Air Travel: New Caribbean Flights, AA Reduces Shanghai Service

A number of new flights to the Caribbean, and a reduction of service in Asia, lead this week’s air travel news.

In St. Kitts, United Airlines has announced plans for a second weekly nonstop flight from New York’s Newark Liberty International Airport, complementing the carrier’s existing Saturday service and a first for the island. The new service will operate on Wednesdays January 9, 2019, through March 6, 2019.

Delta also announced plans to upgrade its Caribbean service this week with additional routes debuting this winter. The airline plans to add a second daily frequency between New York JFK and Nassau starting this October, in addition to other newly added Caribbean destinations such as Kingston, Antigua and Port-Au-Prince. Flights to Kingston, Port-au-Prince and Antigua will operate on Boeing 737-800 aircraft. All told the carrier will operate over 100 flights per week to 15 Caribbean destinations from JFK this winter.

In Asia, American Airlines reports that it will remove nonstop service between Chicago O’Hare and Shanghai and seek a dormancy waiver from the DOT “to permit a return to the market once conditions improve.”  The last westbound flight will be October 26 and the last eastbound flight will be October 27. Customers holding reservations after these dates will be reaccommodated on other flights and can continue to reach Shanghai directly through American’s hubs at Dallas – Fort Worth and Los Angeles and from O’Hare via Tokyo Narita on Japan Airlines, American said. The airline is also reducing its service between O’Hare and Narita from daily to three days per week starting December 18.

Also this week American announced plans to expand its European route network. The airline will add service between Philadelphia and Berlin Tegel, Bologna and Dubrovnik seasonally from June through September on Boeing 767 aircraft. American will also add a new nonstop flight from Phoenix to London Heathrow, complementing existing service by partner British Airways. The new flights will be available for sale starting August 27.

Related Stories

Passport Online Changes Websites for Independent Contractors

Preview: Ensemble’s 2018 Conference

Stats: Thursday, Friday Busiest Days to Fly Over Labor Day

Virtuoso Completes Travel Week With Advisor, Partner Awards