Routes

Mexicana has opened a new US gateway, launching nine weekly flights to Chicago Midway from Guadalajara, Morelia and Zacatecas, Mexico, using Airbus A320s and Boeing 757s. American Trans Air is to increase scheduled services from its Indianapolis, Indiana, hub by 50% to 60 flights a day in June, with the additional flights using newly arrived Boeing 737-800s. BMI Regional is launching an additional 94 flights a week to and from regional airports in the UK from the end of this month. The airline is also revamping its pricing structure. Four new domestic routes will be launched in Japan on 18 April when Toyko Narita airport is expected to open a second runway. Hiroshima-based J-Air will operate a daily flight to Nagoya in competition with a new twice-daily service by Toyoyama-based Nakanihon Airlines, which will be run jointly with All Nippon Airways. Fair Inc will operate three daily services to Sapporo, Sendai and Osaka. KLM will start daily services to Vancouver, New York Newark and San Francisco this month. The airline's regional arm KLM CityHopper will cease services between Antwerp and Amsterdam Schiphol on 1 June, and Antwerp-based VLM Airlines is to take over the route. VLM is also launching services from Antwerp to Manchester and Edinburgh via Rotterdam in April. Midwest Express Airlines and regional subsidiary Skyway Airlines will restore capacity to close to pre-11 September levels by June, resuming services to Washington Reagan National from Omaha, Oklahoma, this month and from Des Moines, Iowa, in April and increasing frequency on other routes. Brussels-based low-fare airline Virgin Express will start daily scheduled services to Athens and Lisbon on 30 March. Continental Airlines will begin four-times weekly flights between New York Newark and San Salvador, El Salvador on 1 May, using a Boeing 737-700. American Airlines will begin a daily Boeing 757 service between Los Angeles and Kauai, Hawaii, on 15 June.

Source: Flight International