USA: Delta Increases Flights From Seattle To Florida

Delta Air Lines will connect Seattle/Tacoma and Tampa next year, its first new domestic route from Seattle for next year.

The SkyTeam Alliance carrier will offer a daily flight between the cities with Boeing 737-800 aircraft that seat 160 passengers, according to Diio by Cirium schedules.

Tampa (TPA) will be Delta’s second nonstop flight to Florida from Seattle (SEA), joining Orlando (MCO).

Tampa is the first domestic addition from Delta’s Seattle hub for 2020. The airline will begin flights to Tokyo Haneda (HND) from the Pacific Northwest city in March, a move that comes as it ends more than three decades of service at Tokyo Narita (NRT).

Delta Air Lines will connect Seattle/Tacoma and Tampa next year, its first new domestic route from Seattle for next year.

The SkyTeam Alliance carrier will offer a daily flight between the cities with Boeing 737-800 aircraft that seat 160 passengers, according to Diio by Cirium schedules.

Tampa (TPA) will be Delta’s second nonstop flight to Florida from Seattle (SEA), joining Orlando (MCO).

Tampa is the first domestic addition from Delta’s Seattle hub for 2020. The airline will begin flights to Tokyo Haneda (HND) from the Pacific Northwest city in March, a move that comes as it ends more than three decades of service at Tokyo Narita (NRT).


Delta established its Seattle hub in 2014 to support its growing Pacific gateway at the airport. The airline will operate up to 180 peak-day flights from the airport by next June, Diio schedules show.

Delta will compete with Alaska Airlines between Seattle and Tampa, according to Diio.

Tourism Observer

USA: Regional Jet Operator ViaAir Makes New Connections

ViaAir launched flights between Orlando Sanford (SFB) and Columbia (CAE) on 21 December.

The US regional operator will serve the 573-kilometre route four times weekly, with departures on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. The carrier will operate the sector using its fleet of 30-seat EMB 120s, with no other airline currently flying the airport pair.

Situated in South Carolina, Columbia Airport handled 1,077,188 passengers in 2017. During the first eight months of 2018, 772,614 people have used the airport, up 8.6% versus the same period of 2017 based on statistics published by the airport.

ViaAir becomes the airport’s fourth operator, with it already served by the USB3 carriers of American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines.

ViaAir has launched its second route from Austin (AUS), with the US regional operator starting a link to Tucson (TUS) on 18 January.

Joining its existing service to Hayden/Steamboat Springs which began 13 December, the carrier will operate the 1,278-kilometre route between Austin and Tucson three times weekly using its ERJ 145s, with no other airline currently serving the city pair.

The regional jet operator will launch a third connection from Austin on 1 March, a three times weekly link to Oklahoma City.

The airline previously served Austin from Branson in Missouri, but the route is no longer bookable on the carrier’s website, the last service flew in November.

ViaAir has commenced flights between Austin (AUS) and Oklahoma City (OKC). Inaugurated on 22 April, the US regional operator will fly the 578-kilometre sector six times weekly, with it facing no direct competition on the airport pair.

The airline will utilise its 50-seat ERJ 145s on the city pair. Based on MIDT data, some 24,900 passengers travelled indirectly between the two airports in 2017, with Dallas/Fort Worth being the leading hub for connecting traffic.

Demand on the Austin to Oklahoma City airport pair grew by 4.2% last year versus the number of passengers travelling between the two points in 2016.

ViaAir is a US domestic regional airline offering scheduled service across the United States. The airline originally focused on scheduled Essential Air Service from Raleigh County Memorial Airport in Beckley, West Virginia, Parkersburg/Marietta in Parkersburg, West Virginia to Charlotte Douglas International Airport in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Via Airlines was established on March 27, 1997 and operated public and private charter flights for corporations, sports teams, casinos, and air travel functions before expanding to scheduled passenger flight services with ViaAir.

ViaAir began its EAS scheduled flights in December 2014, with the inaugural flight to Beckley, WV taking place on December 3. Prior to ViaAir beginning flights, air service was operated by United Express.

The same day as the inaugural Beckley flight, ViaAir announced it would be operating seasonal unsubsidized nonstop service from Charlotte Douglas International Airport to Northeast Florida Regional Airport in St. Augustine, Florida, with its inaugural flight taking place on December 19, 2014.

After a seasonal trial, an agreement was reached to continue service to St. Augustine from Charlotte and Beckley. In early November 2015, ViaAir announced it would extend its St. Augustine service into 2016.

ViaAir, with flights operated by the Charter Air Transport fleet, offers additional air travel options with its AirCruise and Air Tours products. ViaAir's aviation products began in 2009 with its Air Tours, and introduced AirCruise in 2011.

AirCruise introduced a concept similar to naval cruises, but that transports passengers by plane instead of by boat. While naval cruising is limited to ports, AirCruise is able to reach landlocked destinations.

On November 15, 2017, ViaAir announced two new destinations from Austin (Oklahoma City and Tucson), taking its total destinations from Austin up to four.

Coinciding with this information was the announcement that ViaAir plans to base crews and maintenance at the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, positioning its Austin based operations to expand.

We will roll out additional cities throughout next year as we hope to be known as Austin’s hometown airline.

On February 9, 2018 Via announced two new destinations from Austin (Little Rock and Tulsa), bringing the total of destinations served from Austin up to six.


Tourism Observer

USA: Facial Recognition Working Well And Fast At Mineta San Jose Airport

Mineta San Jose International Airport is one of several airports nationwide chosen by the United States Customs and Border Protection agency to use facial recognition to screen all arriving and departing international travelers.

The airport quietly began using the technology on arriving international flights June 25. International fliers leaving SJC will see it in use at departure gates in the coming months, according to the airport. The technology is also in use at airports in Orlando and San Diego.

Here's one of the biggest changes travelers can expect: all departing international passengers will be photographed at the gate before they board their flight.

The images give the government verifiable biometric proof that a U.S. visitor has left the country, and presumably, will also be used to match citizens when they re-enter the country.

When entering the United States off a flight, passengers are photographed at passport control.

Facial recognition software compares the image against passport or visa photos the federal government already has on file.

The process takes less than a second. It eliminates the need for agents to scan passports manually and visually compare travelers to their passport photos, both are time consuming tasks that slow down immigration queues.

Interviews and customs luggage inspections will still go ahead.

Travelers enrolled in Global Entry will see no changes in the way they enter the country since those kiosks already photograph and fingerprint arriving international passengers.

Travelers who use the Mobile Passport app to digitally fill-out immigration forms and customs declarations can continue to use it, but will also go through the same facial recognition process at passport control.

SJC will install biometric readers at each of the seven gates used for international departures to photograph travelers leaving the country. That's coming in the fall, we're told.

At SJC, the process has already expedited long passport screening lines which have grown to become unbearable for many travelers.

The airport has seen a staggering increase in the number of international flights in recent years such as Aeromexico, Air China, All Nippon Airways, British Airways, and Lufthansa have all launched flights to SJC in the last decade.

In 2017, the airport logged 438,800 international arrivals — more than double the number in 2015, when there were 199,900.

Simultaneously, airport officials said there has been a shortage of Customs and Border Patrol agents to staff passport control counters because the agency isn't able to recruit and retain enough people willing to put up with the Bay Area's high cost of living.

The airport hopes the new automated screening process will shorten wait times and put an end to a lot of the frustration.

The use of the technology has raised suspicions by civil liberties groups, which oppose the government's collection of the photographs of citizens.

The biggest danger is that this technology will be used for general, suspicionless surveillance systems, the American Civil Liberties Union warned.

State motor vehicles agencies possess high-quality photographs of most citizens that are a natural source for face recognition programs and could easily be combined with public surveillance or other cameras in the construction of a comprehensive system of identification and tracking.

Passengers who want to opt-out of the biometric screening will have the option to do so.

The federal government says photos of U.S. citizens might be stored for up to 14 days, but photos of non-U.S. citizens could be stored for decades.


Tourism Observer

USA: Spirit Airlines Begins Major International Expansion

Effective Oct. 4, Spirit Airlines will begin offering international service from Orlando International Airport (MCO) to 11 new destinations in Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as three more domestic routes rolling out through the fall.

The announcement marks one of the largest expansions in the airline’s history and includes service to the U.S. territories of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

With this announcement, Spirit will now provide additional service from Orlando to eight countries and two U.S. territories.

It comes just days after the airline announced new routes from Orlando to Asheville and Greensboro, North Carolina, as well as Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

Spirit will now provide the Orlando region with nonstop service to and from 38 destinations, with up to 49 daily flights across the U.S., the Caribbean, and Latin America.

We have been proud to serve Orlando for 25 years, and after more than doubling service last year, we are so proud to be expanding there yet again, said Bob Fornaro, Spirit’s chief executive officer.

Orlando is now one of our largest markets, and we have no plans on stopping our growth.

The region is not only a wonderful, family-friendly destination, but it is well-positioned to now serve as a gateway to the Carribean and Latin America.

Spirit Airlines has a long history here at Orlando International Airport, and today’s announced plans for more investment into this market are a direct reflection of that long-time business partnership, said Stan Thornton, chief operating officer of the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority.


Tourism Observer

CANADA: Air Transat Suspends Newfoundland Flights

Air Transat will not be offering flights down south from Newfoundland next year.

Director of Marketing and Business Development for the Airport Authority, Marie Manning, says the change is temporary while Air Transat changes its service.

She says they usually offer flights for eight weeks out of the year, during the winter months.

She says Air Transat decided to change their fleet and upgrade their service, so during the transition, service won’t be offered next year.

Manning says they plan to be back the year after.

Air Transat offered two flights, one to Orlando and one to Punta Cana.

She says the Orlando flight was not direct, but was routed through Halifax.

That’s one of the things the airline plans to change.


Tourism Observer

USA: American Airlines Boeing 737 Engine Fails Inflight

American Airlines Boeing 737-800, performing flight from New York La Guardia to Orlando with 156 passengers and 6 crew, was climbing out of New York when the crew requested to maintain 12,000 feet while they were troubleshooting a problem.

