘on-arrival test at the quarantine station, self-quarantine in places such as…own residence or accommodations, and refrained from public transportation.’ Japan still requires either a valid COVID-19 vaccination certificate of three doses of vaccines or a certificate of the negative test result of a pre-departure COVID-19 test conducted within 72 hours prior to departure from the original country/region.

Travel restrictions aside the AAPA advised on Thursday that for the first nine months of 2022, Asia Pacific airlines recorded a 500 percent increase in the number of international passengers carried compared to the same period in 2021. The figure of 62 million international passengers carried was on the back of a 125 percent increase in capacity lifting the average load factor to 70 percent. Perhaps illustrating the lack of travel in the region during the same period in 2021 marks an incredible 40 percentage point load factor increase.

Subhas Menon, Director General of the AAPA, stated, “The region’s recovery still lags behind the rest of the world and is expected to reach only 75% of 2019 levels by year-end. Except for mainland China, the gradual reopening of borders in many economies in Asia and strong recovery in air services only underscore the magnitude of pent-up travel demand.”

Ahead of the AAPA Assembly of Presidents, Bloomberg reports Thai Airways’ Chairman of Rehabilitation Plan, Piyasvasti Amranand, stating a few of the challenges that the region and the wider industry still face. The airline is currently under a ‘court-monitored debt restructuring’ after shedding half of its workforce and 40 percent of its aircraft. Acknowledging the challenges airlines are facing in acquiring newer more fuel-efficient aircraft the chairman said: “It’s not all that easy now, the market is changing — to be getting new or second-hand leasing of wide-bodies or narrowbodies.”

As a result, Thai Airways is set to hold onto three Airbus A330s and two Boeing 777-200ERs it had intended to sell. Both aircraft are scheduled to re-enter service in early 2023. According to Bloomberg, the airline had 100 aircraft in its fleet pre-Covid but currently has 61 with plans to add a further 18 into the fleet in the next two years. It is reported that Thai Airways is considering bringing back six A380s in 2024 to add capacity to the network in the absence of newer aircraft.

John Flett

John has always had a passion for aviation and through a career with Air New Zealand has gained a strong understanding of aviation operations and the strategic nature of the industry. During his career with the airline, John held multiple leadership roles and was involved in projects such as the introduction of both the 777-200 and -300 type aircraft and the development of the IFE for the 777-300. He was also part of a small team who created and published the internal communications magazines for Air New Zealand’s pilots, cabin crew and ground staff balancing a mix of corporate and social content. John is educated to postgraduate level achieving a masters degree with Distinction in Airline and Airport Management. John has held the positions of course director of an undergraduate commercial pilot training programme at a leading London university. In addition he is contracted as an external instructor for IATA (International Air Transport Association) and has been a member of the Heathrow Community Fund’s ‘Communities for Tomorrow’ panel.

JetSMART Requests Authorization to Open a Subsidiary for Domestic Flights in Colombia

Aviacionline

Thursday, November 10, 2022 at 08:30 PM ET

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Ryan Ewing

A JetSMART Airbus A320 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Pablo Diaz)

On November 24, a Public Hearing by the Colombian Aeronautical Authority (Aerocivil) will be held, where it will be revealed that JetSMART requested to open a subsidiary in Colombia to operate domestic flights.

According to the request, the company plans to have twelve Airbus A320neo that will be incorporated over a period of three years and will be based at El Dorado International Airport (BOG), Bogota, for scheduled passenger, cargo, and mail flights. But the company also requested 111 domestic routes, where different cities will have between 10 and 12 destinations, with a focus on Barranquilla, Bucaramanga, Cartagena, Cali, Medellin/Rionegro and San Andres.

By the end of 2022, JetSMART’s South American fleet will consist of eleven Airbus A320ceo, ten A320neo and three A321neo. By 2023, the company would receive 14 additional A320neo and A321neo aircraft to be distributed among the three countries and/or an eventual fourth country.

All these planes are part of an order for more than 430 Airbus A320 family aircraft signed in 2019 by the airline’s controlling group, Indigo Partners, from which ninety would be transferred to JetSMART. The company maintains the goal of reaching one hundred aircraft by 2026, including fourteen A321XLRs that will allow it to reach destinations in Mexico, the United States and the Caribbean from its bases in Argentina, Peru and Chile.

