Wizz Air announces a major expansion to Saudi Arabia

Wizz Air has made this announcement:

Wizz Air is launching 20 new routes from Bucharest, Budapest, Catania, Larnaca, Milan, Naples, Rome, Sofia, Tirana, Venice and Vienna to Riyadh, Jeddah, and Dammam in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Wizz Air signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Investment for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The MoU is a Ministry of Tourism initiative, aimed to enhance the development of the Saudi Tourism Sector. It reflects a shared vision between the parties on the potential Wizz Air could bring to the Kingdom to stimulate tourist demand, thereby making a significant contribution to Saudi Arabia’s planned growth.

The easing of COVID-19 restrictions and the removal of PCR test requirements for vaccinated travellers has made travel simpler again, allowing for more spontaneous trips abroad.

Route	Operating Days	Sales start	Flights start	Fares from*
Budapest – Riyadh	Monday & Friday	On sale	09/01/2023	54.99 EUR
Budapest – Jeddah	Tuesday & Saturday	On sale	10/01/2023	54.99 EUR
Budapest – Dammam	Thursday & Sunday	On sale	20/04/2023	54.99 EUR
Bucharest – Riyadh	Monday & Thursday	On sale	09/01/2023	54.99 EUR
Bucharest – Jeddah	Tuesday & Saturday	On sale	10/01/2023	54.99 EUR
Catania – Riyadh	Tuesday & Saturday	On sale	18/04/2023	54.99 EUR
Larnaca – Riyadh	Monday	On sale	17/04/2023	54.99 EUR
Larnaca – Jeddah	Saturday	On sale	08/07/2023	54.99 EUR
Larnaca – Dammam	Tuesday	On sale	04/07/2023	54.99 EUR
Milan – Jeddah	Tuesday & Saturday	On sale	03/12/2022	54.99 EUR
Milan – Riyadh	Thursday & Sunday	On sale	20/04/2023	54.99 EUR
Naples – Riyadh	Tuesday	On sale	18/04/2023	54.99 EUR
Rome – Riyadh	Tuesday & Saturday	On sale	06/12/2022	54.99 EUR
Rome – Jeddah	Wednesday & Saturday	On sale	11/01/2023	54.99 EUR
Sofia – Riyadh	Thursday & Sunday	On sale	20/04/2023	54.99 EUR
Tirana – Dammam**	Monday & Friday	On sale	17/04/2023	54.99 EUR
Venice – Riyadh	Thursday & Sunday	On sale	20/04/2023	54.99 EUR
Venice – Jeddah	Tuesday & Saturday	On sale	18/04/2023	54.99 EUR
Vienna – Riyadh	Tuesday, Thursday & Saturday	On sale	19/12/2022	54.99 EUR
Vienna – Jeddah	Tuesday & Saturday	On sale	13/12/2022	54.99 EUR

*One-way price, including administration fee. One carry-on bag (max: 40x30x20cm) is included. Trolley bag and each piece of checked-in baggage is subject to additional fees. The price applies only to bookings made on wizzair.com and the WIZZ mobile app. Number of seats at indicated prices are limited.

**Pending regulatory approval.

LOT Polish Airlines to launch three routes from Warsaw-Radom Airport in 2023

LOT Polish Airlines and Lotnisko Warszawa-Radom (Warsaw-Radom Airport) have announced LOT Polish will launch three routes from the airport in early 2023.

LOT will operate from the airport to Copenhagen, Paris and Rome.

Warsaw Radom Airport (IATA: RDO, ICAO: EPRA), also known as Radom-Sadków Airport is a civil and military airport in central Poland, located approximately 3 km (1.9 mi) east of the Radom city center.

airBaltic, Czech Airlines and SprintAir have operated to the under-served airport in the past but were not able to financially sustain operations.

Iberia Express cancels flights ahead of a cabin crew strike

Iberia Express issued this warning (translated from Spanish) about an intended strike by the cabin crew union, USO::

In order to protect our customers in a period of peak influx, we have canceled 12 round trip flights between August 28, 29 and 30.

o Canary Islands: 1 flight -i/v- (days 28 and 29)
o Balearic Islands: 1 daily flight -i/v- (days 28, 29, 30)
o Seville: 1 daily flight -i/v- (days 28, 29, 30)
o Santiago: 1 daily flight -i/v- (days 28, 29, 30)
o Malaga: 1 flight -i/v- (day 29)

These cancellations are intended to minimize, above all, the impact on our customers.

All customers affected by these cancellations, around 3,000 passengers, have been duly notified and a reaccommodation process has been launched on other flights of Iberia Express, Iberia and other airlines, to which we add alternatives such as bonuses and refunds:

o 66% of affected passengers have already been relocated to other flights or alternative means of transport
o The remaining 34% is pending to choose the alternative that suits them best (transport alternative, reimbursement, change of date or vouchers)

The reason for this measure is none other than to protect our clients and ensure their interests in the return operation, on specially marked dates.

The company has not yet made any decision on the affected flights as of the 31st. Once the situation is evaluated in the coming days, it will be duly informed.

We make a new appeal to the responsibility of the union ‘USO’ so that it calls off the strikes and bets on dialogue and not on social confrontation.

We regret the inconvenience this situation is causing our customers and apologize for it.

Iberia Express aircraft photo gallery:

Norwegian to reestablish its Barcelona base next summer

Norwegian Air Shuttle is gradually reopening its old bases outside of Norway and Sweden.

The company will restablish a base at Barcelona, Spain for next summer with two based Boeing 737-800s.

Delta adds service to Las Vegas from 19 global cities for CES 2023

Delta Air Lines made this announcement:

Delta will offer additional flights from 16 U.S. cities and three of its international hubs to Las Vegas for CES® 2023 — the most influential tech event in the world. The nearly 320 inbound and outbound flights account for an approximately 50% seat increase over the regular Las Vegas schedule in January.

Delta will add approximately 23,000 seats* to and from LAS January 3-4 and January 7-9, 2023, including more than 5,800 seats* in Delta’s four premium cabins.

Domestically, Delta will operate additional flights to Las Vegas on inbound and outbound conference days from eight of its U.S. hubs. Additionally, the airline will fly nonstop from locations like Austin, Texas; Fort Lauderdale and Orlando, Florida; Orange County, California; and San Diego and San Jose, California — cities that Delta does not otherwise serve nonstop to Las Vegas.

International fliers will have daily service options on Delta and Delta partner-operated flights from Amsterdam, London, Paris, Incheon and Mexico City. All Delta-operated international flights will feature four product experiences: Delta One, Delta Premium Select, Delta Comfort+ and Main Cabin.

*Seats out for sale for 01/03/23-01/04/23 and 01/07/23-01/09/23 vs. the remainder of January 2023.

City	Tues., Jan. 3	Wed., Jan. 4	Sat., Jan. 7	Sun., Jan. 8	Mon, Jan. 9
ATL	10	10	10	10	10
BOS	2	3	3	3	3
DTW	5	6	6	6	6
JFK	4	8	8	8	8
LAX	8	8	8	8	8
MSP	7	7	7	7	7
SEA	7	7	7	7	7
SLC	7	7	7	7	7
CVG	1	1	1	1	1
RDU	2	2	2	2	2
AUS	1	1	1	1	-
FLL	1	1	1	1	-
MCO	1	1	1	1	-
SAN	1	1	1	1	-
SJC	1	1	1	1	-
SNA	1	1	1	1	-
AMS	1	1	–	1	1
CDG	1	1	–	1	1
ICN	1	1	–	1	1

Frontier Airlines expands at Phoenix with 10 new routes

Frontier Airlines will launch new nonstop service from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX) to Philadelphia (PHL), Baltimore-Washington (BWI), Orange County, California (SNA), Seattle-Tacoma (SEA), Minneapolis-Saint Paul (MSP), Portland, Oregon (PDX), Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood (FLL), Nashville (BNA), Indianapolis (IND) and Kansas City (MCI)in November 2022 and January 2023.

With the new service, Frontier will serve 22 destinations from PHX. Frontier’s continued growth at PHX will be supported through the planned November opening of a new crew base, which is expected to initially employ up to 180 pilots and 275 flight attendants.

Service from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX):

SERVICE TO:

SERVICE START:

SERVICE FREQUENCY:

INTRO FARE:

Philadelphia (PHL)

Nov. 5, 2022

Daily

$89*

Orange County, California (SNA)

Nov. 5, 2022

Daily

$19*

Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood (FLL)

Nov. 5, 2022

Daily

$59*

Portland, Oregon (PDX)

Nov. 6, 2022

3x/week**

$99*

Baltimore-Washington (BWI)

Nov. 17, 2022

Daily

$89*

Nashville (BNA)

Jan. 12, 2023

3x/week**

$89*

Kansas City (MCI)

Jan. 12, 2023

3x/week**

$79*

Seattle-Tacoma (SEA)

Jan. 13, 2023

4x/week**

$49*

Minneapolis-Saint Paul (MSP)

Jan. 13, 2023

4x/week**

$39*

Indianapolis (IND)

Jan. 13, 2023

2x/week

$89*

**Service will be offered less frequently through mid-February and then offered as reflected in the grid above starting the week of Feb. 19, 2023.

Frontier Airlines aircraft photo gallery:

Spirit Airlines to restore the Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood – Managua route

Spirit Airlines today announced the resumption of its daily, nonstop service connecting Managua (MGA) and Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood (FLL).