The crew subsequently advised they had an engine failure and wanted to divert to New York’s JFK Airport.

The aircraft landed safely on JFK’s runway 22R about 20 minutes later.

The airline reported the engine had no visible damage, the crew had received an engine fault indication which subsequently was identified to have been caused by the engine oil filter.

A replacement Boeing 737-800 registration N894NN reached Orlando with a delay of about 2 hours.


Tourism Observer

USA: Southwest Airlines Makes Expansion Strategies

Southwest Airlines announced expansion in their operations, which will be effective from this week.

These flights were inaugurated from April 8 and saw 11 nonstop routes take off.

The services will take customers to the following destinations and origins:

- San Jose-Boise

- San Jose-Houston

- San Jose-Spokane

- San Jose-St. Louis

- San Jose-New Orleans

- San Francisco-Austin

- Sacramento-Austin

- Sacramento-St. Louis

- Oakland-Newark

- San Diego-Newark

On top of this, the carrier began new intra-Florida services between Fort Lauderdale and Jacksonville, which will operate three times per day.

Southwest also celebrated brand new daily non-stop flights between Raleigh and Kansas City as well as a Sunday-only service between Austin and Indianapolis respectively.

Futhermore, a new Saturday service will be implemented on April 14 between Oakland and Orlando, marking the first time that Southwest Airlines has ever connected the Bay Area and Orlando via a non-stop service.

This service will then be upgraded to daily services from July 2018.

The carrier will also be adding a seasonal service between Kansas City and Pensacola as well as between Orlando and Oklahoma City.

Moreover, Southwest will begin non-stop services between Pheonix and New York’s La Guardia, which will continue until June 2018.

Internationally, the carrier is making some further gains out of Cancun where weekly seasonal flights will operate on Saturdays between Colombus and New Orleans to Cancun.

Southwest currently carries over 120 million passengers per year and have a workforce of 56,000 employees that will help sustain this growth going into the future.

These expansions will come following the number of 737 MAX’s delivered to Southwest Airlines as well as the many more that are on the way.

These aircraft will replace older generation aircraft as well as add to the total fleet, thus allowing Southwest to expand in such a significant manner.



Tourism Observer

USA: More Americans Will Visit Cancun And Orlando

Americans are headed to Orlando and Cancun this summer, according to a recent review of three million trips planned by Allianz Global Assistance customers.

Allianz reviewed nearly three million trips planned by its clients for travel between May 29 and Sept. 4, 2017, for travel between five and eight days in length.

They found that the largest percentage of bookings made for U.S. trips were to Orlando (8.6%) followed by Las Vegas (4.7%) and Honolulu (4.4%).

Rounding out the U.S. top 10 were Los Angeles (3.7%), Seattle (3.4%), San Francisco (3.2%), Maui (2.9%), Boston (2.9%), Denver (2.9%) and Fort Lauderdale (2.6%).

Internationally, 8 out of 10 of the top destinations are in Mexico and the Caribbean, with only London and Paris making the list for European destinations. Cancun, ranked highest (16.9%), is followed by

Punta Cana, Dominican Republic (5.3%);

Los Cabos, Mexico (4.6%);

Montego Bay, Jamaica (4.2%);

San Juan, Puerto Rico (3.9%);

Aruba (3.9%);

London, (3.6%);

St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands (3.4%);

Nassau, Bahamas (3.2%);

Paris (2.6%).

Allianz said most of the planned trips to Orlando and Cancun are for groups of two or more travelers, “which could be a result of more families traveling or the increasing popularity of multi-generational travel.”

For instance, 90% of trips planned to Orlando have more than one traveler, and 26% have four travelers, while 92% of trips planned to Cancun have more than one traveler, and 34% have two travelers.

Allianz gathered the data by analyzing the number of travelers that went through the online booking process of airfare and package paths for partners offering Allianz Global Assistance travel to generate itineraries for roundtrip flights departing from U.S. airports 5/29/17–9/4/2017 for trips between five and eight days in length.

Sandals Resorts International "is exploring options to accelerate the company's long-term growth and development plans,” including selling the company to a new owner, it said in a statement on Thursday.

Caribbean resort operator has hired investment bank Deutsche Bank AG to explore several options, including a sale of a majority stake in the company.

Sandals was founded 36 years ago by Gordon "Butch" Stewart, who has owned it ever since. It is now the largest non-government employer in Jamaica and could be worth well over $1 billion, including debt, Reuters said.

Sandals Resorts now includes 15 all-inclusive, adults-only properties in seven Caribbean countries, including Jamaica, the Bahamas, Grenada and Barbados; three family-friendly Beaches resorts; one Grand Pineapple resort; Fowl Cay private island; and four villas in Jamaica.

USA: Plan Your Trip To The U.S. Now Is A Digital Marketing Campaign In Mexico To Attract Mexican Tourists

A public-private partnership created six years ago to boost U.S. tourism has a message for Mexicans: We welcome you, even if it may seem like President Donald Trump doesn't.

After a drop in travel since Trump took office in January, Brand USA is launching a digital marketing campaign in Mexico this month with the slogan "Planifica tu viaje a USA ahora" -- Plan your trip to the U.S. now.

