“Air Briefs” are a quick overview of the latest information from airports and airlines, their new services, equipment, but also route openings and closures, etc. In short, all these little things or trifles that, without being revolutionary, regularly bring news in the world of aviation.
France and Europe
It will be called CityAirbus and should begin testing this year or in 2025. It is a prototype of the all-electric subsidiary of Airbus, capable of reaching speeds of 120 km/h, whose mission will be to provide (among other things) the function of a city taxi in certain large cities.
Technology is also on the move in Spain. Iberia has just launched a facial recognition boarding system for some of its customers on its Madrid-Barcelona flights. This allows you to pass through security checks and the boarding gate without having to show travel documents, making the passenger’s journey even smoother.
Volotea has considerable interest in Bordeaux and this year plans to offer 900,000 seats on more than 5,000 flights departing from Mérignac airport. This is an additional 20% compared to 2023 for a total of 30 destinations, with the cities of Verona and Palermo also new for 2024.
For Ryanair, that’s Biarritz. Twenty-five years of presence and for this summer five new seasonal routes to Brussels, Milan or the United Kingdom. Ryanair is also adding summer flights from Marseille (including Limoges, Zagreb and Tirana) to its program as well as from Toulouse with the Italian city of Bari.
Another known low price, easyJet. It has just celebrated twenty years of partnership with the manufacturer Airbus by taking over its 400thThursday branded equipment. And the collaboration is not over, as the company has just confirmed an order for 157 more aircraft from the A320neo family.
Where is the Russian company? Aeroflot after two years of war in your country? For 2024, the carrier and its subsidiaries, which are still subject to the embargo, plan to offer 270 services (+7% in one year), including 150 domestic ones. All this with a redesigned network and facilities numbering approximately 150 “optimized” in their maintenance and upkeep. This does not prevent incidents on them from multiplying three times in 2023 compared to previous years.
America and the Pacific
The aircraft manufacturer is still entangled in its problems Boeing has seen year-to-date deliveries drop by almost half compared to 2023 due to increased controls in production chains. From January to March, 83 devices were delivered (130 in 2023), including 29 in March (69 last year). Compare, Airbus delivered 142 aircraft in the first quarter, including 63 in March, and also just confirmed its production target of 800 for 2024.
In the transatlantic news we note Delta Air Lines which has just launched three weekly flights between Munich and New York’s JFK airport.
As for Canadians WestJetthis is London Gatwick – St. John’s (Newfoundland in Canada), which they plan seasonally from May.
Still in (very) bad financial condition, Brazilian company GOAL Linhas Aereas will have to return the fifteen or so Boeing 737s it leased to their owners to save on maintenance and upkeep.
Asia and the Middle East
As you can imagine, with a revival tensions in recent days in the Middle Eastairlines are adapting their schedules to Israel and its neighbors (including Iran) by canceling, delaying or rerouting several routes while they wait for the situation to calm down.
Scootthe low-cost subsidiary of Singapore Airlines, will expand its network in Southeast Asia with more frequencies, especially to Thailand and Malaysia, and will open routes such as Singapore-Koh Samui.
PUSH Malaysia exactly where it will be more expensive to travel there by plane from June 1. In fact, on this date, the country will increase its airport departure taxes and introduce a transit tax for passengers connecting at Malaysian airports.
Africa
As usual in the summer, Morocco will benefit from seasonal connections, especially from Europe. Therefore Air Arabia Morocco will operate a route between Oujda and Belgium’s Charleroi airport from June to September.
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