The Business Travel Magazine December/January 2018/19

THE REVIEW
I N T H E A I R
SHENZHEN AIRLINES INTRODUCES
TECH HUB WITH LONG-HAUL FIRST
New summer routes
from BA and Delta
BRITISH Airways and Delta Air Lines have both announced
additional transatlantic services for summer 2019.
BA will launch a twice-weekly route from London Heathrow
to Charleston for the summer from April 4 – the first direct
service between Europe and the South Carolina city.
BA recently announced the introduction of a four-per-week
service from Heathrow to Pittsburgh, also commencing in
April. Charleston flights will be operated by a Boeing 787-8
Dreamliner with return fares in World Traveller starting from
£600, £928 in World Traveller Plus and £1,920 in Club World.
Delta, meanwhile, will double its flights from Edinburgh
next summer by adding a new service to Boston from May
24. It already operates a daily flight to New York.
LONDON'S Heathrow Airport has
extended its network to China to
11 destinations as services
commenced to Shenzhen.
Shenzhen Airlines has launched
a three-times-weekly service to
the city, an emerging economic
powerhouse dubbed China’s
Silicon Valley. The destination was
also recently ranked second on
Lonely Planet’s list of top ten cities
to visit in 2019.
Since the start of 2018 Heathrow
has more than doubled its services
to China, growing the network
from five destinations – Hong
Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou
and Qingdao – to 11, having
also welcomed services to
Chongqing, Wuhan, Sanya,
Changsa, Xi’an and now Shenzhen.
The service is Shenzhen Airlines’
first long-haul route, and offers
connections to its network of 210
domestic routes. Part-owned by
Air China and a member of Star
Alliance, the airline is operating
from Heathrow’s Terminal 2.
Located across the border from
Hong Kong, Shenzhen is one of
China's richest cities and has a
population of over 12 million.
ICELANDAIR SNAPS UP LOW-COST
RIVAL FOR TRANSATLANTIC PUSH
ICELANDAIR Group is poised to purchase rival Wow
air and says the deal will allow both carriers to
“strengthen their international competitiveness”.
The airlines will continue to operate under separate
brands but will have a combined share of the
transatlantic market of around 3.8%. The deal is
subject to approval by Icelandair Group’s shareholders
and competition authorities.
[ TAKING OFF ]
ROYAL BRUNEI AIRLINES' services between London Heathrow
and Brunei are now non-stop between the destinations, with the
airline having dropped the previous stop in Dubai. Services
continue on to Melbourne >> EL AL ISRAEL AIRLINES will launch
a three-times-weekly services between Manchester and Tel Aviv on
May 26, 2019 >> SAS will begin operating a twice-weekly service
from Cornwall Airport Newquay to Copenhagen from June 28,
2019. Passengers will be able to connect to a network of over 20
onward destinations in Europe, Asia and North America >>
FLYBMI has increased capacity on its routes from Newcastle to
Brussels and Stavanger by 30% to meet a year-round rise in demand.
29.6%
Airline revenues derived
from premium passengers
Premium class
passengers accounted
for 5.1% of total
international air traffic
for the first eight months
of the year but generated
29.6% of total passenger
revenues, according
to IATA. Premium
passenger demand has
grown faster than its
economy counterpart
54 THEBUSINESSTRAVELMAG.COM