-San Juan-based Sun Airways, a charter air carrier, has initiated services between Puerto Rico and Orlando and Fort Lauderdale with one Boeing 727-200.
-Sabena has begun daily direct flights from Brussels to Catania (Sicily) and four weekly flights to Palma de Mallorca (Spain) and Faro (Portugal) from 18 December.
-Virgin Express's Irish division has opened its new headquarters in Shannon, from where it is operating services to London.
-The Japanese Government has approved codesharing between All Nippon Airways (ANA) and Lufthansa on flights between Japan and Germany, to begin in the second quarter of 1999 at the earliest.
-British Midland has been cleared to serve Moscow from London Heathrow following a successful appeal after the licence was originally given to Virgin Atlantic. Four services a week will be operated initially, increasing to seven a week by mid-2000.
-In March, Southwest Airlines will begin offering low-fare daily non-stop flights to four US cities with Boeing 737-700s from Long Island's McArthur Airport near Islip, New York, about 65km east of La Guardia Airport.
-ProAir has begun daily services between Detroit City Airport and Hartsfield Atlanta International. Services to New York La Guardia will begin on 10 June.
-Puerto Rico Airways is aiming to launch two scheduled daily services between San Juan and New York Kennedy on 1 May, using two leased Boeing 727-200s, tripling its fleet within three years.
-LanChile has begun operating three-times-weekly services from Orlando to Santiago, via Miami, with 767-300ERs.
-Delta Air Lines and China Southern Airlines signed a codeshare agreement on 15 December, which Delta describes as the first step towards plans for direct flights to China within 18 months. The alliance covers codesharing between Los Angeles and Guangzhou, as well as some US routes. It involves sharing lounges and frequent flyer benefits.
Source: Flight International