The goal is to convince Mexicans that Trump's vow to build a wall along the southern border, ban travelers from some countries and tighten visa screenings shouldn't keep them from packing a suitcase and heading north.

Nothing has changed about how our friends and visitors from Mexico plan their trip to the U.S. and how they enter the country, said Chris Thompson, chief executive officer of the Washington-based group.

We're really working on separating the perception versus the reality. There's been a lot of conversation, but nothing legally has changed.

The reason behind the push is simple: Mexicans are the second-largest group of visitors to the U.S. after Canadians, and in 2015 alone they spent almost $20 billion.

But the task isn't easy. Anti-Trump sentiment and a weaker peso have already affected travel to the U.S. Air traffic from Mexico to U.S. leisure destinations dropped for the first two months of the year, according to Mexico's Communications and Transportation Ministry.

It's not that Mexicans aren't traveling; they may be headed to Canada instead.

Airports in Miami, Orlando, San Antonio and Denver clocked fewer visitors from Mexico City and Guadalajara in the first two months of 2017, while Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver saw a surge in traffic from Mexico's capital.

Brand USA's public money comes from $10 out of every $14 that travelers under the U.S. Visa Waiver Program pay to register every two years.

That money is set aside in a tourism trust fund, Thompson said, of which the organization takes $100 million each year and matches it with private funds from its partners.

The federal government provides the seed money but requires us to make sure that we match every federal dollar with a private dollar, Thompson said.

This fiscal year, the budget stands at $165 million, which will be deployed in similar campaigns in 40 different markets, he said.

Some of Brand USA's board members include Marriott International CEO Arne Sorenson; Kyle Edmiston, Louisiana's tourism director; and Rossi Ralenkotter, president of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.

Board members are appointed by the U.S. secretary of commerce in consultation with the secretary of state and the secretary of homeland security, according to the organization's website.

The Brand USA marketing campaign could be welcome news for Mexican airlines, which had a tough first quarter. Grupo Aeromexico SAB posted a net loss and retired additional aircraft, and Controladora Vuela Cia. de Aviacion, or Volaris, missed estimates.

Regarding uncertainty in immigration policy in the U.S., we saw some softness, said Andres Conesa, CEO of Aeromexico, in an April 26 investor call. The quarter was very challenging for the Mexican aviation industry.

Volaris also saw its first-quarter results slide, which the company attributed in part to "the U.S. discussions on travel bans, talks about stricter passenger-screening methods" as well as visa and migratory-status debates, CEO Enrique Beltranena said in a call with investors.

Mexico is a hugely important market to the U.S., Thompson said. Nothing about what makes the U.S. a compelling place to visit has changed.

GREECE: Wyndham Hotel Group Opens In Greece

Wyndham Hotel Group announced that accessible luxury is coming to Athens when the Wyndham Grand Athens, the first Wyndham Hotel Group hotel in Greece, opens in the city centre early next year. Travel is the best excuse to enjoy the grand things in life, and Wyndham Grand hotels and resorts offer truly unforgettable travel experiences.

Wyndham Grand is decidedly not pretentious, but approachable by design, featuring pristine guestrooms, relaxing spas, one-of-a kind dining experiences, and more. The Wyndham Grand Athens will be situated on Karaiskaki Place (2, Meg. Alexandrou St.), where Zeus International, a company that operates nine hotels across Eastern Europe, is transforming the building owned by VIOHALCO which formerly housed the Hotel Athens Imperial.

When renovations are complete, the Wyndham Grand Athens will boast 273 rooms, 2,500 sq. m. of conference and event space, a restaurant, a bar, a spa and an amazing roof-garden of 450 sq. m. with a pool and a 360° view of the city skyline. In addition, the hotel’s proximity to the Metro and many of Athens’ cultural points of interest will make it a destination for business and leisure travellers alike.

Dan Ruff, President and Managing Director EMEA, for Wyndham Hotel Group, said: “Wyndham Grand hotels are located in some of the world’s most sought after destinations, including Shanghai, Istanbul, Doha, Salzburg, Chicago, Orlando and now Athens. This is only our first stop in Greece, as we see opportunities for many of our brands across the country, from city centres such as Athens and Thessaloniki to resort destinations in the Greek islands and mainland.”

Haris Siganos, Founder of Zeus International, noted: “Our Company is engaged in a variety of consulting and advisory projects from hotel management and development to turnaround management. We have been monitoring the Greek market for the right hospitality investment opportunity.

We believe that Athens has been missing a flagship hotel offering a one-of-a-kind experience with a compelling local flavour, and we intend to change this when the Wyndham Grand Athens opens next year.”

All Wyndham Grand hotels in the region participate in Wyndham Rewards®, the simple-to-use, revolutionary loyalty programme from Wyndham Hotel Group that offers members a generous points earning structure along with a flat, free-night redemption rate in 73 countries across the world – the first of its kind for a major hotel rewards programme. To learn more or to join for free, guests should visit

USA: Orlando Tourism Affected As Shared Grief, Brings City Together

"Orlando Strong" banners hung from porches and bridges, hotel workers wore purple T-shirts with "Orlando United" on them and shock gave way to grief in this tourist city as more families buried their loved ones Friday.

