Eurowings cancels planned early 1Q18 capacity increases ch-aviation PRO exclusive

Air Transat (TS, Montréal Trudeau) has announced it would launch a new route from Toronto Pearson to Split, becoming the maiden carrier to offer intercontinental service from the Croatian airport.

The Canadian leisure specialist will operate a weekly service on the route between June 20 and September 12 of next year.

Air Transat will also continue to operate its seasonal summer 2x weekly service between Toronto and Zagreb. As of 2019, it will operate both flights directly, dropping the stop in Montréal Trudeau.

Currently, Air Transat operates its routes to Zagreb with an A330-200 and will do so as well on the Split route.

According to the ch-aviation capacity module, Split currently sees exclusively European traffic operated mostly by easyJet, Croatia Airlines, and Eurowings.

Salzburg airport in western Austria will close for traffic between April 24 and May 28, 2019, due to runway reconstruction works, Air Transport World has reported.

"Our complete air traffic will be held for this period. Runway 15/33 needs a general renovation. The whole project, which began in 2015 with the planning phase, will last through 2021/2022,"the airport spokesperson said.

The entire investment, including drainage and other works, would cost around EUR60 million euros (USD69.5 million), of which EUR30-40 million euros (USD34.7-46.3 million) is earmarked for the 2019 runway reconstruction.

While most airlines would suspend their services to Salzburg during the reconstruction, Turkish Airlines said it would instead operate to Linz, located some 100 kilometres to the east of Salzburg.

According to the ch-aviation capacity module, Salzburg currently sees 145 weekly departures, with the majority operated by Eurowings (67 weekly departures) and Austrian Airlines (49). The traffic in Salzburg increases significantly during the winter months when the airport becomes a gateway to the Austrian and German alps.