Airlines

Aruba Airport Authority N.V. Securing Additional Boston Service

Aruba Airport Authority N.V. (AAA) has received confirmation of JetBlue Airways’ enhancement of current Boston service to Aruba starting in the spring of 2010. Boston remains a very strong market for the destination and has developed from a primarily seasonal market into a year round key market in the US northeast.

JetBlue Airways has officially announced the increase as of May. It will increase service from Saturday only to five times a week on Friday, two times on Saturday (during the summer peak holidays), Sunday and Monday. Service is nonstop from Boston Logan’s Airport to Aruba onboard A320 aircraft with 150 seats in a one class configuration.

‘Partnerships prove even more valuable during these troubling times’ said Peter Steinmetz, Managing Director AAA. ‘Boston is a very strong year round market for Aruba and the unfortunate cancellation of Boston service from one of our valued air service partners, had us reaching out immediately to American Airlines and JetBlue for assistance. We are committed to work together with our tourism partners to secure the continued demand to Aruba from the Boston region’.

GOL announced that it received permission to operate scheduled flights between Brazil, Venezuela and Aruba from the Brazilian National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC) and other relevant authorities. GOL plans to launch the new route, which will be operated by the VARIG brand, on 4 October and will initially operate the flights weekly, on Sundays, using Boeing 737-800 Next Generation aircrafts.  Flights will depart Sao Paulo’s Guarulhos International Airport at 11:00, arriving in Caracas Venezuela at 15:30, departing at 16:10 and arriving in Aruba at 17:55. Return flights will depart Aruba at 21:20, arriving in Caracas at 22:05, and departing Caracas for Sao Paulo at 22:45. For more information please contact Mr. Hendrik Croes at the Aruba Airport Authority at (297) 524-2424.

The Aruba Airport Authority N.V. (AAA) won the prize for Runner-up for the Global Airport Marketing Award 2009 in the category ‘the America’s’. OAG awards airports in geographical categories, irrespective of the amount of passengers that the airport receives per year.  This result is outstanding and important for AAA for two reasons: First of all, airlines themselves nominate the airports who made a real difference to their own network planning activity over the last 12 months. And secondly, AAA was awarded Highly Commended, being the only Central and South American airport nominated. For more information please contact Mr. Hendrik Croes at the Aruba Airport Authority at (297) 524-2424.

New Service and Capacity Increases

With the summer months comprising the 3rd Quarter period, airlines are indicating overall more passengers per flight as capacity and airfares were reduced. The industry remains very volatile and according to IATA, even though demand for air travel continues to improve, profitability remains ever distant. Aruba Airport Authority N.V. (AAA) 3rd quarter results are reflective of the overall industry reports as both commercial revenue generating passengers (RGP) and air service capacity have increased during the third quarter of 2009.

RGP figures for commercial passengers and flights were up by 2.8% and 1.8% respectively compared to the third quarter of 2009. The following graph illustrates the monthly performance for the third quarter of 2009 compared to 2008 for commercial traffic.

According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA) air fares have stabilized, but at profitless levels. Meanwhile cost pressures are mounting from reduced aircraft utilization and rising oil prices. The industry according to IATA is ‘not out of the woods yet’. US airline capacity changes for Aruba during the third quarter of 2009 were most notable from Delta Airlines, USAirways and JetBlue Airways growing capacity compared to 2008 with 60.0%, 24.8% and 11.8% respectively. In addition, AirTran Airways announced weekly service to Aruba from Atlanta as of December 2009 and Orlando as of February 2010 complimenting air service from the United States to Aruba. With the announcement of Orlando, Aruba has obtained its 13th US gateway a terrific accomplishment for the destination.

As previously indicated booking patterns remain rather short term as consumers are price sensitive and continue to influence the performance of the main tourism market. Airlines have reduced capacity and airfares which creates more passengers on the aircraft but does not reduce the fixed airline costs. The following graph also reflects how effective the various markets are in matching aircraft capacity with demand during the third quarter of 2009 compared to 2008.

‘Traffic figures for the 3rd Quarter sound promising as each individual month showed signs of improvement’ said Peter Steinmetz, Managing Director AAA. ‘Retention of air service, the addition of air service from AirTran Airways and the change of equipment by Copa Airlines are important indicators that our strategies continue to generating positive results. In addition, our marketing efforts have been recognized once again during The World Route Forum and are reflections of Aruba’s strong and prominent presence in the world of Tourism and Aviation’.

After Third Nomination Presented by the OAG (Official Airline Guide) in Beijing

Aruba Airport Authority N.V. (AAA) has received confirmation on the 14th of September, that after earlier receiving its third nomination by OAG, Official Airline Guide, it was awarded the prize for Runner-up for the Global Airport Marketing Award 2009 in the category ‘The Americas”. The gala awards ceremony, where the awards were handed out, took place during the Annual World Route Development Forum in Beijing, China . Representatives of  AAA that attended this Forum and accepted the award were Mrs. Peggy Croes, Head Airline Marketing and Mrs. Barbara Brown, Business Unit Manager Terminal.

OAG awards airports in geographical categories, irrespective of the amount of passengers that the airport receives per year. Aeropuerto Internacional Reina Beatrix didn’t only earn the Runner-up status for the Global Airport Marketing Award, but was also Highly Commended. With that it ended second amongst all North, Central and South American airports.
This result is outstanding and important for AAA for two reasons: First of all, airlines themselves nominate the airports who made a real difference to their own network planning activity over the last 12 months. And secondly, AAA was awarded Highly Commended, being the only Central and South American airport that was nominated sharing the honours in this category competing for the award with Akron-Canton Airport in Ohio, Halifax International Airport in Canada, Seattle-Tacoma and Dallas-Forth Worth International Airport in Texas which came out as number 1. It was the second time since 2007 that AAA received the Runner-up award in its category.

