Turkish Airlines to start Houston operations

TURKISH Airlines, the national flag carrier of the country, will launch Houston flights from April 1, 2013, enhancing its current US operations which include services to Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and Washington DC. Istanbul-Houston flights will operate four times per week – on Mondays, Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

Royal Jordanian boosts Airbus fleet

ROYAL Jordanian (RJ) said a new Airbus A321 plane has joined its fleet in line with its plan to serve the medium-haul routes of the RJ network. The new A321 aircraft, the third to be introduced this year, carries the name of the city of Madaba, southwest of the capital Amman. This comes as part of the modernization plan that Royal Jordanian is undertaking to replace six of its A320s and A321s with seven new ones of the same type.

During the last two years, the airline has already introduced four A320 and two A321 aircraft, whereas the last aircraft will join the fleet this November.

Emirates launches flights to Erbil

DUBAI-based carrier Emirates is set to launch flights to Iraqi Kurdistan capital Erbil, its third gateway in Iraq after Basra and Baghdad, starting from August 12. The new service between Emirates’ hub in Dubai and Erbil will initially operate four times a week, increasing to a daily service from September 1. Emirates said it will fly its Airbus 340-300 on the route, offering 267 seats in a three-class configuration and more than 13 tonnes of cargo capacity. Emirates SkyCargo has been operating a freighter out of Erbil since February 2011.