Lebanon's MEA ends A321 operations

Lebanon's MEA eyes A321neo(XLR) flights to Africa

MEA - Middle East Airlines (ME, Beirut) plans to use its forthcoming A321-200NX(XLR)s on existing and new routes to Africa, too thin to sustain a widebody and too long-range to operate with other narrowbody types, Managing Director Mohamed Al Hout told aviation journalist Kurt Hofmann.

"We have many thin routes which are commercially not viable to operate with widebody aircraft, especially to Africa. We are talking about new destinations like Kinshasa N'Djili, Monrovia Roberts, Brazzaville, Freetown, Conakry Luanda, and Libreville. So we are looking for new markets as well as increasing frequencies on existing routes to Lagos, Abidjan, and Accra to daily services," Al Hout said.

Al Hout added that the planned African expansion could also boost the role of Beirut as a hub. Currently, only some 5% of the airline's passengers connect via Lebanon. However, MEA hopes that this share could rise with more daily feeder routes from underserved markets in Africa. Notwithstanding these changes, MEA intends to remain a predominantly point-to-point...

Italy's ITA Airways accedes to SkyTeam alliance

ITA Airways (AZ, Milan Linate) has acceded to Skyteam replacing the now defunct Alitalia (AZ, Rome Fiumicino) which ceased operations on October 14, one day before its successor's official launch.

“Joining SkyTeam is a natural step, enabling us to continue to deliver a global network and seamless experience that customers flying to and from Italy expect. We look forward to close cooperation with our SkyTeam partners to support the start-up of our company, the Italian flag carrier,” Alfredo Altavilla, ITA's Executive Chairman, said in a statement.

SkyTeam says it has agreed with Alitalia Loyalty to continue the partnership that will enable the carrier's six million MilleMiglia frequent flyer users to earn and redeem miles on select SkyTeam members’ flights.

Aside from ITA, SkyTeam's other members include: Aeroflot, Aerolineas Argentinas, Aeroméxico, Air Europa, Air France, China Airlines, China Eastern Airlines, CSA Czech Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Garuda Indonesia, Kenya Airways, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Korean Air, MEA - Middle...

Air Côte d'Ivoire eyes US flights in 2025

Greece's SKY Express starts Heraklion hub operations

SKY Express (Greece) (GQ, Heraklion) has started hub operations at its Heraklion base with the addition of new direct flights to Germany, France, and The Netherlands, as well as four more domestic destinations, the airline announced. Before this, SKY had used Athens Int'l as its main connecting hub.

“Our goal for SKY Express is to launch communication channels laden with prospects and opportunities for the entire country," Vassilis Krasanakis, Manager (Network Planning & Pricing), said in a statement. "Constituting Heraklion as a hub that connects Crete not only with the rest of Greece as we have been doing so far but also with Central Europe is practical proof of our commitment to bolster Crete as an autonomous pole of touristic development. Taking into account our well-timed planning, we estimate that July and August will move at very good traffic levels, and we will achieve our goal of extending the season with the inflow of premium travellers".

The Greek carrier on June 22 began twice-weekly services from Crete to Hamburg Helmut Schmidt, Germany,...