Peter Steinmetz, Managing Director AAA, expressed profound words of satisfaction with this major achievement: “This appreciation perfectly mirrors AAA’s philosophy that airports and airlines work together as partners in developing traffic and the award reflects directly  the positive improvements and changes at the company and solidifies Aeropuerto Internacional Reina Beatrix as a leading airport in the world of aviation. The fact that we have been nominated 3 times now over the last 4 years and received the Runner-up award twice speaks for itself on the quality and perseverance of our marketing staff and efforts. It is really outstanding for such a small airport.”  Steinmetz reiterated that “We ensure that our marketing objectives are met through the delivery of service benefiting Aruba as a whole”.

The Aruba Airport Authority N.V. (AAA) has once again received notification of being short listed for the World Routes 2009 Airport Marketing Awards to be presented during the 15th World Route Development Forum in Beijing, China held September 13 - 15, 2009. AAA N.V. has been nominated previously for this award in 2006 and 2007. In 2007, AAA N.V. was highly commended and ended in second place in the category of 1 to 5 million passenger movements per year. This year the categories have been reclassified and AAA N.V. has been nominated within the Americas sharing the honors in this category competing for the award with Akron-Canton Airport in Ohio, Dallas-Forth Worth International Airport in Texas and Halifax International Airport in Canada.

The Aruba Airport Authority N.V. (AAA) received official word from AirTran Airways that the necessary paperwork with the US Department of Transportation (DOT) for non-stop direct service on a weekly basis from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and Orlando International Airport to Aruba has been filed. AirTran, using a B737-700 aircraft on both routes configured with 137 seats, expects to start service in December 2009 from Atlanta and February 2010 from Orlando. For more information please contact Mr. Hendrik Croes at the Aruba Airport Authority at (297) 524-2424.

Aruba Airport Authority N.V. (AAA) reports continued growth in passenger traffic in July and August. Revenue Generating Passengers (RGP) at AAA is up by 4.5% and the amount of commercial flights increased with 6.2% for July 2009 compared to the same month in 2008. RGP during the month of August 2009 was up by 1.7% whilst the amount of commercial flights decreased by -1.3% compared to the same month in 2008. Interestingly the RGP results for August 2008 were 4.9% higher than August 2007, a record breaking year, making these results the best for the month of August on record at AAA. In addition, August 2009 RGP results clock in second to March 2008 as the largest amount of RGP obtained in a single month. The North American PFC market grew slightly by 0.5% compared to August

The European PFC market grew by a staggering 24.9% compared to August 2008 with Martinair transporting 8.9% more passengers than KLM during the same period in 2008. Flights from the European market grew by 28.3% compared to August 2008 and are mainly attributed to the increase in flights from London Gatwick and Amsterdam.

Thomson Airlines announces additional weekly direct flights from Manchester, UK in May 2010. It will operate the new weekly service to Aruba from Manchester on Fridays from May 7 – October 23, replacing the existing fortnightly service. This flight is in addition to the weekly direct Gatwick service, successfully introduced for summer 2009 and will depart on Saturdays from May 1 – October 23, 2010. The London Gatwick and Manchester flights are available for travellers booking their Aruba holiday with Thomson Faraway Shores, Thomson Platinum Collection, Thomson Weddings, Thomson Chic & Unique, Thomson a La Carte and First Choice Tropical, First Choice Premier and First Choice Wedding brochures. For more information on the new flights and packages or to book online  visit www.firstchoice.co.uk/aruba

August 2009 Second Highest RGP Month End Record to Date

Aruba Airport Authority N.V. (AAA) continues to see positive growth in passenger traffic for the month of August 2009 amidst continued economic turmoil and uncertainty in demand for travel. Revenue Generating Passengers (RGP) at AAA during the month of August 2009 was up by 1.7% whilst the amount of commercial flights has decreased by -1.3% compared to the same month in 2008. Interestingly the RGP results for August 2008 were 4.9% higher than August 2007, a record breaking year, making these results the best for the month of August on record at AAA. In addition, August 2009 RGP results clock in second to March 2008 as the largest amount of RGP obtained in a single month.
The North American PFC market grew slightly by 0.5% compared to August. The European PFC market grew by a staggering 24.9% compared to August 2008 with Martinair transporting 8.9% more passengers than KLM during the same period in 2008.

Flights from the European market grew by 28.3% compared to August 2008 and are mainly attributed to the increase in flights from London Gatwick and Amsterdam. RGP from Latin America decreased by -7.5%. The Venezuelan government’s decision to cancel all charter flights to Aruba and Curacao earlier this year has an effect during the holiday periods. The Netherlands Antilles saw an increase in PFC of 7.1% compared to August.

“The results of August 2009 are a clear indication that there is a continued positive change in our results since the second quarter” said Peter Steinmetz, Managing Director AAA N.V. “as we mentioned last month, there is still no indication as to the end of the economic turmoil and travel demand remains unpredictable. September will prove challenging as typically there is a decrease in travel after the US Labor Day Holiday weekend. AAA N.V. remains focused on retention of air service and minimizing the impact of the economic downturn. Our relationship with our valued airline partners remains the cornerstone of our success.”