Xinjiang Airlines has introduced a twice-weekly service between Hong Kong and Urumqi in China, with Boeing 737-400s. Orlando, Florida-based Regal Airways is planning to launch operations later this year using Boeing 737-300 aircraft on services to 18 US cities. Plans call for this to be expanded to cover 30 US and international cities by the end of next year. Swissair is making substantial cutbacks in its Asian network from the end of October, when it will terminate services from Zurich to Shanghai. In March, it will drop the Ho Chi Minh City leg of its Zurich-Singapore service, and the Taipei sector of its Zurich-Bangkok service. Uzbekistan Airways is to launch a weekly extension in July of its existing flights between Birmingham, UK, and Tashkent. Flights will continue to New York Kennedy. Azteca Airlines is introducing roundtrip daily services linking Tijuana with Guadalajara, Mexico City and Zacatecas using Boeing 737-300s. Linkair introduced scheduled daily services from Exeter to London Luton in mid-June using a Cessna 406. An Exeter-Newquay service has also been initiated by Isles of Scilly Skybus. Malaysia's second national carrier, AirAsia, is to launch twice-weekly services to Bangkok and thee-times-weekly services to Phuket from August, using Boeing 737-300s. AirAsia is also adding a domestic service to Kuching from October. Aerolineas Argentinas is suspending flights to Auckland, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Sydney, following financial problems. As a result, Qantas is increasing services between Sydney and Buenos Aires with a third weekly service from October. JAT Yugoslav Airlines is introducing seasonal flights this summer from the coastal airport in Tivat, Montenegro. Flights will operate to Berlin, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Moscow and St Petersburg. Meanwhile JAT and other airlines including British Airways and Olympic Airways have suspended flights to Skopje, Macedonia.

Source: Flight International

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