– Emirates is adding a fifth freedom route from Denpasar to Auckland
Emirates today (19FEB18) announced new service launch in June 2018, as the airline plans 1 daily Dubai – Denpasar – Auckland route. This route will be operated by 3-class Boeing 777-300ER, from 14JUN18.
– Qatar Airways’ European affiliate Meridiana is getting a fresh new brand ‘Air Italy’ and a new ‘Qatar Airways – inspired’ livery
Now the question is what happens to Alitalia. If it goes bankrupt or shrinks a lot during the reorganization how quickly may Air Italy be able to absorb a lot of capacity using Qatar planes?
Their hub is in Olbia (Sardiania) – a great location to serve Europe-Africa flights but not ideal for most European markets for US or Asia flights. By all accounts this is a smart plat Qatar is putting on and it may pay off big time.