USA: Alaska Airlines Begins Seattle -Pittsburgh Service, Stops Some Destinations. Other Airlines Follow.

Alaska Airlines has announced that it will begin nonstop, daily service between Seattle and Pittsburgh.

This new service is currently the only nonstop flight offered from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport to Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT).

The new route effectively links Seattle to the thriving business community in Pittsburgh, which continues to grow as top technology companies, entrepreneurs and start-ups look to establish a presence in the city.

Nonstop service to Seattle is a critical link for the Pittsburgh region and is the latest addition to the growth at Pittsburgh International Airport during the past three years.

We are thrilled to welcome Alaska Airlines, Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald said.

Increasing service to the West Coast has been a top priority and the connections between our two regions, including our vibrant tech growth, will fuel the success of this flight.”

Alaska Airlines has dropped more California routes.

In route news, Alaska Airlines drops California routes, but adds one from Seattle; JetBlue begins a new California transcon; United and American expand to Mexico; Southwest plans new weekly flights next spring; Lufthansa offers more air-rail connections at Frankfurt; Primera Air, LOT and

WOW enter new transatlantic markets; and Avianca adds U.S. frequencies.

In the latest adjustments to its network, Alaska Airlines will discontinue its twice-daily 737-800 flights between Los Angeles and Mexico City on November 6.

That marks the end of MEX service for Alaska, which earlier this year discontinued service to the Mexican capital from both San Francisco and San Diego.

Alaska also plans to discontinue a pair of regional routes on January 6: daily flights from San Francisco and Orange County to Albuquerque, both operated by SkyWest with Embraer 175s.

Meanwhile, Alaska added a new domestic spoke from its Seattle hub this week, launching daily year-round 737 service to Pittsburgh – the only non-stops in the market.

The eastbound segment leaves SEA at 8 a.m. and the return sets out from Pittsburgh at 5 p.m.

Another new West Coast route that started this week is JetBlue's daily A320 service between Ontario, California and its New York JFK hub –the tenth California city served by the airline. The eastbound leg is a red-eye.

While Alaska cuts back on its Mexico presence, United and American are expanding there.

On October 28, United will begin daily flights from Chicago O'Hare to Leon/Guanajuato, operated by SkyWest with an E175.

And on January 9, United will resume twice-weekly service to Mazatlan from Houston Bush Intercontinental, flown by Mesa Airlines with an E175.

American, meanwhile, will operate new seasonal daily service from its Charlotte hub to Guadalajara from January 6 through April 1 – a route where Mexican low-cost carrier Volaris is starting service in November.

Southwest has updated its schedule for spring 2019. On March 9, it will begin new or returning weekly seasonal service on Saturdays from St. Louis to Montego Bay, Jamaica and Punta Cana, Dominican Republic; from Milwaukee, Pittsburgh, Raleigh-Durham and San Antonio to Cancun; and from Baltimore/Washington to Cabo San Lucas.

On the same date, Southwest will kick off seasonal Saturday service from Cleveland to Tampa and from Cincinnati to Orlando, and on March 10 it will start weekly Sunday flights from Dallas to West Palm Beach, Florida and to Harlingen, Texas; and from Houston to Lubbock.

No word yet on Southwest's Hawaii intentions, but an announcement is expected soon. In the meantime, fare wars keep springing up, like this sale we wrote about this week.

Lufthansa has announced plans for a big expansion of its air/rail connecting service within Germany, in cooperation with Deutsche Bahn, the national rail network.

The airline's Express Rail program currently offers single-ticketing connections through Frankfurt Airport's on-site rail station to Dortmund, Dusseldorf, Cologne, Mannheim, Karlsruhe, Stuttgart, Nuremberg and Wurzburg.

This month, Express Rail will add service via Frankfurt to Gottingen, Kassel, Erfurt and Aachen, followed by Freiburg and Ulm in December.

By next summer, Lufthansa Express Rail will add service from Frankfurt to Essen, Bochum, Duisburg, Wuppertal, Oberhausen and Bonn.

European low-cost carrier Primera Air, which most recently announced plans to start flying to Brussels from three U.S. cities, is continuing its rapid transatlantic expansion.

Primera is now targeting Germany, with plans to begin daily flights from New York JFK to Berlin on June 7 of next year, followed by four weekly flights from Boston to Berlin effective June 9.

The carrier will add daily Frankfurt-JFK service June 16 and four weekly Frankfurt-Boston flights as of June 21. All the new flights will use 737 MAX 9s. Primera also flies from the U.S. to London Stanstead and Paris CDG.

In other transatlantic news, LOT Polish Airlines plans to launch new U.S. service between Warsaw and Miami next June, using a 787-8 to fly the route four days a week.

Iceland's WOW Air will jump into the Reykjavik-Orlando market December 19, operating three weekly flights with an A321.

To Latin America, meanwhile, Avianca filed plans to add a fourth daily frequency between Miami and Bogota effective October 28, and a third daily New York JFK-Bogota flight beginning December 1.


Tourism Observer

CANADA: Air Canada Rouge Goes To Bucharest From Montreal And Toronto

Air Canada Rouge inaugurated new service from Montreal to Bucharest on Thursday and events were held on both sides of the Atlantic to celebrate the new service to the Romanian capital.

Air Canada Rouge president Duncan Bureau and his team flew on the inaugural flight.

Air Canada Rouge is the only North American airline flying to Romania, the largest European market without trans-Atlantic flights.

And so the new, seasonal route from Montreal to Bucharest, as well as seasonal Toronto-Bucharest service which launched on June 9, are the only direct air links between North America and Romania, and the first from Canada in over 16 years.

In the departure lounge at Montreal-Trudeau, passengers sampled Romanian treats, while a troupe of Romanian dancers in traditional costume entertained.

Several dignitaries then addressed the room including Adrian Ligor, Romanian Ambassador to Canada, Ioana Gabriela Costache, Romanian consul general in Montreal, Stephane LaPierre, Aeroport de Montreal’s vice president operations, and Adina Georgescu, president of the Romanian Chamber of Commerce of Quebec.

This new link will make it easier for investors and tourists from both Romania and Canada to travel either for business or pleasure. said Ambassador Adrian Ligor.

It also brings closer families and friends of the large Canadian-Romanian community in the Montreal area. I wish Air Canada every success with its new direct service to Bucharest.

This direct connection with Romania comes at the right time. At a time where Europe is at our doorstep and where the business relationships between Canada and our European neighbours will only get stronger with the coming into force of the CETA Agreement - Canada EU Trade Agreement, said Adina Georgescu.

It paves the way for the deepening of bilateral trade between Romania and Canada, be it commercial, personal, cultural or tourist.

I congratulate Air Canada and Aeroports de Montreal for their initiative and efforts to put this service in place. Air Canada can count on our support to help make this new direct air link a success.

Duncan Bureau, who was recently named president of Air Canada Rouge, welcomed and thanked passengers.

Thank you for joining us today on our inaugural flight to Bucharest. Bureau said.

We're extremely proud of this new route…This route opens up new economic ties between Canada and Romania, also tourism, cultural exchange, and a great opportunity for people to get home to visit their friends and family.

He then introduced the crew on the flight, saying We have a tremendous crew, one of the best crews in the world, and some of them are here, they’ll be with you today and I’ll be joining you as well, so I’m looking forward to flying over to Bucharest with all of you on this very, very first flight.

Following cake cutting and ribbon cutting ceremonies, it was time to board the aircraft for the eight hour and 55 minute flight from Montreal to Bucharest, the nonstop flight cutting three hours off the typical travel time between the cities when you factor in connections.

Following a smooth flight, we touched down just a few minutes early at Bucharest’s Henri Coanda airport, and what a welcome we received.

In addition to a water cannon salute from the airport’s fire department, which is customary when an airline begins flying to a new destination, Henri Coanda Airport also rolled out the red carpet, with a host of Romanian and Canadian dignitaries on hand to welcome the flight.

Also on hand were throngs of local media, who literally swarmed the tarmac, interviewing passengers as they deplaned on a hot, bright, sunny day. The arrival of Air Canada flight 1928 was big news in Bucharest, with the arrival even featured on that evening’s TV news programs.

Once all passengers had deplaned, and following another ribbon cutting ceremony, a press conference was held with local media.

Responding to a question from one reporter asking if Air Canada Rouge planned to expand service, Bureau responded We’re very happy with the advanced bookings and for the month of June we have a 90 per cent load factor and for the rest of the summer we’re very, very strong.

Typically what happens with these routes, we’ll start out with a few flights a week and then we’ll grow that operation as we start to see the market react.

Nothing would please us more if we could go to daily service if we get the support from the markets. So we’ll wait and see how the market reacts.

While most of the passengers between Canada and Romania will be VFR - Visit Friends and Relatives, Bureau said Canada that the Canada-Romania business communities are behind the new service and that there’s still a significant tourism opportunity as well.

Kevin Hamilton, Canadian Ambassador to Romania, was also on hand and had the opportunity to speak with him one-on-one about Air Canada Rouge’s new service and what it means for Canadians and Romanians.

