Senegal has reached a phased open skies agreement with the USA. Under the deal, US third-country codesharing operations will be phased in by 31 March, 2003. Midwest Express Airlines will add three weekly flights between Kansas City and Atlanta on 5 March as it continues to build the Missouri city into its third hub. British Airways has begun a direct three times weekly service between Abuja, Nigeria and London Gatwick using Boeing 777-200ERs. Delta Air Lines has begun a daily Boeing 757 service between Atlanta and Montego Bay, Jamaica. AeroMexico has launched three -weekly flights between Mexico City and Ontario, California, via Guadalajara, using a Boeing MD-82. The Mexican carrier has also added its code to SkyTeam partner Delta Air Lines' daily flights between Los Angeles and Narita, Japan. A new Finnair-owned Estonian airline is expected to start operations in the second quarter. It will eventually serve Northern European and Baltic markets. US cargo carrier Fine Air is increasing services between Miami and Latin America to meet seasonal demand. The airline is adding 29 weekly frequencies on routes to Costa Rica, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Peru and Venezuela. EgyptAir plans to start a weekly charter service from Cairo to Baghdad, beginning 2 January. Jordan has given permission for the EgyptAir aircraft to pass through its airspace, subject to the service receiving the approval of the UN Iraq sanctions committee. On 16 December an Iberia aircraft landed in Iraq bringing representatives of humanitarian groups and business people. Trans World Airlines will launch three daily flights between Miami and San Juan, Puerto Rico on 31 January. Meanwhile, Trans World Express carrier Chautauqua Airlines will begin a service between TWA's St Louis hub and Pensacola, Florida, on10 February, with three daily roundtrips using Embraer ERJ-145 regional jets.
Source: Flight International
