Service Roundup - Flight Log

American Airlines, Virgin, United Airlines

Image by Luigi Rosa via Flickr

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TAM began operating two international routes last weekend from Belo Horizonte Airport in Confins, the capital of Minas Gerais(a Brazillian state) to Miami with a stop Rio De Janeiro and to Paris with a Stop in Sao Paulo. The service is operated by two different aircraft. An A320 for the flights out of Confins, and an A330 for the Paris service and a B767-300 for the Miami service.
An El Al flight landed safely today at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport after officials received a report that al Queda may have planted a bomb onboard. This proved to be false.
American Airlines will add several seasonal nonstops to Brazil for the winter season, including four weekly nonstops from New York’s JFK Airport to Rio de Janeiro from December 18th through February 28th. It will operate a fourth daily nonstop from Miami to Sao Paul from the 18th through January 30th. Finally, an additional weekly flight between Miami and Belo Horizonte from December 21st through February 23rd, adding to the three flights a week they are inaugurating on November 4th. Both Salvador and Recife will be getting daily service from Miami beginning November 2nd.
British Airways has cancelled its flights to Pakistan indefinitely after a suicide truck bomb in Islamabad killed at least 53 people, including the Czech Ambassador. The airline operated six flights from London to Islamabad every week.
American Airlines is introducing to its top customers PriorityAAccess privileges. American’s AAdvantageÂ® elite status members, First and Business Class travelers, AAirpass customers, and passengers traveling on full-fare Economy Class tickets will receive more control and be offered an easier journey when they travel with dedicated PriorityAAccess check-in, security screening lanes (where available), and exclusive boarding lanes at the gate. The service will be introduced on September 30th.
JetBlue will be growing its focus city at Ft. Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport with double daily service to San Juan, Puerto Rico. One flight will begin December 18th, the other January 6th.
The BAA is putting London’s Gatwick Airport up for sale. Experts expect the airport could fetch 2 to 3 billion british pounds.
Speaking of JetBlue, their terminal at Kennedy was briefly evacuated on Monday after a suspicious package was discovered. It contained paperweights designed to resemble World War II grenades. The terminal was evacuated for 25 minutes while the threat was investigated.
The Cranky Flier tipped us off to the fact that United Airlines is pulling out of Palmdale Airport. The airline committed for 18 months under a federal subsidy. They began service on June 7th, 2007. They are terminating service on December 6th, 2008. Official confirmation can be found here. The airline claimed it was losing significant money despite the subsidies. It will likely be a while before commercial service returns to the airport, if ever.
American Airlines is expanding its international use of its Boeing 757 fleet, BNET reports, 18 757s will be reconfigured with sixteen angled lie-flat business class seats replacing 22 domestic business class seats; the cabin will be refreshed, and the overhead screens will be LCDs, but individual screens in economy will not be provided.
Worcester, MA is apparently getting service from Direct Air to Punta Gorda(former Skybus airport), FL and Orlando Sanford Airport. The service will be operated by Virgin America. Direct Air, the charter company, got Massport to waive all landing fees, and kick in $300,000 to advertise the flight. More on this later.

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