Avianca announced Thursday its intention to start operating new routes connecting Fort Lauderdale with Medellin and Managua; Miami with San Jose and Guatemala City; and Tampa, as a new destination that will connect directly with Bogota. With these proposed operations by 2025, the airline will operate 16 direct routes from Florida to Latin America, consolidating its position as one of the operators with the most robust offer to connect the region. “Florida has historically been a key point of connection with Latin America, so it is essential for us to help more families reconnect, boost tourism and promote business. So far in 2024, we have transported more than 4m travelers on more than 27,000 flights to and from the United States. So these new routes respond to the needs of our customers and represent an opportunity for them to fly directly to more destinations in both regions where we already have a strong presence,” said Frederico Pedreira, CEO of Avianca.<br/>
star
Aegean Airlines is giving 40 young men and women the opportunity to pursue a career as professional pilots for another year, through the new round of the Pilot Scholarship Program, with the submission of applications ending on Tuesday, December 31. The program, which covers most of the tuition fees required to obtain a professional civil aviation degree, aims to create the next generation of the company’s pilots, while supporting the long-term development of the aviation industry in Greece. In collaboration with two of the most recognized aviation schools in Greece, Global Aviation and Egnatia Aviation, Aegean ensures that the participants receive the necessary theoretical and practical training to obtain the professional pilot’s degree, while with the acquisition of the professional degree in civil aviation, participants will continue their training on the aircraft type at the new Aegean│CAE Flight Training Center, which opened its doors at the beginning of the year at Aegean’s new technical base.<br/>
South African Airways has increased the number of services between its Johannesburg base and Perth in Western Australia. The Star Alliance airline returned to Perth in January 2024 with three services per week. It has now added a fourth service and will add a fifth service from January 2025. South African Airways operates the Johannesburg-Perth service on a two-class Airbus A340-300 which has a total of 253 seats configured with 38 business class seats and 215 economy class seats. The business class cabin is configured in a 2-2-2 lie-flat layout, while economy class comes in a 2-4-2 configuration. Perth Airport’s chief commercial and aviation officer, Kate Holsgrove, said South African Airways adding more services into Perth was great news for Perth and Western Australia.<br/>
Starting on Christmas Eve, business travelers on Singapore Airlines flights can refresh with new amenity kits from cult fragrance brand Le Labo. The kits include three products: a hand pomade with a fresh basil scent, a face mist in basil, and a lip balm. Staying true to the brand’s ethos, all products are handcrafted using vegan ingredients, including shea butter, sweet almond oil, olive oil, aloe vera, and rosemary extract. Le Labo, or “The Lab” in French, has won devotees for its slow, artisanal take on perfumes and its minimalist aesthetic. It’s famous for blending fragrances in-store, personalizing them to the buyer, down to the label, printed with the customer’s name, purchase date, and location. “Each of our boutiques is designed as a fragrance lab where we freshly compound and personalize our perfumes and offer body-hair-face creations to add sensorial simplicity to your life (and travels),” Le Labo writes in the insert included with Singapore Airlines’ kits.<br/>