The daily, nonstop service to FLL starts November 30 and offers connections to 26 cities across Spirit’s network.

Spirit Airlines Connection Options to/from MGA:
Aguadilla (BQN)	Cleveland (CLE)	Louisville (SDF)	San Juan (SJU)
Atlanta (ATL)	Dallas (DFW)	Myrtle Beach (MYR)	St Thomas (STT)
Atlantic City (ACY)	Detroit (DTW)	Nashville (BNA)	St. Louis (STL)
Baltimore (BWI)	Houston (IAH)	Newark (EWR)	Tampa (TPA)
Boston (BOS)	Indianapolis (IND)	Orlando (MCO)
Charlotte (CLT)	LaGuardia (LGA)	Philadelphia (PHL)
Chicago (ORD)	Latrobe (LBE)	Richmond (RIC)

The resumption of Managua service increases the airline’s international service to 29 markets across Latin America and the Caribbean, including neighboring Central American destinations in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, and Panama.

Spirit Airlines aircraft photo gallery:

Alaska to fly between Everett and Anchorage

Alaska Airlines made this announcement (to be operated by Horizon Air):

We’re connecting the newest commercial airport in the Seattle area with another one of our main hubs: New daily, nonstop service between Everett, Wash. and Anchorage begins Nov. 30, 2022.

We listened to our guests who live and work from north of Seattle to the Canadian border. They told us one of their top requests is a nonstop flight between Everett and Anchorage,” said Brett Catlin, vice president of network and alliances for Alaska Airlines. “There’s a significant need and demand to connect workers and businesses in the two regions —from the fishing industry to aviation—in addition to the desire for leisure travel. We’re ready to welcome our guests on this new route this fall.”

Our guests flying to and from Everett—about 20 miles north of Seattle and 70 miles south of Bellingham—have enjoyed a convenient, stress-free, upscale alternative airport experience with a lounge atmosphere.

Since our regularly scheduled service launched there in March 2019, we’ve flown roughly 1.3 million guests to and from Paine Field-Snohomish County Airport.

Flight schedule:

Start date	Cities	Departs	Arrives	Frequency	Aircraft
Nov. 30	PAE-ANC	11:05 a.m.	2:05 p.m.	Daily	E175
Nov. 30	ANC-PAE	1:40 p.m.	6:10 p.m.	Daily	E175

All times Pacific Standard Time and all flights are year-round.

With the new nonstop from Everett, operated by our sister airline Horizon Air, Anchorage becomes the farthest destination and longest flight we’ll serve from that airport, and it’s also our first route to fly north from it.

On the operations side, Horizon began operating a new 74,000 square foot hangar and maintenance facility on the Paine Field property this year that can accommodate up to four E175 aircraft at a time.

9 destinations from Paine Field in Everett

From Everett this fall and winter, we’ll fly to nine destinations: Anchorage, Boise, Las Vegas, Orange County, Palm Springs, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco and Spokane. For the latest flight schedules and to purchase tickets, visit alaskaair.com.

Our sister carrier Horizon Air provides most of our service at Paine Field with the Embraer 175 jet. The E175 features First Class and Premium Class, and only window and aisle seating – there are no middle seats. Guests can enjoy hundreds of free movies and TV shows available for viewing on personal devices, free texting on most flights and Wi-Fi connectivity for purchase.

“For Economic Alliance Snohomish County, the City of Everett and Paine Field, we are thankful for the rich history of business and community engagement provided by Alaska Airlines. This announcement is another example of Alaska Airlines’ willingness to be forward thinking, valuing its customers to create desired opportunities for travel and connection. This is extra sweet due to Alaska Airlines’ history: Anchorage served as the first flight location for Alaska Airlines and its founder Linious McGee back in 1932. Snohomish County is grateful for Alaska and its continued efforts at Paine Field.”

— Garry Clark, president and CEO at Economic Alliance Snohomish County.

Alaska Horizon aircraft photo gallery:

JAL Group revises its FY2022 winter schedule plans on domestic network

JAL Group has made this announcement:

JAL Group has decided on flight plan for domestic routes for the fiscal 2022 winter timetable (October 30,

As part of the JAL Group’s ESG strategy of upgrading to fuel-efficient aircraft, improving flight operations, and utilizing SAF (Sustainable Aviation Fuel), we will extend the planned flight time on flights departing from Tokyo Haneda by 5 minutes longer than before in order to expand opportunities(*1) to operate at altitudes where fuel consumption can be reduced. In addition, A350-900, which will expand its operations starting with the winter time schedule, and by operating new fuel-efficient and low-noise aircraft such as the Airbus A350-900 and the ATR42-600, we will make steady progress toward achieving our goal of “virtually zero CO2 emissions by 2050”.

