Air Jamaica Express, controlled by Gordon “Butch” Stewart´s ATL Group, closed down the airline on October 14, saying that it will wind up the company immediately after its closing. The company had initially announced the suspension of service a month ago. At a press conference held last week at the ATL Group headquarters in Kingston, Mr. Stewart said the airline was being closed, primarily because of market conditions, such as rising fuel prices. “We had a government agreement for exclusive flights between Kingston and Montego Bay, which has been breached for quite some time... it has taken the viability out of it,” he added.

Beginning on December 18, Delta will launch the only nonstop service between Atlanta and the Caribbean island of Antigua and a special introductory fare will make a visit more cost effective. “We are indeed delighted to welcome Delta service to Antigua, and we celebrate this partnership as a major accomplishment for our islands,” said the Hon. Harold Lovell, Antigua´s Minister of Tourism and Civil Aviation. “This service benefits all of us by increasing accessibility for consumers through Delta´s domestic and international network and by allowing us to expand our number of visitors.”

A new base at Milan´s Malpensa Airport is to be opened by EasyJet with five new routes. Three Airbus A319s will be based at the airport offering new routes to Gatwick, Athens, Madrid, Malaga and Paris Charles De Gaulle in addition to an existing service to Berlin and daily flights to Dortmund which start on October 30. The first two of the new aircraft will begin operation from Milan from March 27, 2006. The third aircraft will be introduced in the summer and will provide the capacity to operate more routes.

New England operator GWV Vacations is launching nonstop service to Los Cabos, Mexico, from Boston´s Logan Airport in January, the only such flights from the area. GWV officials estimate the new flight will save Los Cabos-bound Boston-area travelers three hours of travel time.

The new head of British Airways has hinted that BA is to revive cooperation talks with American Airlines on. BA chief executive, Willie Walsh, has told a London newspaper that he wants to explore how the two airlines could work more closely together. “We have an excellent relationship with American,” said Walsh in an interview with the Observer newspaper.

LAN Airlines, with headquarters in Chile´s Santiago, has signed a contract with Airbus for the acquisition of 25 A320 aircraft plus 15 optionals. This order confirms LAN´s previous announcement of June 2005 and brings their total orders for Airbus jetliners to 59. Deliveries of the newly ordered aircraft are scheduled to begin in 2006. A part of the additional new A318s and A319s will gradually replace LAN´s 737-200 fleet. The additional A319s and A320s will be powered by the V2500-A5 engine from International Aero Engines.