Some longtime residents say they have been moved by how the nightclub massacre that left 49 club-goers dead has brought the city together.

"I thought this was a very cold city, and now I know it's a warm city," said Monica Roggiero, 49, before she walked into the funeral of her co-worker Anthony Luis Laureano Disla. "I thought because of the tourism that no one stayed here that long. It's amazed me how our community has gotten so close."

Pallbearers loaded Disla's body into a white hearse. A procession of dozens of cars accompanied the casket, and Disla was buried at a downtown Orlando cemetery under a blue tarp surrounded by flowers.

Mourners wore T-shirts with Disla's picture, and remembered him as an "amazing soul" who was the life of the party and who motivated anyone he was around.

"He was a breath of fresh air when he walked in the room," Roggiero said.

A few blocks away, more than 100 people filled another funeral home to remember Peter Ommy Gonzalez-Cruz and Gilberto Ramon Silva, best friends who died together at Pulse. They came with rainbow flags tied to their car antennas and several wore T-shirts with pictures of Gonzalez-Cruz, who went by the nickname "Ommy."

It was the third funeral Jose Torres attended this week. Gonzalez-Cruz and Silva were two of his six friends who died in the massacre. Torres plans to attend another funeral Saturday.

"All they wanted to do was dance and have a good time," said Torres, who lives in Orlando. "It's been an emotionally hard week. I watched the news and saw all the faces of my friends. I can't believe they are dead now."

Karla Cabrera grew up with Silva in Manati, Puerto Rico, and she followed him when he moved to Orlando.

"I admired his loyalty," she said. "He was super kind and someone I could always count on. He was the best friend I ever had. My circle of friends is not a circle anymore."

Investigators were still gathering evidence and analyzing cellphone location data to piece together gunman Omar Mateen's activities leading up to the shooting, which also wounded more than 50 people.

A shooting survivor said on Friday that when he saw a picture of Mateen on television the day after the shooting, he recognized him as the same man he saw having a drink at the bar earlier in the night.

His account could not immediately be verified. The FBI declined to comment and has not provided a timeline accounting for Mateen's movements that night.

Felipe Marrero said his account in an interview from his hospital bed.

He said Mateen was drinking at the Pulse bar next to him the night of the shooting. He didn't remember an exact time but said it was early in the evening.

The 30-year-old Marrero was shot four times in the back and his left arm was badly damaged by bullets. He's at Orlando Regional Medical Center undergoing surgeries and physical therapy.

Marrero says he has given his account to investigators.

The killings have touched many who didn't have a personal connection to the victims, and imbued a stronger sense of community. Workers at downtown hotels wore bright purple shirts to work Friday with OrlandoUnited or the OrlandoStrong written on them. Electronic freeway traffic signs were also lit up with the slogans, as was the Orlando Magic's basketball arena.

David Mercer, 46, and his twin brother Darren were outside Disla's funeral sitting on their motorbikes. They didn't know him, but felt compelled to help the community in any way they could. They were part of a procession of dozens of motorcycles that are part of Bikers for Pulse, a group that formed through social media to escort the victim's families.

"This is terrible anywhere it happens," David Mercer said. "But it's worse when it's in your backyard."

Eva Pabon, 42, also didn't know Disla but attended the funeral to honor his memory as a fellow Puerto Rican and Orlando resident.

"I think this has shaken the community, but the love has been overwhelming," Pabon said. "I feel the love."

USA: Orlando Mourns, But Tourism Likely To Grow

The city of Orlando, Florida, has banded together following Saturday night's devastating attack at Pulse nightclub, which left 49 victims dead and dozens more injured.

Yet as residents focused on supporting one another during a state of emergency, experts said the crux of the city's economy — the tourism industry — is unlikely to deliver the state a second blow.

"The travel industry is always having disruptions," said David Scowsill, president and CEO of the World Travel & Tourism Council. "In general terms, it is incredibly resilient."

Scowsill said in general, when city centers experience isolated acts of violence not aimed directly at tourists, "things go back to normal very quickly." He pointed to the 2005 London transit bombings as an example. In contrast, the tourism industries in Egypt and Tunisia have recently struggled, as they've both suffered from attacks aimed specifically at travelers, Scowsill said.

Paris, where more than 100 people were killed in November, has likewise not been immune to fallout from the recent attacks. Data compiled by the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies found that overnight stays among foreign travelers declined 6.3 percent there during the first quarter, as compared with the prior year.

Separate data from the Paris Convention and Visitors Bureau found the hotel occupancy rate there fell 6.2 points during the first quarter, to 61.7 percent, compared with the first quarter of 2015 (when the attacks against Charlie Hebdo, the French satirical magazine, took place).

Yet such drops are often short-lived, Scowsill said. Back in 2002, when a nightclub bombing in Bali killed more than 200 people, the tourism industry initially cratered; but it began to recover roughly a year later. Likewise, a spokesman for the Paris tourism bureau said the organization "could feel there was a slow recovery" in the city during the first quarter. Still, he cautioned April is expected to be weak due to the shift of Easter into March and the city's proximity to Brussels, where three coordinated nail bombs went off in April.

