Geneva Airport

Etihad Airways extends reach with TAP codeshares to Portugal

United Arab Emirates national carrier Eithad Airways has signed a codeshare agreement with TAP Portugal, expanding its global reach a little bit further. Etihad will gain a virtual network in Portugal – where competitors Emirates and Qatar Airways do not have flights to – by codesharing on TAP flights from common European points they both serve to Portugal, which Etihad does not fly directly to. TAP will codeshare on Etihad flights from their common European ports to Abu Dhabi. The agreement will largely force Emirates and Qatar, if they want a presence in the small Portuguese market, to either establish direct routes or partners with less geographically and schedule convenient carriers.

Etihad will place its code on TAP-operated flights from Lisbon to Brussels, Düsseldorf, Faro, Frankfurt, Funchal, Geneva, London, Milan and Porto, in addition to flights from Porto to Brussels and Geneva. In return, TAP will place its code on Etihad Airways flights to and from Brussels, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Geneva, London, and Milan, with the two carriers effectively establishing mini transfer hubs at those airports.

New Swiss airline SkyWork aims for “metro-capital” airport success

Tiny Switzerland has another airline, this one based in Bern, the nation’s capital and fourth largest city. Given that both Zurich and Geneva, the most populous, are small by global standards, basing an airline in a metro area with only 350,000 inhabitants may be a risky, and previously unsuccessful, endeavour. However, that history has not prevented yet another attempt named SkyWork.

Air Malta troubles worsen as unions flex muscle and LCCs grow

Air Malta’s troubles have become more acute as the struggling carrier’s unions increase their opposition to large-scale redundancies. Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi has stated the present situation is increasingly worrying, particularly in light of the EUR77 million the government has poured into the airline since Jun-2011.

Mobile airports may be the answer for seasonal LCC routes

An Austrian company has installed a mobile passenger terminal at Switzerland’s Geneva Airport. It is designed as a flexible structure, to expand and contract airport capacity, depending on demand. With a growing number of companies providing such facilities – driven by the increasing seasonality of flight operations and the continuing lack of available finance – is the future going to be "temporary and mobile"? Could this be the ultimate low-cost terminal?