Delta Air Lines would add new international routes to Seattle right now if it could. Instead, the airline probably won’t make any of those moves until late 2019. Delta CE Ed Bastian said his airline is “facility-constrained” at Seattle-Tacoma International because of congestion at the International Arrivals Facility. The current facility, built more than 30 years ago at the airport’s South Satellite, gets extremely congested at peak periods as international passengers try to squeeze through customs. “It would be difficult to bring more international traffic flow at this time,” Bastian said. Bastian said Delta won’t subject its own passengers to that type of squeeze. The Port of Seattle wants to fix the problem as rapidly as possible, and is planning ground-breaking for a new US$608mfacility in Q4 of this year. <br/>
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Vietnam Airlines and part-owned subsidiary Cambodia Angkor Air are looking to “substantially increase” domestic services in both countries, as well as expand regional services to nearby Asian countries. A Vietnam Airlines spokesperson said the carrier’s new 6X-weekly Boeing 787 service from Heathrow to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City will be expanded to a daily schedule from July, and would help “provide an [expanded] network to and within the region.” Vietnam Airlines is also planning to add up to 20% extra capacity on existing routes such as its 22X-daily Hanoi-Ho Chi Minh City service, 15X-daily Ho Chi Minh City-Da Nang service and 12X-daily Hanoi-Da Nang service. Other tourist destinations will also see increased frequencies over the coming months. The carrier also plans to expand its Airbus A321 regional international services. <br/>
KLM launched new services from Amsterdam to Astana May 3, becoming its second destination in Kazakhstan. The 4X-weekly service is part of the Amsterdam-Almaty-Astana-Amsterdam route. The carrier also added a twice-weekly Amsterdam-Salt Lake City service May 5, becoming 3X-weekly from July 4. Starting from June 20, daily Amsterdam-Kuala Lumpur services will increase to 10X-weekly. For the coming winter schedule, the carrier will re-open services to Miami, which had been closed in 2012. Oct 30, KLM will operate 3X-weekly Airbus A330 service. Starting Oct 31, it will relaunch twice-weekly Amsterdam-Colombo Boeing 787-9 service. From the end of October, the airline will also increase frequencies from Amsterdam to Havana (Cuba) to 7X-weekly. <br/>