Though Scowsill predicts there will be a few weeks of people hesitating before booking a trip to Orlando, he does "not expect a huge amount of cancellations" for already planned trips, he said. That's because law enforcement and the local government quickly and effectively communicated information about the shootings, which were put to a stop when the suspect was killed.

Damian McCabe, CEO of McCabe World Travel, said her firm does not have "any comment beyond that we don't anticipate this sad event effecting tourism to Orlando in the long run."

A spokesman for Delta Airlines said the company has not had a change to its Orlando flight operations since the shooting. At JetBlue Airways, a spokesman did not say whether the airline has seen any cancellations on flights to Orlando, but said it is providing free seats on available flights to and from the area for immediate family and domestic partners of victims who were killed or injured.

A spokesman for Universal Studios, which like CNBC is owned by NBCUniversal, said "the safety of our team members and guests is always our top priority — but we do not discuss the specifics of our security plans and procedures."

Walt Disney World said in a statement, "Unfortunately we've all been living in a world of uncertainty, and during this time we have increased our security measures across our properties, adding such visible safeguards as magnetometers, additional canine units, and law enforcement officers on site, as well as less visible systems that employ state-of-the-art security technologies."

The Orlando nightclub attack comes just one month after the city's official tourism association said it set a record for inbound travelers last year. According to Visit Orlando, the Central Florida city received 66.1 million visitors last year, representing a 5.5 percent over the prior year. That also made it the most visited U.S. city for tourists last year.

These visits contributed to record tourist development tax collections in Orange County — home to the region's tourism district — which last year topped $230 million.

The leisure and hospitality industry is the greatest employer for non-agricultural jobs in Orlando, at 20.9 percent, according to the Orlando Economic Development Commission. There are multiple projects underway in the area for new attractions, including the Volcano Bay water park coming to Universal Orlando next year.

As for the overall state of Florida, tourism spending contributes $89.1 billion to the economy, and accounts for roughly 6 percent of its gross domestic product. The industry employees 1.2 million Floridians

CANADA: WestJet Encore To Fly Halifax To Boston

WestJet Encore commenced services between Halifax (YHZ) and Boston (BOS) on 15 April. The 665-kilometre sector will be served by the carrier daily on its 78-seat Q400 fleet.

Flights will face direct competition from Air Canada which operates 16 weekly flights.

Ferio Pugliese, President of WestJet Encore and EVP WestJet, commented on the launch: “WestJet Encore is pleased to begin flying year-round between Halifax Stanfield Airport and Boston’s Logan Airport.

We are delighted to join these two cities, which have historically shared a strong bond.

This is another example of WestJet Encore’s expanding network in Atlantic Canada, which is providing both business and leisure travellers with more choice along with lower fares and caring WestJet service.”

Halifax becomes the second WestJet Encore destination to be served from Boston, with the carrier inaugurating services to the US city from Toronto Pearson a few weeks previous. WestJet’s other US routes from Halifax are all to destinations in Florida; Fort Lauderdale, Orlando and Tampa.

US: Havana Cuba Is Top Destination For US Airlines

U.S. airlines are looking to serve Cuba primarily from their large hub cities, with Havana being the most popular destination.

At least eight carriers submitted applications to the U.S. Department of Transportation Wednesday outlining what routes they would like to fly. The government will spend the next few months reviewing the requests and is expected to award the contested Havana routes this summer. Flights to smaller cities — if uncontested and lacking any contentious issues — could be approved much sooner.

Once routes are awarded, airlines will still need time to develop schedules and actually sell seats on the flights. And while the U.S. government will set the routes, airlines will also need to apply to Cuba's civil aviation authority for a permit to operate in the country.

All flights operating between the two countries today are charters, but an agreement signed between the two nations last month allows for up to 110 additional flights — more than five times the current charter operations.

Only 20 of those flights can go to Havana, in addition to the current 10 to 15 charter flights a day. The rest would fly to other Cuban cities.

U.S. tourists still won't legally be allowed to visit Cuba but the start of commercial flights will make it much easier for those who fall into one of the authorized travel categories. Charter flights are expensive, frequently chaotic and lack many of the traditional supports of commercial aviation such as online booking and 24-hour customer service.

Most of the planes proposed by U.S. airlines would carry about 160 passengers.

Nearly 160,000 U.S. leisure travelers flew to Cuba last year, along with hundreds of thousands of Cuban-Americans visiting family. Tourism is still barred, but the number of legal reasons to go to Cuba — from organizing professional meetings to distributing information to Cubans — has grown so large and is so loosely enforced that the distinction from tourism has blurred significantly.

American Airlines was the most-aggressive carrier in its approach, requesting more than half the possible slots to Havana plus service to five other, smaller Cuban cities. The airline has a large hub in Miami, home to the largest Cuban-American population.

In American's filing with the DOT, CEO Doug Parker wrote that his airline has been "the undisputed leader" in charter service, having done so since 1991.

