Southwest said Tuesday it will support legislation to add seven new round trip flights a day at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, an issue that has been fiercely contested by major US airlines. American Airlines, United Airlines and Alaska Airlines have strongly opposed adding flights to airport arguing to it would boost congestion and lead to more delays, while Delta Air Lines strongly supports adding more flights to boost competition. Southwest said in an email to congressional staff Tuesday the proposal would increase daily flights at Regan by less than 2% and argued the "modest increase in flight activity can be accommodated." A bill to reauthorize the FAA is set to be voted on this week in the US House. Southwest backed an amendment introduced by Republican Burgess Owens to the FAA bill. Owens said the proposal equates to one route for each airline currently operating out of the airport, and "mitigates the high-cost millions of Americans must budget to visit our national capital." United Airlines said Tuesday that adding more flights "would only serve to increase delays and cancellations." Reagan is about four miles from Capitol Hill, which makes it popular with lawmakers, tourists and local residents. In the 1960s, the federal government restricted flights at Reagan National to manage congestion and delays at the airport and direct longer flights to Dulles. The so-called “perimeter rule” limits most non-stop flights serving Reagan National to a distance of 1,250 miles. Congress previously exempted 20 round-trip flights to airports more than 1,250 miles from Reagan National (DCA).<br/>
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Frontier Airlines is celebrating its 29th birthday with a “first-of-its-kind deal.” The ultra low-cost carrier is offering one-way flights starting at $29 as well as deep discounts on perks that usually cost much more. For an additional $29, the aptly named Perks bundle allows travelers one carry-on bag, one checked bag, seat selection and one free reservation change. Typically, the fee for one carry-on bag alone costs more than that. With a $49 Works add-on bundle, travelers get all of the above and refundable tickets. Travelers also get Zone 1 boarding and bonus Frontier miles on bundle purchases. “This is the first time we’ve ever offered The Perks and The Works bundles at such a low cost,” Frontier’s Vice President of Marketing Tyri Squyres said in a statement. The offer is good until 11:59 p.m. ET on July 20 for travel through Nov. 15. <br/>
US start-up airline Breeze Airways plans to double down on flying winter travellers south with 11 new seasonal routes to Florida starting in November. Utah-headquartered Breeze said on 18 July that its planned Florida expansion would include nine wintertime routes to Fort Myers alone, focusing on markets in the Midwest and Eastern USA – Akron and Columbus (Ohio), Louisville (Kentucky), New Orleans (Louisiana), Norfolk and Richmond (Virginia), Pittsburgh (Pennsylvannia), Raleigh (North Carolina) and Syracuse (New York). The expansion will also include new flights from Providence (Rhode Island) to Jacksonville and Vero Beach in Florida. With the additions, Breeze would fly 58 routes to Florida from 28 cities throughout the rest of the USA. Most of the additional Florida routes flown by the ultra-low-cost carrier (ULCC) will be operasted twice or three times weekly. Breeze did not specify when it would terminate the seasonal flights in 2024. Launched in May 2021, the start-up focuses on flying between secondary airports to avoid hubs, cut down on overall travel times and capitalise on underserved markets. The ULCC first grew its presence in the Southeast USA before expanding westward to Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Phoenix and San Francisco – marking the beginnings of a transcontinental network. In addition to likely targeting more airports with poor or no air service, Breeze is eyeing international flights to Mexico. Breeze operates a fleet of Airbus A220s and Embraer E-jets. Cirium fleets data show that the carrier brought its 15th new A220-300 into service last month. <br/>
Middle Eastern carrier Emirates is aiming to cut food waste by offering a pre-order service for on-board catering. The airline is to introduce the service initially in the business-class cabin on flights between Dubai and the three main London airports from 25 July. It will enable passengers to select meal options – through the website or app – up to two weeks in advance of travel. Emirates says this will ensure customers receive their preferred choice while helping the carrier to cut food waste. “On the aircraft, cabin crew will use a custom-built application on a device to view the meal selection and serve the passenger their choice of hot dish,” the carrier adds. Emirates says that it will study customer feedback and aims to roll out the pre-order initiative to more routes and cabin classes “in the near future”.<br/>