The signing of Open Skies has brought in new rivalries between Trans-Atlantic air carriers. The route was a two horse race between British Airways and Virgin Atlantic before the treaty was signed between the US and the European Union. Now, there is set to be attacks on the airdom with (re)introduction of more airliners.

United Airlines and American Airlines are two major contenders to make inroads into the multi-billion dollar route. Their entry could substantially reduce profits of British Airways especially, who solely dwell on this route.

United Airlines has invested around £85m to refurbish their first and business classes. The latest attractions on these classes include 15” LCD screens, lie-flat beds and the capability to use ipods with on-board entertainment system.

Delta is another airline trying to make its mark here along with other US destinations from Heathrow.

Each airline is trying to improve the look and feel along with the comforts that can be offered. It could be as small as a tiny bit of extra legroom to the menu and drink for the gourmands. Designer seats are also on the plans for a particular airline.

All pilots working for British Airways are set to take a poll for a decision to call a strike. The strike call is over OpenSkies, a new business subsidiary by BA. The voting is coordinated by British Airline Pilots Association (Balpa).

British Airways is all set to introduce OpenSkies, a subsidiary which flies luxury class between Europe and the US. This new business is planned to start in June this year. The reason for strike is not for financial gain nor safety concerns. BA pilots want to have the flexibility of switching jobs between the two businesses rather than isolating the new endeavour with the mother organisation. BA is not willing to do so and hence the conflict of interest.

OpenSkies will start in June from Brussels or Paris to New York with a Boeing 757 aircraft. Another 757 will be added to the solitary fleet before December’08. Before 2009, the plan is to have around 6 757s flying between the two continents.

Around 3200 pilots will take the poll and if the mandate is for a strike, this is the first time in 27 years that BA would be witnessing a strike.

The call for poll would have taken place last week but the crash landing episode at the Heathrow put things forward.
Balpa general secretary Jim McAuslan said - "We have been prepared to accept that a service will need lower costs to build business and that Balpa would be able to crew the service to meet the BA business case.”

"But we are not prepared to see the pilot body broken up in the way BA plans and are bemused as to why they will not use BA pilots."

via Ananova

Lufthansa is all set to introduce a popular route in its arsenal from February. The airline will ply between London City Airport and Berlin Tegel Airport twice daily, and claims that the proposed flight would be the fastest between the two national capitals.

Dr Karsten Benz from Lufthansa states - "Both the business and the leisure travellers will now have a speedy city-to-city connection to either take advantage of Berlin's growing function as an exhibition hotspot or to just discover its cultural attractiveness."

The flight departs from London City at 0940 and 1800 hrs and reaches Berlin’s Tegel Airport at 1225 and 2045 hrs local time. Return flights start at 0830 and 1650 hrs and reach London at 0910 and 1730 local time.

Lufthansa has set up its presence from London City Airport to other German cities for some time now. It frequently flies to Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg and Munich; adding Berlin should ideally complete a full circle among German cities.

Birmingham International airport, the sixth busiest airport in the UK will see Ryanair set up its new base from April this year. The airline has projected to add 22 new routes in the next five years from this airport.

Come this April, Ryanair will station two aircrafts that will fly from this airport. This number will rise to ten in the next five years. The projected routes are estimated to service five million passengers over the next five years.

The new routes will connect popular destinations like Barcelona, Bratislava, Dublin, Pisa, and Stockholm among others.

Ryanair has invested £356m in the West Midlands airports and is expected to bring in visitors from other parts Europe.

Here is the entire list of projected new routes:
Barcelona, Spain
Biarritz, France
Billund, Denmark
Bologna, Italy
Bratislava, Slovakia
Bydgoszcz, Poland
Dinard, France
Dublin, Republic of Ireland
Gdansk, Poland
Marseille, France
Olbia, Italy
Oslo, Norway
Perpignan, France
Pisa, Italy
Poitiers, France
Porto, Portugal
Shannon, Republic of Ireland
Stockholm, Sweden
Trieste, Italy
Reus, Spain
Rzeszow, Poland
Trapani, Italy

Aer Lingus, in a move to shift its base from Heathrow to Belfast International airport has scrapped the route between Shannon airport and Heathrow International airport. This route was operational for the past sixty years.

The removal of Shannon route from Heathrow has sent fears among several quarters. People in authority have begun to worry about job growth and tourism in the area.

Aer Lingus will fly to London from Belfast three times a day as per the company statement.

Aer Lingus is faced with too many competitors with its move towards Belfast. Bmi is currently running direct services to Heathrow from George Best. Easyjet flies to Stansted, Gatwick and Luton from Belfast International daily. Flybe and Ryanair are flying from Belfast International to Gatwick and Stansted respectively as well.

via BBC