The airline notes in its application that last year alone, it operated 1,084 Cuba charters while JetBlue Airways had 221 and Delta Air Lines had four.

Following Wednesday's route application deadline, airlines and the public have a chance to comment on the flights sought. That process will conclude by March 21.

The airlines won't get all of their requests, but below are the routes each carrier applied to fly:

— American is seeking 10 daily flights from Miami to Havana, one from Charlotte and one from Dallas as well as one weekly flight from both Los Angeles and Chicago. From Miami, it is also looking for two daily flights to Santa Clara, Holguin and Varadero and daily service to Camaguey and Cienfuegos.

— Delta is seeking flights from Atlanta, New York, Miami and Orlando to Havana. All would be daily, except for Miami where Delta is seeking two daily flights.

— JetBlue is looking to serve Havana with four daily flights from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, two from Tampa, Florida, Orlando and New York and one daily flight from Boston and Newark, New Jersey. It also wants one daily flight from Fort Lauderdale to Camaguey, Holguin and Santa Clara.

— Southwest Airlines wants to fly to Havana with six daily flights from Fort Lauderdale, two from Tampa and one daily flight from Orlando. It also applied for daily flights from Fort Lauderdale to Varadero and one to Santa Clara.

— United Airlines is asking for daily flights between Newark, New Jersey, and Havana with two flights on Saturdays. It also wants Saturday-only flights from Chicago, Houston and Washington D.C.

— Alaska Airlines wants two daily flights from Los Angeles to Havana.

— Frontier Airlines applied for one daily flight between Denver and Havana, three daily flights between Miami and Havana, one daily flight between Miami and Santiago, four weekly flights between Miami and Camaguey, three weekly flights between Miami and Santa Clara, one weekly flight between Chicago and Varadero and one weekly flight between Philadelphia and Varadero.

— Silver Airways, a Florida-based regional airline, wants to fly to Havana twice daily from West Palm Beach, once daily from Fort Myers and Fort Lauderdale, five times a week from Key West, and twice a week from Jacksonville. It also proposed to fly from Fort Lauderdale to nine other Cuban cities.

USA: Frontier Airlines Takes Delivery Of Its First A321

Frontier Airlines, headquartered in Denver, Colorado, USA has taken delivery of the first Airbus A321 to join its fleet. In the last year, the airline has placed firm orders for 19 A321s, reflecting its market strength and the need for the largest Airbus A320 Family member. All 19 A321s are the current engine option (ceo) and will be equipped with Sharklets. Each will seat 230 people in a single class, and be powered by CFM56-5B engines from CFM International. Frontier’s current in-service fleet consists of 57 A320 Family aircraft (35 A319s and 22 A320s). In addition to the remaining 18 A321s on backlog, the airline has 18 A319neo (new engine option), 62 A320neo, and two A320 ceo aircraft on order, for a total backlog of 100 Airbus single-aisles.

All of Frontiers A321s will feature lightweight composite Sharklets, 2.4-meter/94-inch tall wing-tip devices that provide a fuel consumption reduction of up to 4 percent, plus either a range extension of 100 nautical miles or increased payload of up to 450 kilograms/992 pounds.

Frontier’s new A321s will initially be used on their routes from Orlando to Philadelphia, Denver, Cleveland and Detroit. The airline just this fall opened up a new crew base in Orlando to support the A321.

“All of us at Team Frontier are excited to welcome our first A321 into our family of Airbus aircraft,” said Barry Biffle, President – Frontier Airlines. “The A321 is the perfect complement to our fleet as we continue to seek areas of growth and offer our customers Low Fares Done Right.”

“Frontier took delivery of its very first Airbus aircraft in 2001, starting its transition to an all-Airbus fleet and its realization of the merit and flexibility of the A320 Family,” said John Leahy, Airbus Chief Operating Officer – Customers. “The airline understands the value of continuing to upgrade its fleet with new aircraft and our ever-evolving fuel-saving technologies. In addition to saving money, Frontier is keeping its passengers happy with the most comfortable single-aisle cabin in the sky.”

The A320 Family, both CEO and NEO derivatives, seat from 100 to 240 passengers, seamlessly covering the entire single-aisle segment from low to high-density configurations on domestic to longer-range routes. To date, Airbus has sold more than 12,200 single-aisle CEO and NEO aircraft and delivered over 6,700 CEO to more than 300 operators worldwide.

UAE: Emirates Introduces Two Routes In One Day

On the same day, but 11,767 kilometres away in Mashhad in Iran, the airline also marked the start of operations to its second Iranian destination. The five times weekly service is complimentary to flydubai’s existing daily service.

Emirates launched its 10th US destination with the start of daily non-stop passenger service between Dubai (DXB) and Orlando (MCO) on 1 September. A VIP delegation and a contingent of international media were on board the inaugural flight, which carried passengers from 29 different countries to Orlando.

