Ashes to ashes: A mess of new international flights

By Joe Brancatelli

Never let it be said that airlines let a little thing like volcanic ash clouds stand in their way if they think they can find (orresume) a profitable international route to fly. So get out the scorecard, dust off the ash and take note.

• Alitalia is bringing back its Los Angeles-Rome nonstops on June 5.
• Virgin America will launch its flights to Toronto on June 23. There’ll be daily flights from Los Angeles and San Francisco.
• Swiss International resumes an old Swissair route, San Francisco-Zurich, on June 2.
• Air Canada adds flights from Toronto to Copenhagen on June 2 and resumes service from St. John’s to London/Heathrow on May 27. The seasonal service will run until September 26.
• US Airways is also launching flights from its Charlotte hub to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, using Airbus A319 jets on June 5. Meanwhile, Continental Airlines will link its Houston hub with Tuxtla in the Mexican state of Chiapas on June 9. The thrice-weekly service will be operated with 50-seat RJs.

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Joe Brancatelli is editor and publisher of JoeSentMe.com, a non-commercial Web site for business travelers. Copyright 2009 by Joe Brancatelli. Licensed by contract for Orbitz use.