anna.aero - Airline network news & analysis - Comments

Comment on New airline routes launched (31 January – 6 February 2012) by James

James — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 16:42:48 +0000

What about the SAA JNB-Beijing flight, I would have thought that would have been the route of the week? Major route!

Comment on Malév shuts down, but which carriers might be interested in the 27 monopoly routes from Budapest? by Chris

Chris — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 00:25:21 +0000

15 of those routes listed are on/near the Balkan peninsula, a region where the economy is not so well at present, and nearly all other ‘home’ airlines are struggling either financially or through sub-optimal management.

Malev offered connecting flights through Budapest to much of Europe from these cities who would never have been able to support frequent, direct lines, the economic impact for business travellers will be sorely felt in the short-medium term…

Comment on Malév shuts down, but which carriers might be interested in the 27 monopoly routes from Budapest? by Tobias Lindenberger

Tobias Lindenberger — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 15:51:44 +0000

Lufthansa has announced daily flights from Hamburg & Berlin to Budapest.

Air Berlin also announced a daily flight from Berlin to Budapest.

Comment on Malév shuts down, but which carriers might be interested in the 27 monopoly routes from Budapest? by James Pearson

James Pearson — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 13:30:08 +0000

“Wizz will move to major airports like Zaventem, Schipol, Malpensa, Roissy, and leave FR to operate to remote airports…”

I really, really don’t see that happening! But, we shall see.

Comment on Cebu Pacific next low-cost long-haul operator in Asia; follows AirAsia X, Jetstar, Scoot and Norwegian by James Pearson

James Pearson — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 13:29:28 +0000

“That’s the reason why they only have A320s in their fleet.”

Don’t forget their ATR-72s.

Comment on Malév shuts down, but which carriers might be interested in the 27 monopoly routes from Budapest? by Vik LCA

Vik LCA — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 10:01:57 +0000

Smartwings (Travel Service) are introducing 4 weekly flights BUD-LCA

Comment on Malév shuts down, but which carriers might be interested in the 27 monopoly routes from Budapest? by Andras Foldvari

Andras Foldvari — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 11:22:35 +0000

Wizz will move to major airports like Zaventem, Schipol, Malpensa, Roissy, and leave FR to operate to remote airports.. they never ever compete directly

Comment on Malév shuts down, but which carriers might be interested in the 27 monopoly routes from Budapest? by Jerzy Jemiolo

Jerzy Jemiolo — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 01:43:59 +0000

Wizz Air and Ryanair have already announced expansion in BUD. FR will establish another base in BUD, with about 30 routes, starting from February 17! Therefore, chances for Malev’s reincarnation are arther slim? Wizz and Ryanair are now against each other. Will CSA, apparently also under stress, follow Malev’s path?

Comment on easyJet CEO Carolyn McCall talks to anna.aero about the London Southend Airport base by Rory

Rory — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 23:25:25 +0000

They will probadly move A320′s to Stansted and make it more productive less time sitting around

Comment on Cebu Pacific next low-cost long-haul operator in Asia; follows AirAsia X, Jetstar, Scoot and Norwegian by Raobert

Raobert — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 12:51:36 +0000

That is the first time I hear an airline speaking about breaking the KLM monopoly of Europe-Phils direct flights.
I am delighted to hear Cebu Pacific has noticed this lack of direct flights and plans to do something about it. It would be a real pleasure to board their aircraft in Paris or Brussels and flight hassle free to MNL.

Comment on UK airports anticipate over 130 new routes in 2012 as Olympic ‘fever’ grips the nation; Manchester and Ryanair lead way by Darren Cliff

Darren Cliff — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 12:28:54 +0000

Lufthansa will commence 12 weekly flights from Birmingham on Tuesday May 2nd using Eurowings CR9 aircraft

Comment on Cebu Pacific next low-cost long-haul operator in Asia; follows AirAsia X, Jetstar, Scoot and Norwegian by Vir Maguigad

Vir Maguigad — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 10:58:28 +0000

It is new for Cebu Pacific because it has concentrated in the Philippine domestic market and regional Asian routes. That’s the reason why they only have A320s in their fleet.
The FAA has just undergone a review of the Philippine aviation last month and it is with expectation that the Philippines will be back to Category I by the end of this year or early 2013.
There are currently 10 million Filipinos living abroad. That alone is a good incentive for Cebu Pacific to pursue long haul markets as Philippine Airlines is unable to meet demand.

Comment on Avianca faces rapid expansion with aircraft orders and Star Alliance membership by Pablo (Col)

Pablo (Col) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 18:39:38 +0000

There is a small error in the article: Lan Colombia and Aires are the same airline so dividing them makes no sense.

Avianca is starting services to Havana this march and has been expected to launch flights to LHR next summer. Apparently they got slots in Gatwick but they dropped them in favor of seeking some rare slots in Heathrow.

Comment on Cebu Pacific next low-cost long-haul operator in Asia; follows AirAsia X, Jetstar, Scoot and Norwegian by Juergen Witte

Juergen Witte — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 21:31:05 +0000

Well, those plans are nice (and not new) but still we need to see the Philippines to be back in FAA cat.I as well as taken off the EU black list before any long haul aspirations of Cebu Pacific may start …

Comment on Air Malta facing increasing competition from Ryanair; passenger numbers down 4% in 2011 on 12 Airbus fleet by David F.

David F. — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 12:28:20 +0000

AirMalta has never made a profit for the last ten years or so. The Maltese government is the sole owner and lots of subsidies are given to the airline every year.
Once these subsidies stops, the airline will become bankrupt as most other small airlines happened in last couple of years…By the way Last financial year it made a loss of 34€ million.

Comment on Spanair collapse good for the routes of Vueling, Air Europa and Iberia, bad for Star Alliance by Andreas Akerman (anna.aero)

Andreas Akerman (anna.aero) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 15:53:03 +0000

Looking at the current week’s schedule, we actually get Lufthansa as larger than TAP Portugal by both frequencies (21%) and seat capacity (135%), but it is possible that this differs over the year.

Comment on Spanair collapse good for the routes of Vueling, Air Europa and Iberia, bad for Star Alliance by Nuno Costa

Nuno Costa — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 14:24:36 +0000

I believe TAP Portugal has more frequencies into Spain than Lufthansa being therefore the biggest Star Alliance airline operating in that market on frequencies.

Comment on Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary – the award-winning interview by Juergen

Juergen — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 11:30:27 +0000

Is the “weak route analysis” one of those Excel analyses by Anna.aero?
But yes, one would like to unintentionally stumble onto that PC and open the file on the big screen

Anyway, for Ryanair I assume there must be a sheet in there saying “weak airports analysis” as they still rely obviously very much on the airports to offer lowered charges? (as also emphasised by MOL). Open to speculation – we will never know

Comment on Chengdu rises to #5 in Mainland China as Etihad arrives by Andreas Akerman (anna.aero)

Andreas Akerman (anna.aero) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 16:46:04 +0000

Indeed, the week analysed is the current week, the Chinese New Year week (the source is OAG Schedules iNET for w/c 23 January 2012), but we don’t agree that this makes the analysis invalid.

I have compared this week’s schedule with that of random weeks later this winter scheduling season and the differences are not considerable. In fact, while OAG data shows that KLM operates its route three (not four) times weekly during most of the winter season, the twice-weekly schedule is loaded for several weeks in both February and March as well.

Comment on Chengdu rises to #5 in Mainland China as Etihad arrives by Alexander ter Kuile

Alexander ter Kuile — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 16:06:25 +0000

Regretfully, you regularly make small errors in your analysis. This pulls down the value of your service to those who generally enjoy your product.

AMSTERDAM – CHENGDU is served 4x/week by KLM with a B747-400 combi aircraft to meet strong pax. and cargo demand. KLM is in competition with dedicated cargo carriers who offer CTU-AMS freighter services.