“Our new daily service will enable Emirates to grow alongside Orlando, one of the world’s premier leisure destinations and a dynamic business centre,” said HRH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Emirates Chairman and CEO. “The launch of this non-stop route will bring Emirates’ unique product and award-winning service to passengers flying from Central Florida to our home in Dubai and beyond to more than 140 global destinations. Since 2004, Emirates has carried more than 11 million passengers on its US flights.” On the special occasion of its Orlando launch, Emirates dispatched its flagship A380 to celebrate the milestone and meet demand for the first flight, however regular scheduled service on the route will be offered on its 266-seat, 777-200LR aircraft.

Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs, Emirates CEO HRH Sheik Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum and GOAA Chairman Frank Kruppenbacher answered questions from the media before moving onto the more important matter of cutting the new route cake celebrating the beginning of Emirates’ tenth US destination to Orlando on 1 September.

“Emirates is a premier airline and this is a significant new air service route for Orlando International as it opens the gateway to the Middle East, Asia, Africa and beyond,” said Frank Kruppenbacher, Chairman of the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority. “The benefits of this new daily service will be measured both financially and culturally.

The $100 million annual economic impact to Central Florida will be coupled with the potential to connect to diverse cultures of the world.” On the same day, Emirates extended its reach into Iran by linking Dubai with Mashhad (MHD), the country’s second largest city, adding a second passenger gateway into the country after Tehran.

The airline will fly five weekly flights, operated by a combination of three- and two-class configured A330-200s. Emirates commenced services to Iran in 1990 with twice-weekly flights to Tehran. It now operates four daily flights to the capital city. Since then, Emirates has carried 7 million passengers in and out of Iran.

While the route to the US faces no direct competition, its in-house LCC flydubai already operates to Mashhad on a daily basis.

USA: Delta Air Lines To Connect Heathrow To Salt Lake City, JFK To Edinburgh

The US airline Delta Air Lines, which signed a joint venture agreement with Virgin Atlantic on transatlantic flights, will open two new lines in May 2016: Salt Lake City to London Heathrow and New York JFK to Edinburgh.

Delta Air Lines and Virgin Atlantic will use their valuable lots on Heathrow airport to launch there a new route to Salt Lake City, Utah in the US capital. Flights operated by Delta Air Line's depart daily from 1 May 2016, with departure at 20:10 Salt Lake City for an arrival at London Heathrow at 13:10 the next day. The return is scheduled at 14:15 for a landing in Utah 6:07 p.m.. Both cities were never connected until then Europe with a single connection again operated by Delta Air Lines for 7 years, to Paris Charles de Gaulle. In 2009, Delta had also launched a connection to Tokyo-Narita, but that was later abandoned due to low demand from the travelers and by fear of the H1N1 virus that hit Japan hard.

Delta will launch the same May 26, 2016 daily flights between New York JFK and Edinburgh, a new route that follows the logic of expansion of Virgin Atlantic from Scotland with the launch last year of a Glasgow-Orlando. Takeoff from New York is scheduled at 20:15 for a scheduled arrival at 8:40 the next day. The return flight restarts Edinburgh 10:30 for a landing at JFK at 1:01 p.m.. Delta Air Lines will however compete with American Airlines from Heathrow (code-sharing with British Airways) as well as with United since Newark (codeshare with Lufthansa).

USA: Delta Airlines Adds New Trans-Atlantic Routes In 2016

Delta Air Lines and Virgin Atlantic Airways will strengthen their trans-Atlantic network next year with the introduction of new nonstop Delta services from London Heathrow to Salt Lake City and Edinburgh to New York-JFK.

“For the second summer in a row, Delta will be launching new routes, that give customers more options when flying between the UK and the United States,” said Nat Pieper, Delta senior vice president, Europe, Middle East and Africa.

“Delta and Virgin Atlantic are committed to offering an extensive network on the trans-Atlantic and our new flights from London and Edinburgh will offer more connections to destinations throughout the U.S. and beyond.”

Starting May 2nd, 2016, Salt Lake City will be Delta’s eighth US destination served from Heathrow and will be the only nonstop service between the Mountain West and Heathrow, offering one-stop connections to many Mountain West cities such as Reno, Boise Idaho, Albuquerque and Idaho Falls.

The airline has scheduled a 210-seat, Boeing 767-300ER aircraft for the flight, which will be operated on a seasonal basis linking Heathrow nonstop to all seven Delta hubs in the United States.

Known as “The Crossroads of the West”, Salt Lake City is situated within easy reach of some of North America’s most famous national parks, with more than 20 located within a few hours’ drive of the airport.

As the largest airline operating in Salt Lake City, Delta offers connections to more than 50 destinations throughout the West and into Canada.

The region offers many travel options for tourists wanting to enjoy outdoor pursuits, with some of the United States’ best hiking, mountain biking and rafting nearby.

Delta’s daily nonstop flight between Edinburgh and New York-JFK will launch on May 27th, 2016, offering customers up to 60 convenient onward connections.

The flight will be Delta’s only service from Scotland but joins Virgin Atlantic’s three times weekly summer seasonal service from Glasgow to Orlando.

The new flight offers convenient transfers to popular destinations including Miami, Orlando, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and San Francisco via the newly extended Terminal 4 at its JFK hub.

The airline will operate a 163-seat, Boeing 757-200 aircraft on the route