First of all, it reinforces those people-to-people ties, which are already so strong. We have 200,000 Canadians of Romanian descent, and so the family ties across the ocean are already very strong and so this will make it that much easier for family reunifications.

For people to visit one another’s country. So that’s the most immediate impact over the summer.

Of course we hope that business-to-business ties are going to grow as well. We’ve got the new Canada-EU Trade Agreement, which is effectively in force right now, and so with Visa free travel especially, this is going to provide an opportunity for Romanian and Canadian business communities to get together more often.

In November 2016, Canada dropped the Visa requirement for Romanian nationals visiting Canada, although Visa-exempt travellers like Romanians must still obtain an eTA - Electronic Travel Authorization, prior to travelling.

From a tourism perspective, Hamilton seconded Bureau’s remarks adding Canadians more and more are looking for that sweet spot, between adventure tourism and all the comforts of home at the same time.

You get that in Romania. You’ve got a lot wild parts of the country, in Transylvania for example, but you’ve got larger, really dynamic cities with great nightlife and food.

And so I think you’re going to see Canadians attracted to that sense that Romania is still a little bit exotic. It’s an up and coming country for tourism and there’s lots to do and lots to see.

Air Canada Rouge’s service from between Montreal and Bucharest will operate twice weekly until October 4, 2018, while their twice weekly Toronto-Bucharest service will end on October 6.

Flights will operate using Air Canada Rouge Boeing 767ER aircraft equipped with 24 Premium Rouge seats and 258 seats in Economy class.

Schedule details:

- AC1928 departs Montreal on Mondays and Thursdays at 6:00 PM, arriving in Bucharest at 9:55 AM the following morning, until October 4, 2018. Flight duration is approximately eight hours and 55 minutes.

- AC1929 departs Bucharest on Tuesdays and Fridays at 1:45 PM, arriving in Montreal at 4:20 PM the same day, until October 5, 2018. Flight duration is approximately nine hours and 30 minutes.

- AC1964 departs Toronto on Tuesdays and Saturdays at 5:30 PM, arriving in Bucharest at 9:55 AM the following morning, until October 6, 2018. Flight duration is approximately nine hours and 30 minutes.

- AC1965 departs Bucharest on Wednesdays and Sundays at 1:45PM, arriving in Toronto at 5:00 PM the same day, until October 7, 2018. Flight duration is approximately 10 hours and 15 minutes.

Air Canada Rouge’s new Montreal-Bucharest service is one of ten new destinations launching from Montreal in 2018, alongside domestic flights to London, Windsor and Victoria, transborder service to Phoenix, Pittsburgh and Baltimore, and International flights to Tokyo-Narita, Dublin and Lisbon.


Tourism Observer

BAHAMAS: American Airlines Non-stop Flights Commencing June 3rd From North Carolina To George Town, Exuma.

Bahamas Ministry of Tourism is pleased to announce American Airlines new non-stop flight service from Charlotte, North Carolina to George Town, Exuma.

American will offer the service starting June 3rd with flight times of approximately 2 hours and 15 minutes. The new route, which will be a weekly flight, will expose The Bahamas to new visitors allowing for greater market penetration.

"The Ministry of Tourism welcomes this new flight by AA to George Town, Exuma from its Charlotte hub. This opens up market access to Exuma by attracting customers from markets like Pittsburgh and Buffalo which have great connections on AA to Exuma via Charlotte," stated Tyrone Sawyer, senior director of Airlift Development in the Ministry of Tourism.

Visitors will have much to do on Exuma. The island, made up small cays, has some of the most gorgeous turquoise waters in the Caribbean and is home to the world-famous swimming pigs.

"We are thrilled to launch our new flight between Charlotte and George Town this coming June, further expanding our already extensive presence in The Bahamas," said Caroline Hollingsworth, American's general manager for The Bahamas. "We currently offer up to 25 daily flights to six destinations in The Bahamas, and this new route will enable us to offer even more options to our local customers and tourists alike."

The Bahamas continues to attract new airlines and nonstop flights from carriers across the globe. In 2016, Southwest Airlines, Silver Airways, Delta, Air Caraibes, among others, added new airlift to the country.

The Islands Of The Bahamas have a place in the sun for everyone. Each island has its own personality and attractions for a variety of vacation styles with some of the world's best golfing, scuba diving, fishing, sailing, boating, as well as, shopping and dining. The destination offers an easily accessible tropical getaway and provides convenience for travelers with preclearance through U.S. customs and immigration, and the Bahamian dollar is on par with the U.S. dollar. Do everything or do nothing, just remember It's Better in The Bahamas.