News of the Day

• AirTran Airways announced new nonstop service from Milwaukee to Washington’s National Airport. Beginning June 11th, they will offer two daily nonstops between the two airports. This continues AirTran’s buildup in Milwaukee after their failed attempt to merge with Milwaukee carrier Midwest Airlines.
• AirTran also announced service from its Atlanta hub to Atlantic City, NJ. Service will be twice daily, beginning on June 11th.
• American Eagle is launching service from Dallas/Ft. Worth and Brownsville/South Padre Island on June 11st, with three daily flights operated by 50 and 44 seat Embraer regional jets. Brownsville is only served by Continental Connection out of Houston, although Southwest does fly to Harlingen/South Padre Island.
• American Eagle is also launching service from Dallas/Ft. Worth between Lake Charles, LA  beginning June 11th. Service will also be twice daily, with a mix of 50 and 44 seat Embraer regional jets.
• American Eagle, busy little  bee that it is today, is also launching service from Dallas/Ft. Worth to Mongomery, AL twice daily with 50-seat Embraer regional jets on June 11th.
• And service to Manhattan, KS starts August 25th.
• Delta Air Lines and Virgin Blue‘s international division, V Australia, have signed an interline agreement, allowing travelers to purchase the two airlines together on a single ticket. V Australia started flying between Los Angeles and Sydney on February 27th. They will add direct flights from Los Angeles to Brisbane on April 8th and from Los Angeles to Melbourne in September, 2009. Delta will begin daily nonstop services on the Sydney – Los Angeles route  on July 1st.
• Continental Airlines announced that it as received tentative DOT approval for a flight from Houston to Rio de Janiero beginning this summer. Continental plans to operate the daily service using a Boeing 767-200 aircraft, with 25 seats in BusinessFirst and 149 seats in economy. The proposed nonstop flight will be timed to offer flight connections at their Houston hub. Continental currently operates service to Rio from their Newark hub, as well as service from Houston to Sao Paulo with continuing service to Rio.
• The DOT has also granted authority to US Airways to operate daily service to Rio de Janiero from Philadelphia, its first ever service to South America. The airline estimates it will provide connections to 82 communities with the flight, which is tentatively scheduled to begin in the fall.
• Baltia Airlines has been issued authorization to engage in foreign non-stop air transportation of persons, property and mail from John F. Kennedy International Airport,to Pulkovo Airport in St. Petersburg, Russia. Based at Terminal 4 at JFK, Baltia Air Lines is the only Scheduled Service United States airline being developed at the moment.
• South African Airways is offering new jet service between Johannesberg and Gaborone. The new flights will serve as convenient connection options for travelers flying from North America, and result in same-day connections for passengers who fly on SAA’s new morning non-stop service from New York JFK, which begins May 1st. The service replaces regional service currently offered on the route.
• Continental Airlines tomorrow will launch its daily Newark to Shanghai service, becoming the first U.S. carrier to do so.
• Sun Country Airlines, the Minneapolis based carrier which has recovered from its financial woes of last year , will offer service from Dallas/Ft. Worth to the new airport in Branson, Missouri on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays starting May 11th. This adds to its previous announcement of service to Minneapolis/St. Paul. Both services will be operated using 162-seat 737s.
  • This brings the total at Branson for its startup to over 2,500 seats per week, or 135,000 per year, or so the Cranky Flier estimates. AirTran will offer once daily to both Atlanta and Milwaukee, and now these two Sun Country flights. The airport’s plan is for 180,000.

More to come…