New routes launched during the last week
(Tuesday 20 July – Monday 26 July):

Route of the Week:
Mandala Airlines’ Jakarta to Macau

• Mandala Airlines launched yet another international route from its Jakarta (CGK) base on 21 July. The Indonesian low-cost carrier, which started flying to Hong Kong two days earlier, now also serves neighbouring Macau (MFM). Flights operate three times a week with A320 aircraft, scheduled so that the airline serves either Macau or Hong Kong each day of the week. These operations reinstate services between Jakarta and Macau, two airports that have been left without a link since Air Macau and subsequently China Southwest Airlines gave up the route in 2002. Diono Nurjadin, Mandala Airlines’ President Director, commented on the expectations for the new routes: “For the first three months, we are targeting to reach 85 percent of load factor for Jakarta-Hongkong-Jakarta and 80 percent for Jakarta-Macau-Jakarta.”

Cake of the Week:
Wizz Air’s Budapest to Frankfurt Hahn and Bari

• Wizz Air launched three routes with its A320s in the last week. On 24 June, the airline relaunched services between Budapest (BUD) and Frankfurt Hahn (HHN), a route that it used to operate until the end of the summer season in 2007. Hahn is the airline’s second German destination to be served from Budapest, after Düsseldorf Weeze. Flights will operate three times a week. On the same day, the airline launched a new route from its Transylvanian base in Cluj Napoca (CLJ) to the Spanish coastal city of Alicante (ALC), operating twice a week. On 26 July, this was followed by another route from the airline’s Budapest home base. The airline now serves Bari (BRI) in southern Italy with two weekly flights. The airport becomes the eighth Italian airport Wizz Air serves from Budapest this summer.

The rest of this week’s new routes

• AirAsia launched two new destinations from its main Kuala Lumpur (KUL) base. Both Hyderabad (HYD) in India and Myanmar’s capital Yangon (RGN) are served with 180-seat A320s as of 20 July. The daily Hyderabad route competes with Malaysia Airlines’ five weekly flights, while Yangon is served with four weekly flights against both Malaysia Airlines and Myanmar Airways, each flying five times a week. While Hyderabad is a new destination to AirAsia Group, Thai AirAsia already serves Yangon from Bangkok.

• Air Italy launched a seasonal service from Naples (NAP) to Nice (NCE) on 26 July. The route used to be operated by Alpi Eagles until its demise at the beginning of 2008 and will now be served four times a week with Air Italy’s 737-300s until 5 September. This is Air Italy’s first international route out of Naples and the first time the airline serves Nice.

• China Southern launched two new seasonal services from Dalian (DLC) in northeast China to the Russian Far East on 25 July. Both the route to Vladivostok (VVO) and the one to Irkutsk (IKT) are operated with A319s until 12 September. While both services start as weekly Sunday operations, the route to Vladivostok temporarily increases to twice-weekly during the second half of August.

• Hainan Airlines launched a seasonal service within northwest China on 21 July. Flights will operate between Ürümqi (URC) and Yining (YIN), close to the Kazakh border, twice a day until 30 October. The 737-800 service competes with seven daily flights on China Eastern and four flights a day with Tianjin Airlines.

• Iberia on 24 July launched a new route between Bilbao (BIO) in northern Spain and Rome Fiumicino (FCO). The four weekly flights will be operated with Air Nostrum’s 90-seat CRJ900s and compete with easyJet’s three flights a week on the route.

• Joy Air began operating the 360-kilometre route between Ordos (DSN) in Inner Mongolia and Yinchuan (INC), the capital of the neighbouring Ningxia province, on 26 July. The route will be operated four times a week with the Chinese-made 52-seat turboprop MA60.

• SAT Airlines launched a new service within the Russian Far East on 21 July. The airline now flies between Khabarovsk (KHV), near the Chinese border, and Irkutsk (IKT), close to the border to Mongolia, twice a week with its 737s. Flights compete with Vladivostok Air’s three flights a week and Kavminvodyavia’s twice-weekly service.

• Shangdong Airlines launched two new services from Jinan (TNA), located 350 kilometres south of Beijing, in the last week. On 26 July, the airline launched a new service to westernmost China. Two weekly 737-800 operations serve Kashi (KHG), also known as Kashgar, near the borders to Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Flights operate via Ürümqi (URC) and code-share with Air China. While the first sector is more than 2,600 kilometres, the second sector measures almost 1,100 kilometres. The airline also launched a weekly service to Taichung (RMQ) in Taiwan.

Other celebrations in the last week