AIRLINE NEWS

BRITISH AIRWAYS is to start flights from London Stansted. From May 28, the airline will launch once-weekly Saturday services to Faro, Malaga, Palma and Ibiza (May 29), operated by its subsidiary, BA Cityflyer, using Embraer 190s. FLYBE starts a six-times weekly Exeter-Norwich route on March 24. Flights depart Exeter at 1205 (Monday to Friday) and 1045 (Sunday), arriving at 1315 and 1115. The return leg leaves Norwich at 1520 (weekdays) and 1220 (Sunday), landing at 1640 and 1340. Flybe has also announced a daily summer route from Southampton to Paris CDG. EASYJET has opened a base at Venice Marco Polo. The carrier will assign four aircraft to it and is introducing ten new routes, including four-times weekly flights to both Edinburgh and Bristol. It operates up to six flights per day between Venice and London (Gatwick, Luton and Southend). EUROWINGS will add a Dusseldorf-East Midlands service on March 27. The route will operate six times per week, with weekday flights departing Dusseldorf at 1125, and returning from East Midlands at 1225. There is also a Sunday service. BMI REGIONAL is to fly between Southampton and Munich from April 15. The service will operate with 12 flights per week – double-daily Monday to Friday, and daily on Saturdays and Sundays. UNITED is to launch nonstop flights between San Francisco and Singapore on June 1. The daily service will be operated by the carrier’s B787 Dreamliner, and will be the longest scheduled nonstop flight by a US carrier. ALITALIA is to launch a nonstop B777 service between Rome and Mexico City from June 16. The three-times weekly service will depart Rome Fiumicino at 1025 on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, landing at 1645. The return leg will leave Mexico at 2330, landing at 1835 the following day. BRITISH AIRWAYS AND VUELING are expanding their codeshare arrangements. BA has added 24 Vueling routes to the agreement, most of which will launch in summer. It means BA customers will have access to Vueling’s network through ba.com. SAS has extended its Go Light hand baggage-only fare following last year’s trials between Scandinavia and France, Greece, Ireland, the Netherlands and Spain. The option will be offered on flights to the UK and the rest of Europe from April 27. DRAGONAIR, the sister airline of Cathay Pacific, has been rebranded as Cathay Dragon. Cathay Pacific chief executive Ivan Chu said that Cathay Dragon would continue to remain a separate airline and would operate under its own licence.