Dublin Starts Airport Expansion after Decade Delay: Airline Pulse News and Notes for April 8, 2016

by Josh Lew
Last updated: 10:30 AM ET, Fri April 8, 2016

Photo courtesy of Thinkstock

Strike Grounds Chile's Sky Airlines
Sky Airlines, the number two carrier in Chile, has stopped all service because of a strike by employees, who just rejected the latest contract offer from the airline. There were no flights on Thursday and all scheduled service for Friday has also been canceled.

Dublin Airport Expansion to Begin after Long Delay
The long-delayed project to add a second runway to Dublin Airport is now set to get underway. The plans, first announced in 2007, were put on hold while Ireland was dealing with its financial crisis. The country is now on solid financial footing, so the project will resume.

Alaska Airlines Announces New Hawaii Service
Alaska Airlines has announced a new seasonal service to Hawaii. The new airport pair is rather unexpected. Rather than flying from Seattle, the flight, which will start in November of this year, will take off from Bellingham, Washington and land in Kona, on the Big Island.

Low-Cost Carriers Could Drive Tourism Growth in Laos
Thai AirAsia was finally given access to the Laotian city of Luang Prabang eight years after it applied. Landlocked Laos is one of the last frontiers for LCCs, which already dominate most other markets in the region.

JUST THE LINKS

Tampa is optimistic about the prospect of getting service to Cuba this fall. Both JetBlue and Southwest have proposed two daily flights from Tampa to Havana.

The DOT has announced that it will fine airlines that do not pay valid compensation claims to passengers whose luggage is damaged. "Damage" will include damage to the bag itself, not just its contents.

Despite a hope that things would eventually return to normal, it looks like Russians will not be traveling to Egypt or Turkey this year. Russia's tourism agency announced that air routes between the two countries would remain closed for the remainder of 2016.

An Air India pilot refused to take off because his favorite co-pilot was not assigned to the flight with him as he requested. The pilot had already resigned and was serving out his notice period. The airline eventually gave in and got the female co-pilot after the flight had been delayed for more than two hours. It is not clear if the pilot's insistence on having that particular co-pilot was because of some sort of love affair, a stand on gender equality in the workplace or if he just wanted to stick it to the airline before quitting.