Colombia’s Avianca will launch flights from Boston and Orlando to San Salvador, the capital of El Salvador, beginning in June. The Bogota-based carrier said on 16 March that the two routes will operate four-times weekly on an Airbus A320 with 180 seats. “The need for connectivity between the United States and Latin America is growing,” says Ronaldo Damas, the airline’s country officer for the USA. “With these new routes we will boost tourism to new places.” In addition to promoting access to the country’s tourist destinations, the airline also hopes to cater to the Latino community in the USA. Avianca operated a San Salvador-Boston flight until 2019. The new flight is due to launch on 1 June, while the connection to Orlando will begin operating on 11 June. According to Cirium networks data, Avianca already operates numerous routes from San Salvador to the USA, including flihgts from New York’s John F Kennedy International airport, Washington DC’s Dulles International airport, Dallas, Los Angeles, Miami, San Francisco, Houston and Los Angeles-area Ontario. United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, Spirit Airlines and Frontier Airlines also operate flights between the USA and El Salvador. <br/>
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Boeing confirmed on Thursday it delivered a 787 Dreamliner to German airline Lufthansa, its first since deliveries were halted in late February after it disclosed a data issue with a component. The FAA confirmed last month that Boeing had paused deliveries due to the data analysis error related to the jet’s forward pressure bulkhead, which the company found after reviewing certification records. The Lufthansa aircraft took off from Paine Field north of Seattle on Wednesday afternoon, landing in Frankfurt at 8:52 a.m. local time, flight data shows. Boeing shares rose 1.2% in early trading. The delivery caps off a big week for the 787 program. On Tuesday, Boeing announced a much anticipated sale of 78 Dreamliners to two Saudi airlines, a deal with a list price of $37b that the company touted as its fifth largest commercial order by value. Between the Saudi deal and separate orders from United Airlines and Air India, Boeing has received orders for almost 200 Dreamliners over the past four months. The company must now drive down the risk of supply chain constraints as it seeks to ramp up 787 production from its current low rate to its target of 10 a month by the end of 2026, analysts said. Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun told Reuters on Tuesday that demand for the 787 was the “biggest I’ve ever seen” and that he was confident in the company’s ability to meet its production goals.<br/>
China’s three largest airlines reported a third consecutive month of traffic recovery in February, the first full month of traffic results since Beijing scrapped most of its strict ‘zero-Covid’ travel curbs. In particular, the ‘Big Three’ – comprising Air China, China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines – saw a surge in international travellers, which made up an otherwise tepid increase in domestic traffic. Air China carried 7.2m passengers system-wide in February, about 7% higher compared to January, and a 64% increase year on year. International passengers – at just over 102,000 – was up 40% month on month, while domestic passenger numbers rose 6% compared to January to 6.98m. International capacity grew 36.5% against January, and was more than double the levels reported a year ago, when borders were still shut. Domestic capacity, meanwhile, remained similar to January, but was up about 47% year on year. As for China Eastern, it carried 7.8m passengers during the month, a 13% increase against January, and about 39% higher than the year-ago period. The Shanghai-based carrier saw a 41% month-on-month increase in international passenger numbers, to 113,000, while domestic passenger numbers, at 7.6m, was up 12.5% compared to January. System-wide capacity only grew marginally against January at around 6%, though international capacity saw a 51% jump month on month. Like Air China, China Eastern’s domestic capacity remained largely the same compared to January. Meanwhile, China Southern carried 10.1m passengers in February, 7% more than January, and about 37% higher year on year. International passenger numbers rose 58% month on month to 256,000, while domestic passenger numbers grew 6% to over 9.7m. Against the year-ago period, international and domestic passengers were up six-fold and 34% respectively. February capacity grew about 2% month on month, led by a 46% jump in international ASKs. On a year-on-year basis, China Southern grew capacity by about 27%. The traffic results come as Chinese carriers continue to ramp up their international flying. On 8 January, China eased most travel restrictions, including quarantine and testing requirements.<br/>