2nd Daily flight to Brazil by Charlotte

News added by Victor Hunt under Airline News

Just six months after announcing it would start nonstop flights to Rio de Janeiro from Charlotte, US Airways said Thursday it plans to add a second daily flight from here to Brazil – this time, to Sao Paulo.

If approved by regulators, the new route will be part of a growing list of long-haul flights that US Airways has been adding lately out of Charlotte, despite a recession that has eaten into lucrative business travel. In the last year, Charlotte’s dominant airline has added a Paris flight and announced service to Honolulu and Rio.

Although it might seem odd that US Airways plans to add a second daily flight to Brazil from Charlotte before the first flights to Rio have started, US Airways President Scott Kirby told the Observer that Rio (known for its beaches and Carnival) and Sao Paulo (known as a business center) are distinct markets. They’re the only two cities in South America that the airline has said it will serve.

“They’re two of the top destinations in all of South America,” he said. “They’re both exciting for us, and ultimately we want to be able to serve both.”

Flights to Sao Paulo could start by late 2010. Flights to Rio are being sold now and are to start Dec. 2, and prices in December start at $700 round-trip, plus fees.

Flights to Honolulu, the other new long-haul destination, are to begin Dec. 17.

US Airways also says it plans to seek approval for its first route into Asia: a flight to Tokyo from Phoenix, to start by 2012 at the earliest.

The proposed expansions come as part of a deal with Delta Air Lines that will result in US Airways flying less often from New York’s LaGuardia Airport and more often from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. The deal, subject to regulatory approval, is expected to generate an additional $75 million a year for US Airways, the airline said.

Charlotte is the largest hub of Tempe, Ariz.-based US Airways, which operates nearly 90 percent of daily flights here. About 6,100 of the airline’s 33,000 employees are based in Charlotte.

In New York, the reductions will affect only US Airways Express flights, so Charlotte should maintain almost all of its nonstops to LaGuardia, a popular business destination. Only one of the airline’s 10 nonstops a day from Charlotte to LaGuardia is an Express flight.

US Airways said it will stop flying from LaGuardia to 26 destinations served by Express flights, which are operated by regional affiliates on smaller aircraft. Those cutbacks will result in the elimination of about 300 jobs at US Airways’ Piedmont Airlines affiliate.

In Washington, US Airways plans to add 15 new daily destinations from Reagan National, including a nonstop between Washington and Myrtle Beach. The addition of flights in Washington is expected to add 100 jobs.

“While we are disappointed to shrink our (LaGuardia) operations and cause uncertainty for some of our employees, we are excited about what we will now be able to accomplish in Washington, Brazil and Japan – and about the more competitive and financially sound US Airways we are building for the future,” Kirby said.

Bookmark this article: