easyJet (UK) (London-Luton) on December 12 will start the twice-weekly London (Gatwick) – Friedrichshafen route. This new service will be operated with Airbus A319s according to Airline Route.
Copyright Photo: Paul Bannwarth/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A319-111 G-EZDK (msn 3555) in the new 2015 livery arrives at EuroAirport.
easyJet (UK) aircraft slide show: 
FedEx Corporation (FedEx Express) (Memphis) has announced its intention to acquire its European rival TNT Express (TNT Airways) (Amsterdam) in an all-cash public offer with a stated public value of $4.8 billion. FedEx is offering a 33 percent premium in its price offering for the stock of TNT. The combined European headquarters will be Amsterdam. TNT’s Liege cargo hub will be maintained.
The two companies issued this joint statement:
Transaction highlights:
FedEx Corporation (FedEx) and TNT Express N.V. (TNT Express) reached conditional agreement on recommended all-cash public offer of €8.00 per ordinary TNT Express share.
The Offer Price represents a premium of 33% over the closing price of 2 April 2015 and a premium of 42% over the average volume weighted price per TNT Express share of €5.63 over the last 3 calendar months.
The transaction represents an implied equity value for TNT Express of €4.4 billion ($4.8 billion).
Transaction unanimously recommended and supported by TNT Express’ Executive Board and Supervisory Board.
High level of deal certainty.
PostNL N.V. has irrevocably confirmed to support the Offer and tender its 14.7% TNT Express shareholding.
Combination will transform FedEx’s European capabilities and accelerate global growth.
Customers will enjoy access to an enhanced, integrated global network, combining TNT Express strong European capabilities and FedEx’s strength in other regions globally, including North America and Asia.
FedEx and TNT Express employees share a commitment to serving customers and delivering value for shareholders and supporting the communities they live and work in.
The parties have agreed to certain non-financial covenants including:
Existing employment terms of TNT Express will be respected.
The European regional headquarters of the combined companies will be in Amsterdam/Hoofddorp.
TNT Express hub in Liege will be maintained as a significant operation for the group going forward.
TNT Express’ airline operations will be divested, in compliance with applicable airline ownership regulations.
FedEx and TNT Express anticipate that the Offer will close in the first half of calendar year 2016.
FedEx and TNT Express are confident that anti-trust concerns, if any, can be addressed adequately in a timely fashion.
Top Copyright Photo: Paul Bannwarth/AirlinersGallery.com. FedEx Express Boeing 757-204 (F) N923FD (msn 26266) departs from EuroAirport serving Basel/Mulhouse/Freiburg.
FedEx Express aircraft slide show:
TNT aircraft slide show:
Bottom Copyright Photo: Bernhard Ross/AirlinersGallery.com. TNT Airways Boeing 737-4M0 (F) OE-IAT (msn 29210) taxies to the runway at Frankfurt.
Lufthansa (Frankfurt) is ending Bombardier CRJ700 regional jet operations at the end of March. Operated from the Munich hub by subsidiary Lufthansa CityLine, the last CRJ700 route and flight from MUC will be to Luxembourg and return on March 29 per Airline Route.
Copyright Photo: Paul Bannwarth/AirlinersGallery.com. Lufthansa CityLine’s Bombardier CRJ700 (CL-600-2C10) D-ACPL (msn 10076) lands in EuroAirport serving Basel/Mulhouse/Freiburg.
Lufthansa Regional-Lufthansa CityLine aircraft slide show:
Qatar Airways (Doha) has scheduled a number of Airbus A350-900 flights on the short Doha – Dubai route according to Airline Route during the month of March giving travelers a chance to sample the new type on a much shorter route. The A350-900 is currently in service between Doha and Frankfurt, the first route for the new type.
In other news, Qatar Airways Cargo is launching freighter service to EuroAirport serving the Basel/Mulhouse/Freiburg area. The new route will operate weekly with Airbus A330-200F freighters on the Doha-Brussels-EuroAirport (Basel)-Doha route.
Copyright Photo: Bernhard Ross/AirlinersGallery.com. Captured in beautiful light, newly-delivered Airbus A350-941 A7-ALA (msn 006) is seen at its first destination, Frankfurt. A7-ALA was handed over to the carrier on December 22 and entered service on the route on January 15.
Qatar Airways aircraft slide show:
EasyJet (UK) (easyJet.com) (London-Luton) is continuing it’s ever-expanding route map by announcing 19 new routes for the summer season of 2015.
