Here's our weekly roundup of new air routes, codeshare partnerships, and other updates in aviation.
First-ever flight between Santiago and Melbourne
LATAM Airlines has started flying thrice-weekly between Chile’s capital city, Santiago, and Melbourne, Australia.
The route, which will take 15 hours and 10 minutes, uses a 313-seat Boeing 787-9. It departs Melbourne on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays at 20.40, and arrives in Santiago at 19.55 the same day. The return flight departs Santiago at 13.30 on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays, and lands in Melbourne at 17.40.
Additional routes and frequencies by Jet Airways
Jet Airways will introduce three new international services and add frequencies to six existing routes.
The three new routes are Delhi-Riyadh, Chennai-Paris, and Bengaluru-Amsterdam.
From October 29, Jet Airways 9W 510 will depart from Delhi at 23.00 and arrive in Riyadh at 01.35. The return flight, Jet Airways 9W 509, will depart from Riyadh at 03.10 and arrive in Delhi at 09.45.
Operating five days a week on the Chennai-Paris sector, 9W 128 will depart Chennai on October 29 at 01.45 and arrive in Paris at 08.10. Jet Airways’ 9W 127 will depart Paris at 10.10, and arrive in Chennai at 00.15.
On the Bengaluru-Amsterdam route, Jet Airways 9W 236 will depart Bengaluru at 02.25 and arrive in Amsterdam at 08.35. On the return leg, the daily service, 9W 235 will depart from Amsterdam at 10.50 to arrive inBengaluru at 00.40.
Jet Airways has also added new frequencies to its Mumbai-London, Mumbai-Riyadh, New Delhi-Singapore, Mumbai-Kuwait, New Delhi-Doha and New Delhi-Dammam services, as part of its winter schedule effective October 29.
SilkAir takes over Scoot’s services to Yangon
From October 29, the regional carrier of Singapore Airlines, SilkAir, will take over Scoot’s current five-times-weekly services to Yangon, Myanmar.
This will be on top of the regional carrier’s 10 flights to Yangon, and three-times-weekly services to Mandalay. Once the transfer is completed, SilkAir will fly 15 times to Yangon a week.
Qatar signs codeshare deal with Vietjet
Qatar Airways has signed an interline partnership with Vietjet Air. The agreement will allow Qatar’s passengers to travel to and from points in Vietnam using a single reservation across both airlines’ networks.
The new partnership will allow passengers travelling to and from eight new domestic points within Vietnam to connect via Qatar’s existing gateways such as Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi.
The agreement also includes the coastal city Da Nang, as well as Ban Me Thuot, Dalat, Hai Phong, Nha Trang, Phu Quoc, Pleiku, Vinh City and one international point, Taipei.
In addition, from January 1, 2018, Qatar will increase its frequencies to Hanoi (twice-daily) and Ho Chi Minh City (10 flights weekly).
