WestJet, the Canadian low-cost airline, revealed plans to create a subsidiary regional airline that will fly to short-haul destinations. The proposed airline will hopefully launch by the end of 2013.
WestJet CEO Gregg Saretsky said the proposed subsidiary would still use the WestJet brand, but will have a separate operating certificate. To keep costs down, it will operate a single-type fleet of either Bombardier Q400s or ATR 72-600 turboprops.
Jetstar Japan, a new budget airline, has announced it will commence domestic flights on July 3, 2012. From its base at Tokyo Narita Airport, the new airline will fly to Osaka, Sapporo, Fukuoka and Okinawa.
This launch date comes ahead of schedule, giving Jetstar Japan an advantage over other up-coming Japanese budget airlines like AirAsia Japan.
Scoot, the new low-cost wing of Singapore Airlines, has revealed its second destination: Gold Coast, Australia. The airline will offer 5 direct flights per week from Singapore to the Gold Coast starting in mid 2012. Tickets will go on sale sometime during the first quarter of 2012.
AirAsia Japan, the up-coming budget airline, has officially received its air transportation business license from the Japanese government. This is a major step in getting AirAsia Japan off the ground, and the airline hopes to launch in summer 2012.
AirAsia Japan plans to offer domestic flights from Tokyo’s Narita Airport to Sapporo, Fukuoka and Okinawa by August 2012. In October, it plans to launch international flights to Seoul-Incheon and Busan, South Korea.
Thai Smile Airline, the up-coming budget wing of Thai Airways, has announced its first destination: Macau. Direct flights from Bangkok to Macau will begin on July 1, 2012. The initial schedule will see two flights per day and ticket sales will begin in April.
Thai Smile is expected to have a fleet of four aircraft by summer 2012. Planned routes for August 1 launch are Bangkok – Chiang Mai and Chiang Mai – Phuket and international routes from Bangkok to Jakarta, Kolkata and Phnom Penh. By fall 2012 Thai Smile will take over Thai Airway’s flights Surat Thani and to Gaya and Varanasi, India.
Airberlin, the German budget airline, will become a full member of the Oneworld airline alliance with effect from March 20, 2012. Austrian budget airline NIKI, which is a member of the Airberlin group, will also join Oneworld as an affiliate member.
This means Airberlin will offer the full range of services, such as frequent flyer points, available to Oneworld members. The addition of Airberlin substantially expands the alliance’s network in Germany, Europe’s biggest economy, and throughout South and Central Europe. It will add almost 70 destinations to the alliance’s map, extending Oneworld’s global coverage to some 840 destinations in 150 countries.
Tiger Airways has announced it will be returning to Cairns, resuming its Melbourne – Cairns route starting April 25, 2012. This route has been suspended since July 2011 when Tiger Airways Australia was grounded due to safety breaches.
The initial schedule for Melbourne – Cairns flights will be once per day. The flight will depart Melbourne’s Tullamarine Airport at 8:50am. The flight from Cairns to Melbourne will depart at 12:45pm
Bookings for Melbourne – Cairns flights are already available with one-way fares from $99.95 AUD.
Thai Smile, an upcoming budget airline, has announced plans to commence its first flight on July 1, 2012. This new budget airline will be based out of Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport and is wholly owned by Thai Airways.
Destinations have not yet been announced, but Thai Smile is expected to begin as a domestic airline then expand to being a regional carrier. Potential destinations include Kochi, Hyderabad, Luang Prabang, Yangon, Seoul, Shenzhen, Hong Kong, Macau, Danang, Phuket, Penang, Kuala Lumpur, and Singapore.
AirAsia X, the long-haul wing of AirAsia, will be increasing flight frequency from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Tokyo (Haneda), Japan. Starting March 23, 20120, flights will increase from 3 per week to 6 per week
Starting June 22, 2012, the number of flights will further increase to a daily service.
The increase in frequency is part of the airline’s realignment plan which will focus the core markets in Southeast Asia, Australasia, China, Taiwan, Japan, and Korea.
Bangkok Airways has announced it will increase the number of Koh Samui – Hong Kong flights starting March 31, 2012. The frequency will increase from a daily flight to 10 per week.
New flights PG873 Koh Samui – Hong Kong (17:50 – 22:05) operate Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday and PG874 Hong Kong – Koh Samui (09:05 – 11:10) operate Wednesday/Friday/Sunday.