The new routes were released on the carrier’s website. They are as follows:
Amsterdam – Corfu (June 30) twice weekly
Amsterdam – Ibiza (June 30) three times weekly
Amsterdam – Palermo (June 29) twice weekly
Bristol – Bilbao (April 19) twice weekly
Bristol – Isle of Man (April 19) four times weekly
Bristol – Zakinthos (May 13) once weekly
Hamburg – Alicante (March 30) twice weekly
Hamburg – Bologna (March 29) three times weekly
Hamburg – Irakleion (June 27) twice weekly
Hamburg – Paris Orly (March 29) once daily
Hamburg – Pisa (March 30) twice weekly
Hamburg – Thessaloniki (June 29) twice weekly
Lisbon – Ponta Delgada (March 29) three times weekly
London Luton – Split (June 16) three times weekly
Manchester – Kefalonia (June 16) twice weekly
Manchester – Split (June 17) twice weekly
Newcastle – Corfu (June 7) once weekly
Newcastle – Rhodes (June 4) once weekly
Newcastle – Split (June 2) twice weekly
Sophie Dekkers, easyJet’s UK Director, said:
“We’re pleased to be continuing our growth with additional new routes for next summer placed on sale today.”
“This underlines our commitment to both leisure and business passengers across the UK, making it easy and affordable for them to connect to a choice of summer destinations and we expect our new routes to be especially popular.”
Reported by Assistant Editor Oliver Wilcock from Manchester.
Copyright Photo: Paul Bannwarth/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A319-111 G-EZGA (msn 4427) lands at EuroAirport serving Basel/Mulhouse/Freiburg..
EasyJet (UK) aircraft slide show:
Air France (Paris) will combine its short-haul, point-to-point operations under the HOP! Air France brand starting in the summer of 2015. Air France is reorganizing it short haul operations due to the increased competition for other low-cost airlines and other forms of travel. The airline issued this statement:
The organization proposal for the Air France Group’s short-haul activity, bringing together Air France’s point-to-point activity and HOP!, was presented this during the Air France Works Council meeting.
This proposal is based on the recommendations of a group of experts submitted to Frédéric Gagey on June 30: for each market need there must be a corresponding and adapted commercial offer and economic model, whether in terms of costs or revenue.
Starting from the summer season 2015, the short-haul activity will be operated by HOP! Air France. Its objective will be to quickly generate value for the Group, and recover profitability on the short-haul market within three years.
A new commercial offer will be introduced to the market during the first quarter of 2015, under the brand name HOP! with the backing of Air France .
This project includes the implementation of a new, simplified structure.
Presented by Lionel Guérin, Chairman and CEO of HOP!, tasked with implementing the new HOP! Air France activity, it will bring together the Air France Point to Point teams from Paray Vieille Poste and the HOP! teams from Rungis at a single center in Montreuil, close to the French market sales agents. There will be no modification, transfer of employment contracts, or transfer of the teams based at Roissy or elsewhere in France.
This new structure will come into effect at the beginning of 2015, for operational implementation from the summer 2015 season onwards.
Frédéric Gagey, Air France Chairman and CEO, added: “The short-haul activity is in competition with trains, cars, and low-cost airlines. We need to restructure our company to be even more responsive, market-oriented and close to our customers. HOP! Air France provides a response adapted to the specific characteristics of the short-haul carrier activity and the travel needs of our customers. I am counting on the efforts of all staff to achieve the ambitious targets for this business”.
The new HOP! Air France will operate 800 flights a day.
Copyright Photo: Paul Bannwarth/AirlinersGallery.com. Embraer ERJ 170-100STD F-HBXB (msn 17000250) arrives at EuroAirport serving the Base, Mulhouse and Freiburg area.
HOP! aircraft slide show:
HOP! currently serves these destinations:
Brussels Airlines (Brussels) next summer season is adding six new destinations; Billund (starting on March 29), Calvi (May 30), Dubrovnik (April 25), Lourdes (May 11), Olbia (May 27) and St. Petersburg (March 30).
The airline issued this statement:
Brussels Airlines expands its network for summer 2015, adding no less than six new destinations: St. Petersburg, Dubrovnik, Calvi, Lourdes, Olbia and Billund.
The flight frequencies of Tel Aviv and Malta will be increased.
New Destinations
As from March 29, Brussels Airlines starts flights to Billund, in the Danish Jutland region. The airline will operate two daily flights, with a schedule that is convenient to both business travelers and tourists, and which allows connections to other destinations in Europe, Africa and the States.
Brussels Airlines also reinforces its Southern European flight offer, by adding Dubrovnik to its network, the gateway to the magnificent Croatian coast and islands. Dubrovnik will be served twice a week. Weekly flights to Calvi (Corsica) and Olbia (Sardinia) will also be added to the summer timetable.
The airport of Lourdes will be served twice per week (Monday and Friday) between May 11 and September 25. With its Lourdes service, Brussels Airlines offers an alternative travel solution to the thousands of pilgrims visiting the French town.
Brussels Airlines adds St Petersburg to its network, a cultural top destination which wasn’t connected to a Belgian airport yet. The city of the Tsars, known for its Hermitage museum, is served three times per week (Monday, Wednesday and Friday).
