Zoom expands in US
abtn.co.uk, 6/11/2008 (excerpted)
Zoom Airlines will begin flights between London Gatwick and San Diego on 20 June and has identified six other niche US routes as it looks to take advantage of legacy carriers' consolidations and capacity cuts.
“We think mergers between US airlines – such as Delta-Northwest - will provide us with opportunities, as some of the smaller hubs within their combined network structure will be further downgraded,” he said. “Frequency of service on some routes – for example, San Diego - to their hubs such as Atlanta and Dallas is dropping, which means connections from those places through those hubs to London are actually becoming less convenient, because passengers have higher wait times at the American airports.
“Even though we're serving those niche markets with low frequency – maybe two or three direct a week from London – passengers are more inclined to take them than connect via a hub. As American carriers cut back very heavily first on domestic routes and then, as they're starting to do now, on international ones too, we see an opportunity.”
Slots at Gatwick have also opened up as, under Open Skies, transatlantic flights per day have gone down from 28 to 18 following shifts to Heathrow or cancelled routes.
Air One postpones U.S. service launch
Travel Weekly, 6/6/2008
Italian carrier Air One has delayed the launch of U.S. service to Boston and Chicago from Milan.
The airline said it will inaugurate flights to Boston on June 27 (instead of June 14) and to Chicago on June 26 (instead of June 21).
Air One said the postponement is due to a delay in the delivery of new business-class seats. Air One said it needs time to refurbish the old seats in the aircraft it obtained, and that it will install the new seats soon after launching U.S. service.