Carry on: Japanese avoid Paris, US-Cuba flights, big Boeing order and more

Paris attacks scare off Japanese
Japanese tourists are avoiding one of their favourite destinations, Paris, and bookings are down 60% since the terrorist attacks last month. Japan Airlines will suspend flights between Tokyo Narita and Paris Charles de Gaulle on most days between January 12 and February 29. Passenger violumes from Tokyo Haneda are not so badly affected but bookings there have dropped 40%.

US, Cuba agree on scheduled flights
The US and Cuba have agreed to restart scheduled commercial flights though this will not affect the general American ban on tourism there. US airlines will be able to sell tickets on their websites for flights to Cuba but must first apply for permission to fly specific routes. The agreement, which has yet to be signed, allows for 110 round-trip flights on US airlines to Cuba each day – 20 flights to Havana and 10 to each of the other nine international airports in Cuba.

Singapore expands Asia, Europe frequencies
Singapore Airlines will add a sixth daily flight to Bangkok in March, up from five daily flights. Its new northern summer schedule (Mar 27-Oct 29, 2016) also boosts frequencies to Colombo (Sri Lanka) and Milan (Italy). The additional Bangkok service will use an Airbus A330-300 aircraft while frequency to Colombo will increase from seven to 10 times a week. Milan services will increase to six per week from five, including two that continue to Barcelona in Spain.

Emirates adds more A380 services
Emirates is adding to its A380 network next year  with flights from Dubai to Birmingham, Prague and Taipei. It will be the first and only airline to operate a scheduled A380 service to each of these destinations. Birmingham will start on March 27, followed by Prague and Taipei on May 1. Additionally, Barcelona will get a second daily A380 service from June 1.

Etihad boosts 787-9 network
Etihad Airways has added five new destinations – Dusseldorf, Perth, Shanghai, Istanbul and Johannesburg – for its new Dreamliner B787-9 aircraft that arrive next year. Dusseldorf will launch on May 1, Perth on June 1, Shanghai and Istanbul on August 1, and Johannesburg on November 1. Etihad has five B787-9s in service that operate to Brisbane, Washington, Singapore and Zurich.

Boeing lands big China order
China Southern Airlines and its subsidiary Xiamen Airlines are purchasing 110 Boeing 737s in the current model and upgraded Max variants. The deal, worth $US10 billion, involves Boeing buying back some older-vintage jets, engines and other materials. The 80 planes for China Southern are new orders, while the 30 Max models headed for Xiamen were previously logged as unidentified orders.

Route news of the week
Lufthansa is cancelling its five-times weekly Frankfurt-Kuala Lumpur service. From December 26, it will be reduced to a three-times weekly operation before ending on February 29, 2016. The service uses an A340-300. Air France will resume its Paris CDG-Tehran route on April 10, 2016. It will will run three times a week, using Airbus A320 aircraft. This frequency is the same when the route was suspended in October 2008. Qatar Airways has launched a new service between Doha and Durban, South Africa. The four-times-weekly service adds to existing daily flights to Cape Town and double daily flights to Johannesburg.

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