We will make decisions on flight reductions due to the impact of the new coronavirus infection based on future demand trends and will make further announcements as they become available.

【KEY HIGHLIGHTS】
◆ JAL will increase flight frequency between Osaka Itami=Kagoshima route and between Osaka
Itami=Sapporo New Chitose route during peak periods.
◆ Japan Transocean Air (JTA) will increase flights on its Fukuoka=Okinawa Naha route, Japan Air Commuter (JAC) on its Kagoshima route, and Ryukyu Air Commuter (RAC) on its Ishigaki=Yonaguni route.
◆ JAL First Class service will newly begin on Tokyo Haneda=Hiroshima and Kagoshima routes.(*2)
◆ As part of our code-sharing program with Oriental Air Bridge (ORC), we will start a new code-sharing
program with ORC on the 5 routes of Nagasaki=Iki, Goto Fukue, Tsushima, Fukuoka=Tsushima, Goto Fukue
will be sold as a JAL flight from August 30.

The JAL Group will continue to provide safe and secure travel experience by enhancing customer convenience and working with customers to create a clean and hygienic environment at airports and onboard aircraft.

(*1) By ensuring flexibility in altitude and speed selection for operational efficiency, fuel consumption per flight
can be reduced.
(*2) “JAL First Class Service” will be provided on some flights. Some services will not be provided at Hiroshima and Kagoshima airports. For details, please refer to the JAL website.
Reference URL:https://www.jal.co.jp/jp/en/dom/service/f/

※The following schedules are subject to government approval.

【Flights for Fuel saving trial】 W22 4.JPG ※Departure time/Arrival time are different depends on the season. For details, www.jal.co.jp/en

【Flight Frequency – Increase】 W22 2.JPG

(*3) Flight frequency will be changed during certain periods. For details, https://www.jal.co.jp/jp/en/
(*4) For details, https://www.jal.co.jp/jp/en/

【Flight Frequency – Decrease】 W22 3.JPG

JAL aircraft photo gallery:

Emirates to reintroduce nonstop Airbus A380 services to Auckland and Kuala Lumpur in December

Emirates has made this announcement:

As travellers kick-start the search for their next holiday, Emirates is announcing that it will restore its nonstop Airbus A380 services to and from Auckland and Kuala Lumpur, starting on December 1, 2022.

The airline currently operates to both cities with a linked Boeing 777-300ER service, which makes a stop in Kuala Lumpur before continuing on to Auckland. The start of A380 flights will see both cities delinked and served with direct services to and from Dubai. The latest update to the airline’s schedule will offer customers greater levels of flexibility and much needed seat availability. The new services will also provide more opportunities to travel across the Emirates network with reduced transit times after the delinking of services, and faster connections to and from Europe, the Middle East, South Asia as well as Africa.

The nonstop services between Dubai and Auckland will also reclaim its title as the longest route on the Emirates network, clocking in 14,200 km, in addition to being one of the world’s longest non-stop scheduled commercial flights.

Emirates’ direct flight EK448 from Dubai to Auckland will depart at 10:05hrs and arrives at 11:05hrs the next day. The return flight will depart Auckland at 21:15hrs and arrives in Dubai at 05:25hrs the next day. All times are local.

Emirates’ A380 service to Kuala Lumpur, EK 346 will depart Dubai at 0330hrs, landing at 1435hrs. EK 343 will depart Kuala Lumpur at 0145hrs, arriving in Dubai at 0505hrs.

The reintroduction of the airline’s flagship A380 to Auckland and Kuala Lumpur will provide more choice for tourists looking to discover these exciting destinations, and also offers travellers a chance to experience the A380’s signature products and services across all classes. New Zealand is ramping up its visibility with a global campaign in key markets to encourage more visitors to come and re-live the country’s incredible experiences and stunning natural attractions. To promote Malaysia as a unique travel destination, Emirates recently signed a Memorandum of Collaboration (MoC) with the Malaysia Tourism Board to develop inbound visitor traffic into the country from key markets across the airline’s network.

The Emirates A380 experience remains highly sought after by travellers for its spacious and comfortable cabins, and signature products that offer travellers the best experiences in the sky like the Onboard Lounge, First Class suites and Shower Spa. The A380 experience is always rounded off by award-winning hospitality, regional culinary creations and authentic tastes, and the airline’s award-winning inflight entertainment system, ice, with more than 5,000 channels of on-demand entertainment at every customer’s fingertips.

The airline is accelerating the deployment of its flagship A380 aircraft in line with growing global demand for air travel, with 32 destinations currently being served on a scheduled basis, and more to be announced in the coming weeks and months.

Emirates aircraft photo gallery: