A big loyalty update from ANA and new flights to India and St. Croix lead this week’s air travel news.
This week All Nippon Airways (ANA) rolled out a number of changes to its Premium Economy service, including the new ability for ANA Mileage Club loyalty members to reserve seats in Premium Economy with ANA award tickets. That change is effective April 1, 2019. Additionally, starting April 1, 2020, members will be able to upgrade from Economy to Premium Economy using mileage and upgrade points. Currently, members are only able to use award tickets to fly First Class, Business Class and Economy, and are only able to upgrade to First and Business Class.
In flight news, this week Air India reported that it is introducing three-times-per-week nonstop service between New York – JFK and Mumbai starting December 7. The flights will depart at 11:05 am from JFK on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday on 777-300ER planes, arriving in Mumbai at 12:10 pm the following day. With the current JFK – Delhi daily service, the new flights will bring JFK – India service to a total of 10 flights per week.
In the Caribbean, this week the U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Tourism reported that Delta is increasing capacity to St. Croix over the holiday season due to increased travel demand. From December 20, 2018, through January 5, 2019, with the exception of Christmas Day and New Year’s Day, the airline will operate a daily service from its Atlanta hub to the island. Plans are also in place to secure additional airlift between San Juan and St. Croix in early January, immediately after JetBlue exits the route, tourism officials said.
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