After months of intensive negotiations with the German airline Condor a contract was signed in Berlin during the ITB tourism trade fair. Condor will resume a weekly non-stop service on Mondays from Frankfurt to Antigua with effect from November 7.
The flight will create renewed interest in Antigua and Barbuda from tour operators in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Tour operators in Europe include TUI, the largest tour operator in Europe; will commence shortly the marketing of the country as The Heart of the Caribbean.
US Airways, a major US airline, announced Saturday it will cancel all its direct flights in May from Panama, El Salvador and Puerto Rico bound for Florida, a southeast state of the United States.
US Airways said in a statement released by the Panamanian press that the measure is part of a strategy to reduce expenses, which includes the return of 11 Boeing 737 airliners to their respective leasers.
The Chief Executive Board of Star Alliance has unanimously approved TAP Air Portugal´s application to join the alliance which will further enhance the network´s ´Latin Link´.
"TAP Air Portugal solidifies our reach on the Iberian Peninsula through its network spanning Europe, Brazil and Africa," said Jaan Albrecht, CEO, Star Alliance. "When combined with member carriers Spanair and VARIG, TAP will play a pivotal role in delivering quality service and connectivity between South America and Europe."
Portuguese private group Pestana, owner of Euro Atlantic, had a meeting with the Brazilian Government to make an official proposal to buy 20% of Varig, the downtrodden air carrier that´s been struggling with dire financial woes for quite some time now.
However, Brazil´s government had already removed the management of Varig, taking control of Latin America´s No. 1 air carrier, to guarantee the company´s jobs and flight schedule, the country´s airport authority said.
Canadian low-cost carrier Jetsgo filed for bankruptcy without previous notice and left some 17,000 passengers grounded all across the country. Jetsgo was under a government probe after one of its jetliners crash-landed last January in Calgary.
Founded in 2002 and featuring a payroll of 1,350 employees, Jetsgo was flying to twenty Canadian destinations and ten cities in the U.S. Transport Secretary Jean Lapierre denied the airline´s shutdown had anything to do with the official investigation and blamed it instead on the dog-eat-dog competition involving other low-cost carriers in Canada.
LAN Airlines, a group that includes LAN Chile, LAN Peru and LAN Ecuador, has signed with the Seattle-based Europe Express to manage its vacation packaging operation, now using the brand name LanVacations, which was previously handled by Salt Lake City-based Pan American Travel.
The LAN alliance offers non-stop and direct flights from 28 North American cities to Argentina, Chile, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela, including daily flights from Miami, New York and Los Angeles.