-Kenya Airways has signed a code-sharing deal with Alitalia on its twice-weekly Rome-Nairobi route, strengthening its ties with the KLM/Northwest alliance which now includes the Italian flag carrier.
-The US Transportation Department has approved a codeshare alliance between American Airlines and the TACA Group of six Central American airlines, which will cover 126 weekly flights. The carriers requested the authority in June 1996.
-Nippon Cargo Airlines, which was upgraded to the status of incumbent carrier during the Japan-USA civil aviation talks held in January, has made separate agreements with UPS and Northwest Airlines to operate joint air cargo flights. The Tokyo-based cargo carrier plans to begin joint operations by the middle of this year, after obtaining approval from the Japanese Government.
-Aer Lingus, the only airline to fly Newcastle-Dublin direct, has introduced a third weekly flight with its Fokker 50s.
-British Aerospace Airbus has contracted Jersey European Airways (JEA) to operate a BAe 146 on its daily staff "air bridge" between its Bristol, UK, headquarters at Filton and Airbus Industrie in Toulouse. Meanwhile, JEA has started serving London Luton from Jersey and Guernsey in the Channel Islands.
-Following the addition of new aircraft, Indian carrier Jet Airways has introduced a daily service between Mumbai and Delhi, while adding Bhavnagar and Imphal to its network.
-Iberia will start operating to Houston, Texas, and Orlando, Florida, as part of a code-sharing deal with American Airlines.
-Delta Air Lines has received US Department of Transportation approval to fly six times a week between Honolulu and Tokyo, as well as from its Atlanta base to Tokyo and from Portland, Oregon to Osaka and Fukuoka.
-Continental Airlines has also received final DoT approval to serve Tokyo from Newark and Houston. It will operate to Newark from 30 November, but the Houston route is pending Japanese approval.
Source: Flight International
