-US carrier Midwest Express has signed a codesharing agreement with regional airline American Eagle providing connecting service at Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas, and Los Angeles, California. Midwest, meanwhile, will add five McDonnell Douglas DC-9s to its fleet this year, bringing the total to 29.
-Trans World Airlines will feed Delta Air Lines flights to Japan once a codeshare arrangement wins US Government approval. TWA says that it will buy seats on Delta-operated Boeing MD-11s from Portland, Oregon, to three destinations in Japan and from Los Angeles to one Japanese city. TWA flights to these Delta gateways will originate in St Louis, Missouri. TWA has applied to the US Department of Transportation for 28 weekly codeshare frequencies to Japan as part of the new liberalised bilateral air services pact recently signed by the USA and Japan. Among other provisions, the agreement allows US airlines to codeshare among themselves on many operations to Japan and beyond.
-British Airways' German arm Deutsche BA has cut back its Munich-Frankfurt service, which has fallen far short of traffic expectations. The route, which links Lufthansa's two biggest hubs, was introduced on 24 November, 1997, along with a DM20 million ($11 million) publicity drive. The airline says that it will now watch how traffic continues to develop, but hopes to reinstate the eight daily services in the third quarter.
-Adria Airways of Slovenia will begin scheduled services between Ljubljana and Brussels on 4 March, using 48-seat Bombardier Canadair Regional Jets.
-Hong Kong's new special administrative regional government has signed a bilateral air services agreement with Pakistan. The agreement will for the first to permit direct flights between Hong Kong and major cities in Pakistan. Under a handover agreement with former colonial ruler the UK, China has agreed to allow Hong Hong the autonomy to negotiate its own bilaterals.
-Singapore Airlines is to cut back regional services to Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta and use smaller capacity aircraft on its Bangkok service, in the light of the recent Asian economic difficulties. SIA at the same time, will increase flights to New York from seven to 10 a week, to London from 14 to 17 a week and Frankfurt from seven to 10 a week.
Source: Flight International