- dep. 20:55 AMS – arr. 12:20 CTU KL 0891 Non-Stop B747-400 Combi
Operation: Sun, Tue, Wed, Fri

You may have selected the Chinese NEW YEAR week for your data analysis. ALL airlines significantly reduce their flights during this week, by as much as 50%. This would make your entire analysis invalid.
But…please continue the good work.
Alexander ter Kuile

Comment on Which routes have Air France, British Airways and Lufthansa stopped operating during the last year? by Andreas Akerman (anna.aero)

Andreas Akerman (anna.aero) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 10:45:32 +0000

Yes, it seems this route has been dropped by BA, leaving only easyJet’s Stansted flights from the London area.

Comment on Which routes have Air France, British Airways and Lufthansa stopped operating during the last year? by moira frau

moira frau — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 14:30:07 +0000

I wonder if you know if British Airways have stopped direct flights from Gatwick London and Cagliari Sardinia this year..they normally start around beginning of March but I am unable to find ANY flights on the internet – even looking up to June 2012.
Can you possibly provide any update on the situation please for me.
Many thanks.

Moira Frau

Comment on Marseille expecting record 2012 as Air France and Ryanair lead network expansion of over 30 new services by Allplane

Allplane — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 20:13:29 +0000

Totally agree with your assessment of Barcelona services from Marseille, the two cities are simply too close. It would make sense to have some sort of “feeder” service if BCN was more of a hub, but I see limited potential in point to point traffic for it to support 3 carriers, one of them with A320 (I think Spanair was also offering this route).

Comment on UK airports anticipate over 130 new routes in 2012 as Olympic ‘fever’ grips the nation; Manchester and Ryanair lead way by Nathan Wall

Nathan Wall — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 18:28:24 +0000

New routes news always interesting – it would be also good to see NET output comparisons including routes being stopped in articles like these

Comment on Vueling, Europe’s 4th biggest LCC, reveals major expansion in Barcelona; network to grow from 47 to 70 destinations by Allplane

Allplane — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 16:02:46 +0000

No big surprise with the new TLS base (particularly now that Air France and Easyjet are upping their game at France’s regional airports), will see how it works with the new routes from BCN. Exciting times for the Spanish market in any case! http://allplane.blogspot.com/2012/01/spanish-airline-industry-in-state-of.html

Comment on UK airports anticipate over 130 new routes in 2012 as Olympic ‘fever’ grips the nation; Manchester and Ryanair lead way by John Glamorgan

John Glamorgan — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 00:55:55 +0000

Vueling have announced today three weekly services to both Alicante and Palma from Cardiff. These are in addition to the 3 weekly Barcelona service announced last year.

Comment on UK airports anticipate over 130 new routes in 2012 as Olympic ‘fever’ grips the nation; Manchester and Ryanair lead way by Andreas Akerman (anna.aero)

Andreas Akerman (anna.aero) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 09:35:09 +0000

Those routes did, however, launch in 2011.

Comment on UK airports anticipate over 130 new routes in 2012 as Olympic ‘fever’ grips the nation; Manchester and Ryanair lead way by Jason

Jason — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 17:57:17 +0000

Also new to Gatwick – Luthansa to Frankfurt, Vietnam Airlines to Hanoi and Ho Chi Min City, Turkish to Istanbul. The list keeps growing. Aeroflot plan an Olympic service.

Comment on World’s airlines already plan over 830 new routes for 2012 by Arthur Dent

Arthur Dent — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 16:49:33 +0000

Ryanair now has 14 new routes from Paphos and 19 from Girona so that’s another 33 to add to the 115 already announced. And yet passenger numbers were up only 5% last year …

Comment on Alitalia’s low-cost “smart carrier” Air One to launch third base with international flights from Venice Marco Polo by Andreas Akerman (anna.aero)

Andreas Akerman (anna.aero) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 10:27:01 +0000

Hi Javier,

It seems that OAG lists that route as ending on 22 June, but looking in your booking tool confirms that you indeed operate 14 times weekly as well. Thanks for pointing it out!

Andreas Akerman, Deputy Editor