USA TODAY International Edition
So long, Dayton: Airlines add, cut service to several U. S. cities
Airlines are constantly tweaking their schedules, trying to find profitable new routes or pulling the plug on ones that have underperformed. Airports and communities also court these new services.
There are dozens of changes to airline routes each month. Here’s a look at some of the most interesting from January. Southwest finally comes
to Cincinnati. Cincinnati and the Cayman Islands are in. The Ohio cites of Dayton and AkronCanton are out.
Southwest’s Cincinnati and Grand Cayman flights will each start June 4. From Cincinnati, which long had been the biggest metro area Southwest did not serve, Southwest will offer nonstop service to its bases at Baltimore/ Washington and Chicago Midway. Southwest’s Grand Cayman service will operate from its base in Fort Lauderdale.
Southwest will end all of its service to Dayton and AkronCanton on June 3. Those destinations joined Southwest’s network after its 2010 merger with AirTran. Emirates adds second European nonstop from USA. Emirates will add Newark Liberty to its growing U. S. route map, making the New York City- area airport its 12th U. S. destination.
But Emirates’ Newark flights will not operate nonstop to its main hub in Dubai, but rather to the Greek capital of Athens. The flights will continue on to Dubai, operating with a stop in Athens in each direction.
The Newark- Athens route launches March 12 and will be- come Emirates’ second between the USA and Europe. It also flies from New York JFK to Milan. Those flights are in addition to the four daily round- trip flights Emirates operates between JFK and Dubai.
Emirates’ U. S. rivals Delta and United each already fly nonstop to Athens from New York, but only seasonally during the summer. United serves Athens from its hub at Newark Liberty while Delta flies to Athens from its hub at New York JFK.
Emirates’ nonstop connections between the USA and Europe are allowed under “fifth freedom” aviation rights granted to airlines in countries with which the United States has a liberal “Open Skies” aviation pact. Those rights allow an airline to carry passengers between two foreign cities as long as the flight continues as one- stop service to that carrier’s home country.
A number of other airlines fly fifth- freedom routes from the USA, including Singapore Airlines’ route between Houston and Manchester, England. Japan Airlines to launch NYC- Tokyo Haneda flights. Japan Airlines ( JAL) will add nonstop service between New York JFK and Tokyo’s close- todowntown Haneda Airport. The new route will begin April 1 and will be in addition to JAL’s existing service between JFK and Tokyo Narita. The carrier will fly one daily round- trip flight on the Haneda route on Boeing 777300ER aircraft.
Narita is Tokyo’s primary international gateway, while Haneda’s route map is more heavily tilted toward regional flights. For many travelers, Haneda is the preferred Tokyo airport because of its proximity to the city.
Washington to Delhi, no stops. Washington’s Dulles International Airport will get a nonstop flight to India.
The Air India service would begin in July, with the stateowned national carrier planning non- stop service from Delhi. The capital- to- capital route is expected to operate three times a week on Boeing 777 aircraft, The Times of India reports.