Route Launch: July 2011 Archives

Swiss Airlines has announced that it will be launching flights to Beijing, China from 11th February 2012. The flights will operate daily, on board Airbus A340-300 aircraft.

Schedule:
LX196 ZRH1730 - 1020+1PEK 343 D Flying time: 9h50min
LX197 PEK1205 - 1600ZRH 343 D Flying time: 10h55min

The competition to this route comes from Hainan Airlines which operates thrice weekly service on the route on board Airbus A330-200 aircraft.

Virgin Australia (IATA:DJ) has announced the first routes for its new ATR72 turboprop aircraft, to be operated by Skywest Airlines. The new flights will begin on 31st October.
The aircraft will fly on

1. Brisbane - Gladstone : Twice daily
(No DJ service at present)

2. Brisbane - Port Macquarie : Daily
(No DJ service at present)

3. Sydney - Canberra
(Increases DJ service on route to 60 times weekly)

 Southwest Airlines has announced major changes to its network from early 2012 onwards. The new schedule sees integration of Air Tran services in some markets and frequency reductions in some others.Effective 7th January 2012

Etihad Airways from 16th December is launching service to Dusseldorf, it's 4th destination in Germany.

EY23 AUH 0205 - 0625 DUS 333 Mo, Fr
EY25 AUH 0900 - 1320 DUS 333 Tu, Th
EY24 DUS 1100 - 2025 AUH 333 Mo, Fr
EY26 DUS 2130 - 0655+1 AUH 333 Tu, Th

Dusseldorf will be the airline's 70th destination, with already announced Shanghai being the 71st destination.

Etihad today took its Chinese ambitions one step further by announcing the launch of its flights to Shanghai, hot on the heels of its announcement of Chengdu flights.

TAM has requested approval from ANAC to operate services from Sao Paulo to Mexico City. The airline plans to launch the flights from 30th October.
JJ8112 GRU MEX 0925 1600 332 D
JJ8113 MEX GRU 1925 0655 332 D

The route is presently flown by Aero Mexico with 9 weekly flights. As a result of launching this route, Paris flights will be temporarily reduced from twice to once daily.

Etihad Airways effective 15th December is launching flights to Chengdu, China. The route, presently subject to government approval, will operate four times a week on board Airbus A330-200 aircraft. Etihad becomes the first Middle Eastern carrier to operate into Chengdu.

EY818 AUH CTU 0825 1845 332 x136
EY811 CTU AUH 2015 0040+1 332 x136

Finnair (IATA:AY ) today announced that it will be launching flights to Chongqing, China, from May 2012. Chongqing will become the carrier's third mainland, and fourth overall, Chinese destination after Beijing, Shanghai and the SAR of Hong Kong.
Finnair plans to fly to Chongqing four times a week, on board Airbus A340 aircraft. The flight time is expected to be about 8.5 hours. A flight schedule was not immediately announced.
Commenting on the route launch, Finnair President and CEO Mika Vehviläinen, said "China is a key part of our Europe- Asia strategy. Western China is an important growth area, and the new route will strengthen our market share in the growing Asian markets. In addition to Chongqing, Finnair flies to Beijing, Shanghai and to Hong Kong with a total of 26 weekly flight,".
The airline's choice of Chongqing as its next Chinese destination, over the more established Chengdu, Shenzhen or the larger Guangzhou is quite interesting. But it nevertheless seems to be a very logical move given that all of the aforementioned destinations are getting increasingly overcrowded.
It will be interesting to watch how this route works out for Finnair.

Oman Air, effective 30th October 2011, is launching service to Zurich, Switzerland. Flights will operate four times a week on board Airbus A330-200 aircraft.

Schedule:
WY151 MCT ZRH 0230 0650 332 37 7h20min
WY153 MCT ZRH 1310 1730 332 15 7h20min

WY152 ZRH MCT 0915 1900 332 37 6h45min
WY154 ZRH MCT 2100 0645+1 332 15 6h45min

SWISS already operates a daily one-stop direct service to Muscat, from Zurich, with Airbus A330-300 aircraft.

The airline is also increasing Bangkok flights from 8 to 12 weekly, and Frankfurt flights from 7 to 9 weekly, effective the same date.

An interesting article (in Dutch) found on a Belgian news website says that Brussels Airlines is planning a route into the United States. According to the article, the airline itself announced the details at a recent news conference.
The airline will launch the flights in 2012, once it takes delivery of its sixth Airbus A330 aircraft. A destination was not earmarked, however it is expected that - being a Star Alliance member - the airline will launch flights to a hub of a Star Alliance member.
Brussels hopes to tap a share of the USA - Africa transit market, which it says already accounts for 14% of its African traffic.
What could be Brussels' first US destination ? Share your guess with us, in the comments section below.