More flights to existing destinations
The flight offer to Malta, which was launched successfully last summer, returns in 2015 with more flight frequencies. Because of the large demand, Brussels Airlines will set course for Malta twice per week (Thursday and Sunday) between April and October.
More flights are also added between Brussels Airport and Tel Aviv. Starting next summer season, the destination will be served twice daily (morning and afternoon/night flight).
Seville, the capital of Andalucía, will be operated four instead of three times per week and Faro, the gateway to the Algarve, will be served six instead of five times per week.
Brussels Airlines continues its flights to other popular summer destinations next summer, including Nice, Malaga, Barcelona, Florence, Alicante, Marrakech, Agadir, Athens, Naples, Porto, Palermo, Catania, Venice or one of the many other European destinations.
Copyright Photo: Paul Bannwarth/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A319-112 OO-SSN (msn 1963) lands at EuroAirport.
One of the best airline TV commercials (SN Brussels Airlines):
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aA7yagaYmdk&w=420&h=315%5D
Brussels Airlines Aircraft Slide Show: 
Airberlin (Berlin-Tegel) and Alitalia (2nd) (Rome) have signed an extensive codeshare agreement. The agreement covers all 412 weekly nonstop flights between Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy for this winter season. Etihad Airways has a 29.21 percent stake in Airberlin and a 49 percent stake in the revamped Alitalia.
Airberlin has issued this statement:
Airberlin, Germany’s second largest airline and Alitalia, Italy’s leading carrier, have signed a codeshare agreement to offer more choice and greater convenience to their guests. All of Airberlin’s and Alitalia’s 412 weekly nonstop flights between Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy will be codeshare flights effective this winter season.
As of October 26, Airberlin’s three daily flights from Dusseldorf and double daily flights from Berlin-Tegel will operate into Milan-Linate instead of Malpensa. Furthermore, the three daily flights from Vienna operated by Niki (Vienna), the Austrian airline which is part of the Airberlin group, will be directed to Linate as well.
The partners also agreed on selective codeshares beyond their home hubs. For instance Alitalia will place its “AZ” code on some of Airberlin’s domestic flights such as from Munich to Cologne, Dusseldorf, Hamburg and Berlin. At the same time Airberlin will place its “AB” code on selected domestic and international Alitalia flights via Rome and Milan-Linate to, for example, Naples, Brindisi, Reggio Calabria, Alghero, Cairo or Malta as well as on some of Alitalia’s long haul flights to South America such as Sao Paolo and Rio de Janeiro. All codeshare flights will be published in the reservation systems by October 20, 2014 for flights commencing October 26, 2014. Codesharing on Alitalia’s long-haul connections will commence after regulatory approval.
Besides the new codeshare services and more convenient flight connections, Airberlin and Alitalia have signed a frequent flyer agreement which allows their guests to earn and redeem bonus miles on the entire route network of both airlines on a reciprocal basis for flights starting on or after November 1, 2014.
The cooperation of Airberlin and Alitalia is a result of long-term planning over the last couple of years and also of more liberal alliance governance which permits partnerships across alliances borders. Both, Airberlin and Alitalia will remain members of oneworld® and Skyteam respectively. Further synergies will arise from optimized aircraft rotation and avoidance of expensive overnight aircraft stops.
Top Copyright Photo: Paul Bannwarth/AirlinersGallery.com. Airberlin’s Airbus A320-214 D-ABFK (msn 4433) in the special Fan Force One Bitburger touches down in Basel/Mulhouse/Freiburg (EuroAirport).
Airberlin:
Alitalia (2nd):
Niki:
Airberlin Aircraft Slide Show:
SunExpress Airlines (Antalya) will start five new routes from Antalya for the summer season of 2015. The new routes include Amsterdam (three days a week effective April 27, 2015), Geneva (weekly, March 28), Klagenfurt (weekly, May 13), Luxembourg (weekly, April 3) and Strasberg (weekly, April 24) per Airline Route.
Copyright Photo: Paul Bannwarth/AirlinersGallery.com. SunExpress Airlines’ Boeing 737-86Q WL TC-SUU (msn 30274) lands at Basel/Mulhouse/Freiburg.
SunExpress aircraft photo gallery:
SunExpress Airlines: 
Pegasus Airlines (flypgs.com) (Istanbul) slipped into the red, reporting a net loss of TL 17.9 million ($8.2 million) for the first half of 2014. This unfavorably compares to a net profit of TL 44.1 million ($20.2 million) for the same period a year ago.
Read the full report: CLICK HERE
Top Copyright Photo: Paul Bannwarth/AirlinersGallery.com (others by Pegasus). Boeing 737-82R TC-CPG (msn 40880) approaches the runway at EuroAirport.
Pegasus Airlines: