{"id":246,"date":"2008-10-13T05:42:28","date_gmt":"2008-10-13T10:42:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2008\/10\/airtran-adds-pittsburgh-flights-as-us-airways-cuts-back\/"},"modified":"2016-12-17T15:43:55","modified_gmt":"2016-12-17T21:43:55","slug":"airtran-adds-pittsburgh-flights-as-us-airways-cuts-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2008\/10\/airtran-adds-pittsburgh-flights-as-us-airways-cuts-back\/","title":{"rendered":"AirTran adds Pittsburgh flights as US Airways cuts back"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Ontheroad\"<\/a>
\nBy Joe Brancatelli<\/em><\/p>\n

US Airways<\/a><\/strong> continues to chop away in Pittsburgh, which was once its
\nmost important hub. Effective January 5, it will drop all nonstop flights<\/a><\/strong> to Florida. That’s a total of 24 flights<\/a><\/strong> a week to Orlando,
\nFort Lauderdale and Tampa. The Florida move will make it easier for
\nAirTran Airways<\/strong>, which will launch flights from Pittsburgh to Florida
\nnext month. By Thanksgiving, AirTran will fly daily to Fort Lauderdale,
\nTampa and Fort Myers. US Airways is "literally handing the competition
\nbusiness," says Bradley Penrod, executive director of Pittsburgh’s
\nairport authority. It wouldn’t be the first time, of course. …
\nInternationally, Continental Airlines<\/a><\/strong> <\/strong> is the latest U.S. carrier to
\ndump flights to London’s Gatwick Airport. Effective October 25,
\nContinental will drop flights to Gatwick from its Newark and Heathrow
\nhubs. In their place, it will now fly three times a day to Heathrow
\nfrom Newark and twice a day from Houston\/International. … US Airways<\/a><\/strong>
\nsays it will launch a daily flight to Tel Aviv from its Philadelphia
\nhub. The service is due to begin July 2.<\/p>\n

INTERNATIONAL ITINERARY<\/strong><\/p>\n

The airline map of Europe will change again:<\/strong> Lufthansa<\/strong> is
\nbuying Brussels Airlines, the de facto flag carrier of Belgium.
\nFormerly Delta Air Transport, SN Brussels was formed in 2002 from the
\nrubble of Sabena and then it merged with Virgin Express in 2006 to
\nbecome Brussels Airlines. It has a decent network in Europe and good
\nconnections to Africa from Brussels. The purchase, to be completed by
\n2011, will cost Lufthansa about 250 million euros. Lufthansa purchased
\nSwiss International, the successor to Swissair, in 2005. Lufthansa is
\nplanning to buy complete control of bmi<\/strong> and is talking to SAS<\/strong> about a
\ntakeover of the Scandinavian carrier, too. And the European
\nconsolidation is hardly finished. Austrian Airlines is looking for a
\nbuyer and Lufthansa, the Air France-KLM<\/strong> consortium and Russia’s S7
\nAirlines are all in the running. Air France-KLM almost purchased
\nAlitalia earlier this year and now that the Italian carrier is near
\ncollapse again, Lufthansa, Air France, EasyJet<\/strong> and British<\/strong> Airways<\/strong> are
\nall sniffing around Alitalia’s assets.<\/p>\n

NEED TO KNOW<\/strong><\/p>\n

On-the-road intelligence to help you travel smarter:<\/strong> Clear,
\nthe security-line bypass program, says it will open a facility at
\nTerminal A at Boston\/Logan Airport. … Best Buy<\/strong>, the big electronics
\nretailer, has placed self-service product kiosks at 12 airports<\/a> around
\nthe country. The kiosks look like gigantic vending machines and sell
\ncellphone and computer accessories, MP3 players, gift cards and travel
\nadapters and chargers. … Qantas<\/strong> flyers take note: Effective October
\n1, the airline changes terminals in Los Angeles. Qantas flights to
\nSydney, Melbourne and New York will move to the Tom Bradley
\nInternational Terminal. Qantas flights to Brisbane and Auckland will
\nuse Terminal 4.<\/p>\n

HOTEL HOT SHEET<\/strong><\/p>\n

Notable newbies in a crowded field:<\/strong> As hotel<\/a><\/strong> occupancy rates and
\nroom rates continue to slump, new hotels<\/a><\/strong> just keep leaking out of the
\npipeline. The newest hotel at Chicago\/O’Hare Airport is the 446-room
\nInterContinental O’Hare. The property is in Rosemont and houses a
\n275-seat venue for live musical and comedy acts. … In Raleigh, the
\nnew, 400-room Marriott City Center<\/strong> is attached to the
\n500,000-square-foot Raleigh Convention Center. The 16-story property
\nhas about 30,000 square feet of meeting space. … A 143-room aloft<\/strong>
\nhotel has opened in Franklin, Tennessee. That’s a southern suburb of
\nNashville. … Hilton has opened its first hotel in Moscow, the
\n273-room Hilton Leningradskaya<\/strong>. The hotel is in a renovated Stalin-era
\nbuilding and now has an indoor swimming pool, a business center and
\n7,000 square feet of meeting space. The property is managed by
\nInterstate Hotels, the large management firm that already handles
\nseveral Moscow hotels for Marriott. … On Bali, St. Regis<\/strong> has opened a
\nresort with 79 suites and 42 private villas. The low-rise beachfront
\nproperty is near the Bali Golf & Country Club. … And two
\nconversion of note. The former Holiday Inn in Rocky Mount, North
\nCarolina, has become the 166-room Doubletree Hotel Rocky Mount<\/strong>. And the
\nfirst Hotel Indigo<\/strong><\/a> has opened in Miami. The 122-room property in
\nKendall is 10 miles from Miami Airport and is a conversion of a Ramada
\nhotel.<\/p>\n

Related Orbitz resources:<\/strong><\/p>\n