Qatar Airways to launch Penang service
QATAR Airways will launch direct flights to Penang on February
6. It will operate on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays using
a Boeing 787 Dreamliner with 22 seats in business class and
232 in economy. QR850 will depart Doha at 02h30 and arrive
in Penang at 14h30. QR851 will depart Penang at 20h30 and
arrive in Doha at 23h20.
Ethiopian Airlines extends codeshares
ETHIOPIAN Airlines has extended its codeshare with SAA
to include Cape Town, Durban and Toronto. Ethiopian
will operate a direct service between Addis Ababa and
Cape Town and Addis Ababa and Durban, with SAA as the
marketing carrier. In return, ET codeshares on SAA-operated
services between Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban and
Windhoek. Ethiopian has also signed a codeshare with Azul
Brazilian Airlines, effective October 1. The ET flight code is
added to Azul’s operations, allowing passengers to purchase
tickets directly from Ethiopian Airlines sales channels to seven
destinations in Brazil operated by Azul. Azul can now market
Ethiopian’s network throughout Africa and beyond. Initially,
Ethiopian Airlines can place its code on Azul’s flights from
São Paulo (Guarulhos) to Belo Horizonte, Curitiba, Goiania,
Porto Alegre, Cuiabá, Foz do Iguaçu and Florianopolis.
Fastjet launches refreshed fare products
FASTJET has launched new fare structures. When purchasing
a flight, customers now have two options: Big Saver: A basic
airfare that includes 7kg of hand baggage but excludes all
checked baggage (which will be charged for); and Achiever: A
new product that includes the airfare, 7kg hand baggage, one
piece of checked baggage (23kg between Johannesburg and
Victoria Falls and 30kg between Johannesburg and Harare)
and one free route, or date and time change.
FlySafair acquires two new aircraft
FLYSAFAIR’S newest aircraft, a Boeing 737-400, entered
service on September 29, and a second will join the fleet
during the course of this month. The new aircraft will help
fulfil the airline’s additional capacity requirements as it
extends its network through the launch of flights between
Durban and Port Elizabeth, and Durban and East London. The
carrier is to increase frequencies on some of its routes over
the festive season, due to higher demand over this period. The
HLA-GRJ and JNB-ELS routes, which normally do not operate
every day, will operate daily. There will also be additional
flights on the JNB-GRJ, JNB-CPT, JNB-PLZ, CPT-ELS, CPT-PLZ
and CPT-DUR routes
.
Thailand aviation no longer red-flagged
THE UNITED Nations’ aviation regulator has removed Thailand
from its list of countries red-flagged for safety concerns more
than two years after it was first put on the list. Thailand’s
Prime Minister, Prayuth Chan-ocha, said: “The fact that
ICAO has lifted the red flag it once issued Thailand shows
their trust in us and the international community’s faith in
Thailand’s aviation industry.”
MD and UU sign strategic partnership
A NEW agreement between Air Madagascar and Air Austral is
the beginning of an interim phase in a strategic partnership
implementation process between the airlines. This phase will
run until the planned signature of the shareholder closing
agreement at the end of the month. The equal partnership is
the forerunner to a potential sharp increase in traffic and a
return to a leading regional position.