JetSMART’s entry into a stirred market

The Chilean branch of the Ultra-Low-Cost operates four international routes to Colombia: Santiago to Bogota, Cali and Medellin; and Antofagasta-Cali. In addition, JetSMART Peru was authorized to operate to seven Colombian cities from Lima, Arequipa, and Cusco.

During 2022, Ultra Air became the newest Colombian airline and has transported more than 900,000 passengers so far this year. It currently operates with 6 Airbus A320ceo on fifteen domestic routes and plans to launch its first international routes next year.

JetSMART’s request came at a time when the local VIVA is processing the rejection of integration with Avianca by Aerocivil. The low-cost airline has stated on several occasions that it is going through a complicated financial situation because of the increase in the price of fuel and inflation, which puts its survival at risk if its agreement with Avianca is not approved.

This article was originally published by Gastón Sena on Aviacionline in syndication with AirlineGeeks.

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Brazilian Aviation Authority Grants JetSMART Argentina Permission to Fly to Rio de Janeiro

Aviacionline

Thursday, November 10, 2022 at 07:30 PM ET

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Pablo Diaz

A JetSmart Argentina Airbus A320 aircraft. (Photo: JetSmart)

Brazil’s National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC) authorized JetSmart Airlines SA to begin regular international operations in the country. The low-cost carrier will start its first flights between Argentina and Brazil on December 6, connecting Buenos Aires/Ezeiza (EZE) with Rio de Janeiro (GIG).

The company had announced that it would return to Brazil with the Chilean subsidiary in mid-2022, but at the end of August it announced that JetSMART Argentina would land in Rio de Janeiro instead, with five weekly flights.

Rio de Janeiro is Argentina’s main tourist destination: in 2019, 842,552 passengers were mobilized between Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro through five companies (Aerolineas Argentinas, Emirates, Flybondi, GOL and LATAM).

It is worth noting that ANAC Brazil’s authorization to operate between Argentina and Brazil, includes other destinations that the ultra-low-cost had approved by ANAC Argentina after the 2018 Public Hearing: Brasilia, Belo Horizonte, Curitiba, Florianópolis, Porto Alegre, São Paulo and Viracopos/Campinas from Buenos Aires, Bariloche, Córdoba, Mendoza, Neuquén, Puerto Iguazú, Rosario, Salta and Tucumán.

JetSMART Argentina is the fifth low-cost airline to be authorized in Brazil, adding 8 routes connecting four Brazilian cities with four South American cities:

Flybondi

According to ANAC Brazil, between January and September 2022, Flybondi transported 184,394 passengers. The company doubled its operations compared to the 2019/20 summer season.

From Buenos Aires/Ezeiza (EZE) to Rio de Janeiro/Galeão (GIG) it operates double daily flights. São Paulo/Guarulhos (GRU) with 6 weekly flights. Florianópolis (FLN) with 7-9 weekly flights.

JetSMART Chile

The company had suspended all its operations to Brazil during the COVID-19 health crisis, and for brief periods operated to Foz do Iguaçu. By December it would recover this last destination and launch a new one: Rio de Janeiro.

From Santiago (SCL) it operates to Rio de Janeiro/Galeão (GIG) with 6 weekly flights and to Foz do Iguaçu (IGU) with 2 weekly flights.

SKY Airlines

The Chilean airline transported 162,453 passengers in the first nine months of the year. The only destination it has not resumed is Salvador (SSA), but its current operations have increased its frequencies and seat offer compared to 2019, since it incorporated the Airbus A321neo in its routes.

From Santiago (SCL) it flies to Rio de Janeiro/Galeão (GIG) with 9 weekly flights, increasing to double daily flights as of January 2023. In addition, it covers the route to São Paulo/Guarulhos (GRU) with 6 weekly flights, increasing to double daily flights in January 2023. Florianópolis (FLN) currently involves one daily flight.

VIVA

VIVA is the latest low-cost carrier to enter the Brazilian market, inaugurating operations in July. In its first three months it transported 11,467 passengers, with an occupancy rate of 78%.

From Medellín/Rionegro (MDE) to São Paulo/Guarulhos (GRU) with 4 weekly flights, increasing to 5 by the end of November.

This article was originally published by Gastón Sena on Aviacionline in syndication with AirlineGeeks

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Avelo Airlines Set to Open its Fifth Base in Raleigh-Durham

Aviacionline

Thursday, November 10, 2022 at 01:28 PM ET

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Pablo Diaz

Boarding Avelo's first ever commercial flight in Burbank. (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Taylor Rains)

Avelo Airlines will open its fifth base at Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU) by February of next year. The new base allows the airline to expand its air service in North Carolina and the East Coast of the United States.

Effective February 2, 2023, Avelo adds the following nonstop services: Fort Lauderdale (FLL), Orlando (MCO), Sarasota – Bradenton (SRQ), Tampa (TPA), Fort Myers (RSW) and West Palm Beach (PBI). The airline will have promotional fares available from USD 29 to MCO and USD 39 to the remaining five destinations in Florida, tickets are already available from the company’s website and its regular channels.

“Our six new nonstop routes in Florida are just the beginning. Establishing RDU as Avelo’s fifth base will allow us to provide affordable and convenient nonstop access to even more destinations. We appreciate the warm welcome Avelo has received from Raleigh, Durham and the surrounding areas; we look forward to strengthening our presence in this vibrant community with the opening of Avelo’s new base here in February,” said Andrew Levy, president and chief executive officer of Avelo Airlines.

Growth at RDU

The airline will position one Boeing 737 Next Generation and plans to add a second unit by the first quarter of 2023. In the coming years, the airline plans to base between five and seven aircraft at RDU and move hundreds of thousands of passengers annually.

To support this new base the company plans to create at least 50 jobs by the first half of next year. The employee profile roles the airline will seek include flight attendants, pilots, airport customer service, technical operations personnel, and aircraft maintenance.

“Research Triangle has long been recognized as one of the best places in the country to live, work and visit. We are excited to see Avelo expand its presence at RDU and create exciting new job opportunities at the airport,” said Michael Landguth, president and CEO of the Raleigh-Durham Airport Authority.

Avelo’s new route schedule at Raleigh-Durham (RDU)

Orlando (MCO)
Effective February 2, 2023: Monday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday.

Tampa (TPA)
As of February 3, 2023: Mondays and Fridays.
As of February 16, 2023: Monday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday.

Fort Lauderdale (FLL)
As of February 16, 2023: Monday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday.

Fort Myers (RSW)
From February 16, 2023: Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday.

Sarasota – Bradenton (SRQ)
As of February 17, 2023: Monday, Friday and Saturday.

West Palm Beach (PBI)
From February 17, 2023: Monday, Friday and Saturday.

This article was originally published by Rainer Nieves Dolande on Aviacionline in syndication with AirlineGeeks.

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Qantas Wins “Shonky” Award for 2022

Mike Mangano

Thursday, November 10, 2022 at 07:00 AM ET

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Benjamin Pham

A Qantas 787 Dreamliner lifting out of Paine Field in Washington. (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Katie Zera)

Qantas has once again found itself under heavy criticism, having been awarded the Australian Consumers’ Association’s “Shonky” award on Nov. 3. CHOICE — the not-for-profit advocacy group — was plain in its assessment, stating the airline “appeared to deliberately be going out of its way to winning a Shonky award.”

The airline had several shortcomings, such as flight delays, cancellations, baggage handling failings and refund policies. The group also added that Australia’s national carrier is performing at budget airline levels, despite advertising itself as a premium carrier.

CHOICE money and travel expert Jodi Bird said, “People are still paying premium prices, but not getting premium service.”

Having made headlines across Australia’s news networks, the award is the latest condemnation in what has been a year of disapproval for Qantas since Australia’s borders opened up following the multi-year COVID lockdowns.

“The Spirit of Disappointment”

Taking a sled at Qantas’ slogan ‘the Spirit of Australia’, CHOICE stated the Shonky award was given “for being the spirit of disappointment.”

Highlighting the much-publicized cancellations and late arrivals of Qantas, CHOICE made mention of its July performance, which saw the airline fall to 47.1 percent for on-time arrivals. Despite considerable improvement since, the advocacy group went on to state that “the travel chaos at airports and cases of lost baggage has been well documented” — a reference to entire flights where passenger baggage had not been loaded.

Moving onto refunds, Bird added, “At the beginning of the pandemic Qantas communicated to their customers that they were entitled to a credit voucher for canceled flights. Qantas didn’t state upfront that customers may be entitled to refunds,” Jodi says. This confusion – added to an inability to use credits on cheaper flights – resulted in the airline holding onto approximately 1.4 billion Australian Dollars ($906 million).

With regard to call wait times, CHOICE engaged in mystery shopping in September 2022, finding Qantas wait times averaged 21 minutes and a maximum wait of 50 minutes. Contrasting to Virgin Australia, CHOICE stated “Qantas still lagged behind competitor Virgin, whose customers waited an average of five minutes, and a maximum of 13 minutes. It’s no wonder that Qantas was the most complained-about company to CHOICE by readers and members in 2022.”

CHOICE concluded with strong commentary, referring to Qantas’ apology which saw the airline distribute 50 Australian dollars to its frequent flyers, by saying “We think throwing peanuts at their customers is still not good enough when the airline continues to let them down.”

Airline Fires Back at Criticism

In response to the nationwide criticism, Qantas released a statement in which it says its “operations have improved every month to be around, or better than pre-COVID levels.”

The statement, while acknowledging internal causes behind its cancellation rate, again demonstrated Qantas’ tendency to assign fault to other factors such as weather and “air traffic control constraints.” Additionally, aiming to prop itself up, the airline added that, “Qantas outperformed our main domestic competitor for the eighth month out of the past 12.” That ‘main competitor’ — presumably Virgin Australia —managed to reach an on-time arrival and departure percentage for September of 68.2 percent and 66.7 percent respectively. Qantas, according to the same Australian Government source, achieved 69.2 percent and 69 percent respectively.

Referring to figures not yet verified by the Australian Government’s monthly report, said that the airline had reduced cancellation rates to 2.2 percent for the month of October, an apparent improvement from what it says was 2.4 percent for September. According to government statistics, Qantas as a whole reached 2.5 percent for September, with only its regional arm QantasLink actually reaching the 2.4 percent cancellation rate.

According to Qantas, its pre-COVID cancellation rate was 2.4 percent.

This article was updated on Thursday, Nov. 10, 2022 at 9:43 p.m. ET to correct an error in a figure that should have been $1.4 billion instead of “million.”

Mike Mangano

Mike’s love affair with flight and mechanical objects in the sky began at an early age, fascinated by space documentaries and the vintage Flight Simulator ’95. He currently works as an instructor for UAVs and is training to receive his Private Pilot Licence with the goal of working in manned flight instruction. An avid reader of all things aviation and manned space flight, Mike stays close to developments in aerospace while reminiscing and sharing the rich history of flight with others. He loves writing, engineering and science.

Emirates and Gulf Air Launch Codeshare Agreement

Aviacionline

Wednesday, November 09, 2022 at 07:25 PM ET

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Pablo Diaz

Gulf Air's first A320neo (Photo: Airbus)

Emirates and Gulf Air today signed a new codeshare agreement on the first day of the Bahrain International Airshow. The partnership is scheduled to start next December, although it must still obtain regulatory approval.

Tim Clark, CEO of Emirates, and Waleed Al Alawi, CEO of Gulf Air, signed the agreement at an event that was also attended by Zayed R. Alzayani, Chairman of Gulf Air’s Board of Directors, and other members of the management teams of both airlines.

As a result of the agreement, customers of Gulf Air, the national carrier of the Kingdom of Bahrain, will have more and improved connection options. They will be able to use Emirates’ services from Dubai International Airport (DXB) to Europe, Africa, the Far East, and South America.

Once it comes into effect, Gulf Air will market tickets under its “GF” code for Emirates-operated flights. As is customary with this kind of agreements, the partnership will allow ticketing and check-in to be combined and unified into a single booking. In addition, users will have access to a unified baggage policy and more competitive fares. Service will be available through Gulf Air’s official website and the airline’s other online sales points.

“We are pleased to partner with Gulf Air to offer their customers greater access and strong connection opportunities to unique destinations on our network, complemented by Emirates’ signature in-flight service and hospitality throughout their journey from Dubai”, said Tim Clark.

“Our relationship with Emirates Airline has always been strong and today we are reaching a higher level of collaboration with many more opportunities in the horizon between the two carriers”, said Waleed Al Alawi. “This partnership will empower both of us to offer a more elevated experience to passengers and widen their travel options”, he added.

Emirates currently maintains codeshare agreements with twenty-six airlines as well as two rail operators. As a result, the Gulf’s largest carrier has expanded its network reach to more than three hundred new destinations.

This article was originally published by Agustin Miguens on Aviacionline in syndication with AirlineGeeks.

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State-Owned SATENA is the First Colombian Airline to Fly to Venezuela After the Pandemic

Aviacionline

Wednesday, November 09, 2022 at 03:46 PM ET

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Pablo Diaz

An Embraer 145 of state-owned SATENA prepares to reestablish the Colombia-Venezuela route. (Photo: SATENA Social Media)

On November 9 Satena became the first Colombian airline to land again in Venezuela after the pandemic. The state-owned airline and Turpial Airlines were the first airlines to operate non-stop services between the two nations after a suspension of more than two years.

Flight 9R 8920 was operated in an Embraer ERJ 145 registered under registration number HK-4535, which took off from El Dorado International Airport (BOG) at 08:39 local time and landed at Simon Bolivar International Airport (CCS) at 11:16, after two hours and 16 minutes. This first service was performed as a charter flight.

At the airport, in the ceremony of reception of this flight were Guillermo Reyes, Colombia’s Minister of Transportation; Francisco Ospina, Director of Colombia’s Civil Aeronautics; Óscar Zuluaga, President of Satena, in addition to employees of the state-owned airline, El Dorado Airport staff and members of the press.

“This is Satena’s first air operation to Caracas and abroad, we will give an almost full flight of Colombians and Venezuelans returning to their country or going for tourism and business, it is the formal opening of Colombia’s air operation to Venezuela,” said Guillermo Reyes, Colombian Minister of Transportation.

Currently, Satena and the Venezuelan National Institute of Civil Aeronautics (INAC) are working to obtain the necessary permits for the continued operation of the Colombian state-owned operator in Venezuela, which will increase air services between both nations.

On November 28, Satena has scheduled a non-stop service between Barranquilla (BAQ) and Caracas (CCS), tickets are already on sale from the company’s website and its regular channels. Promotional fares are available starting at US$378 each way. Colombia is among the countries authorized by INAC for regular passenger, cargo, and mail flights in Venezuelan territory. Other airline operators such as Avianca, LATAM Airlines, Ultra Air, Wingo, Láser and Avior are expected to join soon.

Juan Teixeira, president of INAC expressed through his social networks his enthusiasm for the opening of the air commercial sector between Venezuela and Colombia.

This article was originally published by Rainer Nieves Dolande on Aviacionline in syndication with AirlineGeeks.

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Virgin Atlantic Resumed Operations Between London and Cape Town

Aviacionline

Wednesday, November 09, 2022 at 02:45 PM ET

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Pablo Diaz

A Virgin Atlantic Boeing 787 Dreamliner in San Francisco. (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Ben Suskind)

On November 5 Virgin Atlantic resumed operations between London (LHR) and Cape Town (CPT), after an absence of 638 days. This route will complement its non-stop services to Johannesburg (JNB).

Flight VS 478 was operated in a Boeing 787 registered with the registration number G-VFAN and christened “Pin Up Girl”, which took off from Heathrow International Airport (LHR) at 18:00 local time and landed at Cape Town Airport (CPT) at 06:46 the following day, after 10 hours and 46 minutes.

Flight Itinerary

London/Heathrow – Cape Town Flight VS 478 LHR 17:40 – CPT 07:20+1 daily flights.
Cape Town – London/Heathrow Flight VS 479 CPT 10:20 – LHR 20:15 daily flights.

The route will be operated on Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft seating 258 passengers in three classes (31 Upper Class/35 Premium Economy/192 Economy).

“The return to this beautiful destination reflects the positive demand for long-haul travel to premium destinations. The daily direct service is expected to attract a substantial proportion of leisure travelers looking for a bit of winter sun to explore the world-renowned wine regions and soak up South Africa’s rich culture,” said Shai Weiss, CEO of Virgin Atlantic.

According to data compiled by the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) 377,938 passengers were flown between London and Cape Town. Prior to the pandemic, South Africa was the British capital’s main market in Africa in terms of passengers and seats per seat kilometers (ASK).

In addition, Virgin Atlantic has an interline agreement with AirLink giving travelers more options to connect to various domestic destinations in South Africa and other international routes in Africa.

This article was originally published by Rainer Nieves Dolande on Aviacionline in syndication with AirlineGeeks.

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South African Airways to Reintroduce Historical Routes, Plans for Intercontinental Flights in 2023

Victor Shalton

Tuesday, November 08, 2022 at 06:00 AM ET

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Parker Davis

A South African Airways A340 pushing back at Washington Dulles International Airport. (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Ben Suskind)

South African Airways has plans to expand its regional network across Southern Africa, with additional routes to be revealed, “in the coming weeks.” The airline will also be relaunching its intercontinental operations during the first quarter of 2023.

The announcement comes after the country’s International Air Services Council ratified all of the airline’s historical route traffic rights, following the airline voluntarily relinquishing the number of frequencies on the destinations not currently served.

Since SAA restarted its operations more than a year ago, it has struggled to get off the ground. It lost rights to 20 of its international destinations as they had not been served by the airline since March 2020.

The IASC ruled that the flag carrier be allowed to retain its traffic rights to all of its historical routes. The IASC — part of South Africa’s Department of Transport — is mandated under the International Air Services Licensing Act, which regulates and controls international air services in the country.

According to South Africa’s International Air Services Act, an international license is conditional on an air service not being interrupted for three months or longer, as determined by the IASLC. Airlines must commence or continue with an air service within 12 months from when the license was issued or amended.

In September 2022, the IASC canceled SAA’s flight frequencies on some routes due to inactivity for more than three months, according to News24.

The routes include frequencies to Harare, Zimbabwe; Kinshasha, Democratic Republic of the Congo; Mauritius; Lagos; Accra, Ghana; Lusaka, Zambia; Luanda, Angola; Nairobi; Lilongwe, Malawi; Blantyre, Malawe; Victoria Falls, Tanzania; Windhoek, Namibia; Entebbe, Uganda and Livingstone, Zambia.

In a statement published on the airline’s website, the airline confirmed plans to introduce “flights to Blantyre and Lilongwe in Malawi, Windhoek in Namibia, and Victoria Falls, in Zimbabwe before the start of the festive season.”

Together with increased frequencies to Accra, Cape Town, Durban, Harare, Lusaka, Mauritius and Kinshasa, these changes represent the second phase of the airline’s post-Covid-19 restart operations which commenced thirteen months ago.

Return to Long-haul Flights in 2023

South African Airways Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer John Lamola said the ariline met with the IASLC every quarter to review and justify its route network plan and existing traffic rights.

Routes and frequency licenses that were not part of the carrier’s medium-term plans would progressively be released to the IASLC.

While in business rescue, South African Airways managed to hang onto its international route rights partly because the IASLC was defunct for 12 months as Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula delayed its re-appointment – a move criticized as protectionism and which held up regional expansion plans of SAA’s privately-owned competitors.

According to ch-Aviation, Lamola last month said that SAA would double its leased fleet to 12 aircraft by April 2023 as part of a fleet and intercontinental route expansion plan to be implemented from November 2022 – irrespective of a delay or even indefinite postponement of its current strategic equity partnership deal with the Takatso Consortium.

After more than a year of negotiations, the transaction is now being examined by the country’s competition regulators.

By April, the fleet would consist of 10 Airbus A320-200s and one Airbus A330-300, Lamola said, with another wide-body still to be determined depending on which intercontinental routes the airline decides to re-enter first. Routes being considered include London; Perth, Australia and Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Victor Shalton

Victor Shalton's love for aviation can be traced to when he was 11-years-old. As a seasoned aviation writer, he takes pride in providing the best aviation coverage around the globe and is passionate about advancing his skills in the aviation space. In addition, he loves travelling, writing, arts and while his speaking engagements have taken him around the world, he is proud to call Nairobi home.

Delta Shifts Northeast Regional Schedule to Favor LaGuardia

Joey Gerardi

Monday, November 07, 2022 at 09:28 PM ET

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Edited By:

Ryan Ewing

An Endeavor Air CRJ-900 painted in the Delta Connection livery. (Photo: AirlineGeeks | William Derrickson)

Airlines around the world change their schedules constantly, and that’s not anything new. But over the last couple of months, Delta has had a considerable amount of shift in its schedule, most of which includes moving away from its Detroit hub on small regional jets.

Detroit to Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Allentown, Penn. ; and Dayton, Ohio, all routes which have already ended this Fall and were scheduled on the 50-seat CRJ-200. Detroit to Fort Wayne and Minneapolis to Moline, Ill. operated on a mix of aircraft from the CRJ-200 and CRJ-900 also have ended this Fall.

Detroit to South Bend, which operates on the CRJ-900 ends in less than a week on Nov. 8, 2022. Most of the routes previously mentioned only operated on a once-daily basis, moving away from the low-frequency flights on these small aircraft to smaller and mid-sized cities. In the recently changed new schedule, there are more cuts coming for the carrier’s Detroit-Metro hub, which seems to be taking most of the service cuts this Fall and into Winter.

State College, Penn., Binghamton, N.Y., and Ithaca, N.Y. all of which currently receive only a single daily service from Detroit in the middle of the day. The two New York cities’ flights operate on 50-seat CRJ-200s while State College flights operate on CRJ-700s. But come Jan. 9, 2023, all three of the cities will no longer see nonstop flights to Detroit. State College and Binghamton will both get twice daily flights to New York-LaGuardia, while Ithaca will get twice daily service to New York-JFK. All three new services will be on CRJ-900s which are operated by Delta’s subsidiary Endeavor Air.

A Delta Connection CRJ-900 operated by Endeavor Air (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Joey Gerardi)

These will be the sixth, seventh, and eighth cities that Detroit will lose in a matter of five months, showing a shift of regional jet service away from the Detroit hub to the New York City area. These are not the first shorter routes that Delta has announced from the New York City area this year, as the airline started its shortest route from LaGuardia which goes to Hartford, Conn., just over two months ago on Sept. 6, 2022. Binghamton will become the third shortest route from LaGuardia at 147 miles, after previously mentioned Hartford, Conn. at 101 miles and LaGuardia to Albany, N.Y. which sits at 136 miles.

Despite the loss of Destinations for Detroit, those in the Southern Tier of New York state now have more choices than ever about where they want to connect with Delta Air Lines. Elmira, N.Y., is located just over 30 miles from Ithaca and still has twice daily flights to Detroit on CRJ-900s meaning people in the region can now choose between the three southern tier airports depending on where they would like their connection to be, as each airport now has its own hub they serve.

People headed west can now fly out of Elmira through Detroit, those headed within the Northeast and South can fly out of Binghamton through LaGuardia, and those heading to international destinations can fly out of Ithaca through JFK.

All the destinations Delta has ended from Detroit this fall or coming January (Screenshot: GreatCircleMapper)

All information and flight schedule data were pulled from Delta’s website

Joey Gerardi

Joey has always been interested in planes for as long as he can remember. He grew up in Central New York during the early 2000s when US Airways Express turboprops ruled the skies. Being from a non-aviation family made it harder for him to be around planes and would only spend about three hours a month at the airport. He was so excited when he could drive by himself, the first thing he did with his driver's license was get ice cream and go plane spotting for the entire day. He graduated from Western Michigan University in 2022 with a B.S. in Aviation Management & Operations and a Minor in Business, and currently works for a major airline in his hometown.