News

Singapore Airlines will terminate its South American passenger operations with effect from October 20 of this year.

The carrier says its 3x weekly Singapore Changi-São Paulo Guarulhos via Barcelona El Prat service has suffered from poor loads in recent months thereby warranting its closure.

With its economy in recession, a number of international operators have begun to curtail their services to Brazil. This week, Korean Air (KE, Seoul Incheon) and TACV – Cabo Verde Airlines (VR, Praia) announced their own separate intentions to withdraw from the market with more carriers expected to follow suit.

Following Korean Air’s and Singapore Airlines’ departure from São Paulo, the only remaining Asian carrier to serve South America will be Air China (CA, Beijing Capital) which operates a twice weekly Beijing-Madrid Barajas-São Paulo service.

Virgin America celebrates today the launch of its Los Angeles – Maui service, further adding the airline’s Hawaii routes following the launch of Los Angeles – Honolulu a month ago.

Guests onboard the inaugural flight were treated to free GoPro Hero Session cameras to help document their Hawaiian vacation. Upon touchdown in Maui, the Hawaii Tourism Authority will greet travelers in the tradition of Hawaii’s aloha spirit with fresh flower lei and live Hawaiian music right at the gate.

“Since we launched service to Hawaii last year, the response from our guests has been overwhelming and we’re thrilled to add yet another route and give flyers the ability to travel from Los Angeles to Maui in style,” said John MacLeod, Senior Vice President of Sales and Planning at Virgin America.

Hawaii remains the number one tourist destination from the West Coast, with over 3.5 million visitors in 2015. According to George D. Szigeti, president and CEO of the Hawaii Tourism Authority “Virgin America’s nonstop Maui service and in-flight hospitality presents an enticing pairing for its customers in greater Los Angeles when making vacation plans.”

Last November, just a few days after Virgin America launched its Honolulu and Maui service, Allegiant decided put its Hawaii flights to an end this August. The carrier offers to date services to Las Vegas and Los Angeles from Honolulu, both destinations served by Virgin America. These new flights come to compete in a market currently led by U.S. legacy carriers and Hawaiian Airlines.

Martinair will end commercial MD-11(F) operations on Friday, July 8 Dutch media have reported. The KLM Royal Dutch Airlines subsidiary operates two of the type and will retire PH-MCU (msn 48757) on July 1 followed by PH-MCP (msn 48616) on July 8.

The retirement of the carrier’s six-strong fleet of McDonnell Douglas (Long Beach) freighters is part of the Air France-KLM Group’s cost-cutting drive and will result in the loss of 330 staff positions.

Following the phase-out, Martinair’s fleet will consist of four B747-400(F)s.