Airlines & Routes

Continental Airlines reported an August consolidated (mainline plus regional) load factor of 83.9%, 1.4 points below the August 2007 consolidated load factor. Consolidated traffic increase 0.7% and capacity increased 2.4% as compared to August 2007.

BA released that In August 2008, passenger capacity was 1.9% above August 2007 snf traffic fell by 1.6%. This resulted in a passenger load factor decrease of 2.7 points versus last year, to 77.3%.

Finnair begins scheduled passenger flights from Helsinki to Yekaterinburg on 2 September. The destination is served three times weekly with Airbus A319 aircraft. Yekaterinburg is Finnair’s third scheduled destination in Russia, after Moscow and St. Petersburg. Finnair operates the route in cooperation with Ural Airlines.

Kingfisher Airlines released that it would launch international service from India with the debut of daily non-stop flights between Bangalore and London-Heathrow on September 3, 2008.

US Airways continues its international expansion as the airline applies to operate year-round service between its hub in Philadelphia and Tel Aviv, Israel. Linking the two sister cities with a daily nonstop flight, the service is set to begin in July 2009 and is subject to both U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and Israeli government

Iberia reported that the load factor stood at 84.6%, compared to 86.3% last year, with a 0.6% increase in capacity and a 1.4% drop in traffic (RPK).

Singapore Airlines has launched a new all-Business Class service from Los Angeles to Singapore on Sunday, August 10th. This is the second all-Business Class service Singapore Airlines offers from North America, bringing the enhanced non-stop product to the West Coast after its initial launch in New York (Newark) on May 15, 2008. The newly reconfigured

SkyWest reported combined July traffic for SkyWest Airlines and Atlantic Southeast Airlines. Capacity decreased 3.3% in July, while traffic decreased by 4.7% compared to the same period last year. Load factor was down 1.2 pts to 80.1% compared to 81.3% for the same period last year.

WestJet reported July traffic statistics with a load factor of 79.7% down 2.9 pts compared to July 2007, capacity was up 22.7% and traffic was up 18.3% compared to the same period last year.

Delta Air Lines announced a new daily nonstop flight between Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and Mumbai, India, starting Nov. 1, 2008. The new flight will connect the world’s largest airport with one of the world’s fastest-growing economies. Delta’s recently acquired Boeing 777-200 Long Range (LR) aircraft will make the 17-hour, 55-minute westbound nonstop flight possible.