Delta to serve Havana, Cuba, from New York-JFK, Atlanta and Miami

Delta Air Lines will begin serving Havana, Cuba, this fall from New York-JFK, Atlanta and Miami as a result of today’s announcement by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). Delta applauds and thanks the DOT for awarding the airline the ability to resume operating daily, nonstop scheduled service to the Caribbean island for the first time in almost 55 years. All routes are subject to Cuban regulatory approval. Delta will begin selling seats to Havana this summer. Delta inherited passenger service to Havana, Cuba, from its merger with Chicago and Southern Air Lines (C&S) on May 1, 1953, offering nonstop flights from New Orleans. Political instability and profitability issues ultimately led Delta to suspend service on December 1, 1961. From 2002-2004 Delta operated charters between New York-JFK and Havana. In October 2011, Delta began operating up to a dozen charter flights to Havana per week with daily service from Miami and weekly service from Atlanta and New York-JFK. It operated almost 500 trips before suspending service on December 29, 2012. Most recently, in 2015, Delta performed three ad hoc charter flights including one that carried the Minnesota Orchestra back to Cuba for its first performance on the island in more than 85 years.

Ripple effects of Brexit likely to hit American Airlines, U.S. aviation industry

American Airlines’ stock price dropped sharply in early hours of trading Friday as news of the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union roils markets and portends choppy skies for the trans-Atlantic and

European aviation markets. Overall, major U.S. stock indexes were down 3.4 to 4.1 percent after British citizens voted to leave the European Union in a Thursday referendum.
The decision creates uncertainty in a number of areas for U.S. carriers, although American is perhaps the most exposed, with 6 to 7 percent of its total capacity touching the U.K., according to analyst estimates.


The company operates 25 daily flights to London from the U.S., including three from DFW International Airport. Friday morning, American didn’t have much to say on the Brexit besides that the company is monitoring the situation. “We will learn more as the exit process unfolds and any effects of that exit become more clear,” spokesman Matt Miller said. American has a close partnership with British Airways, with the two airlines sharing revenues on trans-Atlantic flights through an antitrust immunized joint venture that allows them to coordinate on scheduling and marketing of routes. American also relies on British Airways to connect its customers to many destinations beyond London, a flow that could be disrupted as the U.K. renegotiates “Open Skies” agreements that allow domestic carriers access to foreign markets.

Delta, by comparison, has a 49 percent stake in U.K.-based Virgin Atlantic, but also has a close partnership with Air France-KLM. “There are literally thousands of agreements that are in place in which the U.K. as part of the EU negotiated in good faith and has been living under,” said James Moore, managing director of the Business, Society, and Public Policy Initiative at Georgetown University’s business school. “Now there are going to have to be new agreements that are negotiated.” In the short term, demand for business travel to and from the U.K. could shrink in the wake of the economic uncertainty and as a weakened British pound makes it more expensive for residents there to travel internationally.
A weaker British pound will make travel to the U.K. cheaper for U.S. passengers, however. Longer term, London’s role as a global economic capital could shrink as businesses reshape their operations as a result of the Brexit. “There are corporations that have literally used London as their front door to the EU,” said Moore, who previously served as the U.S. assistant secretary of Commerce for Trade Development. “We are rewriting the history books in economics and politically and even to a certain extent militarily. This is brave new world all the way around; how this ends up is anybody’s guess.”

Airlines exposed to Brexit volatility

A concern for all airlines flying in and to Europe is what happens now to the treaties and agreements in place to permit air connectivity


 Dubai: The United Kingdom’s decision to exit the European Union will have ramifications that are to be felt across the world from London to Dubai to Shanghai. Airlines, like many, will be wondering “what does this mean for us?”


 In the lead up to the vote, Emirates President Tim Clark warned a British exit would cause “shock waves” for the EU. It “will be pretty severe,” he said on June 2. Emirates is the largest non-European carrier by seats flying into the United Kingdom, according to CAPA — Centre for Aviation. It flies to six different airports in the country, including London’s Heathrow and Gatwick airports. 


The airline which made a record Dh7.1 billion for the financial year ending March 31, 2016, has warned it is facing currency volatility issues in a number of markets as the dollar strengthens. Its revenues dropped in its last financial year for the first time in at least a decade with revenues from Europe falling 5 per cent.

On Friday, the pound fell to a 31-year low over concerns over the UK’s future. The euro dropped too. Clark said on June 2 that demand for travel in Europe was likely to “flatline” if the UK voted to leave but assured that the airline has contingency plans in place and remains committed to the UK and EU market. Reduced profit growth On Friday, Emirates did not comment when contacted by Gulf News about its contingency plans or Clark’s thoughts on the result of the vote.


 Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways, the Middle East’s two other major carriers, have both avoided commenting on the referendum. International Airlines Group (IAG), the parent company of British Airways, said the decision of 52 per cent of UK voters to leave would reduce profit growth in 2016. Qatar Airways owns 15 per cent of IAG. A concern for all airlines flying in and to Europe is what happens now to the treaties and agreements in place to permit air connectivity. The chief executive of IAG’s Aer Lingus, Stephen Kavanagh, said on June 1 that the UK might have to renegotiate its air services agreements with other countries, including the EU, if it leaves. It is unclear how many or even when these treaties would be renegotiated. Andrew Charlton, managing director of Switzerland-based Aviation Advocacy, is of the opinion that the UK does not repudiate any agreements it has entered into in its own right, “and so it will remain a member of the European safety agency, for example, and agreements with individual countries, such as the existing treaties with each of the Gulf countries will stand.” “But what will happen to all those agreements signed by the Europeans on behalf of all of the members of the European Union — most importantly the EU-US Open Skies agreement, remains much less clear,” he said, adding that the agreement that the Commission has just obtained a mandate to negotiate with the UAE too, will now “likely not include Britain”. “That weakens both the European case and the British case too,” Charlton points out.


 Legal process


 In announcing he would step down as UK Prime Minister, David Cameron said on Friday he would leave it to his successor to start the legal process of exiting the EU. A new Prime Minister is now expected in October who is then expected to invoke Article 50 of the Treaty of Lisbon so that the UK can leave. That process is understood to take around two years. John Strickland, aviation expert and director of UK-based JLS Consulting, told Gulf News by email there were no immediate regulatory impact for airlines following the win by the leave campaign but said that negotiating the exit “will bring complexity for many airlines in due course”. Costs for airlines in the UK are also likely to go up, he said, if the fall in the pound and increase in the dollar continues.


 “For European aviation, in the short term the big winners will be the lawyers, as they scour the various treaties and agreements that delineate aviation, not just in Europe, but around the world,” added Charlton.

Argentina: Temporary suspension of the reciprocity fee for US citizens

From this Thursday and for 90 days, Argentina suspends the collection of the rate of reciprocity to US citizens who decide to travel to the country. The announcement comes after the meetings between the presidents Mauricio Macri and Barack Obama in the Casa Rosada. Tourism Minister Gustavo Santos, predicted that "we are working to reach half a million US tourists by 2019" and "this measure taken by the Government will promote the increase of American tourists to Argentina". As it was reported, by the No. 589/2016 arrangement it was established the elimination of reciprocity fee of US $ 160 in order to "further strengthen the ties and links with the United States" and so boost trade and tourism between the two countries and encouraging, scientific, technological and economic cultural activities. "After the departure of the FX market that ended restrictions complicating payments through electronic means, began to recover arrivals of travelers arriving from that country, whose tourism market grew 7.7% in 2015," said Minister and according to a report by the MINTUR, in the first two months of 2016 arrivals from the United States they grew 8.3%. As HOSTELTUR published news tourism, Alejandro Lastra Secretary of Tourism of the Nation had anticipated that Argentina would "generate another market intelligence" and thus gain ground in the US market ... From: AerolatinNews

Regional airlines expand in Argentina

The new national government policies on commercial air space, invested with the priorities that had been building the system in the last decade. It is no longer favors the national flag carrier, but allowed free rein to the arrival of companies to cover new routes, in some cases, and replace Aerolineas Argentinas in others. In the case of LAN, it won approval to join domestic destinations to international destinations such as the case of Salta to Lima flight will also enable via the hub of Peru, connect with routes that company to Colombia, Mexico, Ecuador, United States , Caribbean and Europe. The same applies to Rosario Lima from June, with four weekly frequencies. Moreover, ANAC approved the shared code between LAN and Iberia, which will sell jointly, and as an extension of the Madrid-Santiago-Madrid routes Santiago to Mendoza and Cordoba. Avianca, meanwhile, will hold 4 weekly flights between Buenos Aires and Bogota Copa do the same with 4 weekly frequencies between Rosario and Panama, adding a route that has performed in Cordoba and Buenos Aires. According to reports circulating in the journalistic environment, Aerolineas Argentinas could lower frequencies to New York, Miami, Madrid and Rome, while already announced it will no longer go to Brasilia ...

Argentina: Mendoza calls for more connectivity With Santiago hub to diversify markets

The new management in the province of Mendoza is to achieve higher quality tourist destination in the services rendered and hand diversify markets for new products and better air connectivity. They argue that having more direct flights to the hub of Santiago de Chile would increase the arrival of international tourists, which currently represent 30% of the total. Under the Harvest Festival, Governor Alfredo Cornejo briefly spoke with HOSTELTUR news tourism and raised in Mendoza tourism "could have grown more" and that the goal is "to add more beds (35,000 across the province ), more infrastructure and improve our services. " In addition, "we are asking you to add flights to Santiago de Chile, for there to be a company that competes with LAN and that gives us more inputs and outputs". "The issue of connectivity is a problem. Missing flights and we also need to improve the provision of bus services, "said Rodolfo Suarez, mayor of Mendoza capital and in the same line Gabriela Testa, president of Ente of Tourism said. "The mendocinos what we claim is more air link with Chile, because the hub of Santiago is fantastic. What happens is that Aerolineas Argentinas flight had a time and pulled it out, "said the official, noting that" Mendoza has very good connectivity on domestic flights "but not international. LAN currently operates direct services to Santiago, is scheduled to open a Mendoza-Lima route as published this medium, and in winter there is connectivity with Brazil GOL hand. However it is a province with strong appeal to foreign markets with high purchasing power, as part of the Global Network of Great Wine Capitals ... Fuente: Aerolatinnews