News
Emirates launches Cebu and Clark and Etihad mulls Malta investment
January 8th 2016
Tim Clark and his Emirates Airlines have kept their promise to launch services to secondary cities in the Philippines. Last October’s air service agreement expansion between the UAE and the island nation gave permission for Emirates to increase frequency to Manila, despite vehement objections from Philippine Airlines (PAL) and Cebu Pacific Air. Read More »
Emirates will launch a daily circular B777-300ER service from Dubai to Clark and Cebu on March 30 that will land at Cebu’s Mactan International Airport and will continue to Clark Angeles Airport.
“[The new service] will expand travel options for Filipinos from Central Luzon as well as the Visayas and offer more flexibility for overseas workers departing the Philippines or looking for options to fly home,” said Emirates’ executive vice-president and COO, Thierry Antinori.
On Monday in Dubai, Etihad Airways appealed a German court’s decision to revoke approval of 29 of its codeshare flights with airberlin (in which it holds a 29.2% stake) through to the end of the IATA winter schedule on March 30.
Etihad president and CEO, James Hogan, said in a statement: “With airberlin, we are working to ensure that no traveler suffers as a result of this dispute and all bookings will be honored. We will fight all the way to protect our investment, to protect our partnership with airberlin, and to protect competitive choice in German air travel.” He said Etihad’s commitment to airberlin was in stark contrast to the lack of support demonstrated by the German Ministry of Transport for a “proud German airline”.
airberlin CEO, Stefan Pichler, said in a separate statement: “We are appealing against this decision because it does not serve the best interests of the traveling public. Indeed, the main beneficiary of the decision is Lufthansa. airberlin is Lufthansa’s sole competitor in the German domestic market. We keep the competition honest, strong and effective. Otherwise Lufthansa would have a monopoly that would be disastrous for German consumers.”
Always on the lookout for a good deal, Etihad is reportedly close to acquiring “significant” equity in Maltese flag carrier, Air Malta, the Times of Malta has reported. Negotiations, including an increase in Air Malta’s fleet and network, particularly to Italy, Germany and the Nordic countries, were on-going but challenging, the paper said in comments from Malta’s tourism minister, Edward Zammit Lewis.
In Doha, Qatar Airways is continuing its expansion in the U.S. with the launch a daily B777-200LR to Los Angeles on January 1. Boston and Atlanta will follow from March 16 and June 1, respectively.
This week, Qatar Airways Cargo received an A330F and its first B747F, bringing its cargo fleet to 16, including seven A330Fs, eight B777Fs and a B747F. It also announced the addition of a twice-weekly Doha-Liege-Dallas Fort/Worth B777F service from January 19.
