A new airport in Oman and a new concourse at LaGuardia lead this week’s air travel news. 

This week Oman celebrated the official grand opening of the new Muscat International Airport, a development that Oman Aviation Group will play a major role in transforming the destination into an important traffic hub in the Middle East. The new airport has a capacity of 20 million passengers per year, with an expansion potential for 56 million. It can handle 40 flights per hour, and it has a new, wide runway that can accommodate widebody Airbus 380 and Boeing 747 aircraft. The Sultanate of Oman is also developing new airports in Salalah and Duqm, as well as building modern highways to connect interior destinations and modernizing its transportation and hospitality infrastructure. 

In other airport news, this week American Airlines opened its new concourse at LaGuardia’s Terminal B in New York City, officially beginning to operate flights as of December 1. The construction of the new concourse is the first step in the reimagining of Terminal B, where American has exclusively operated since December 2017. The $5.1 billion transformation of the rest of Terminal B is scheduled for completion in 2022. The new concourse has a number of additional amenities, plus retailers such as FAO Schwarz, Shake Shack, and M∙A∙C. Over the next few years, two new concourses featuring 35 gates will be built at Terminal B. The two concourses will be connected to the main terminal by dual pedestrian bridges spanning an active taxiway, allowing customers and aircraft to move about seamlessly. The project includes a new 840,000-square-foot main terminal with soaring ceilings and corridors filled with natural light.

Luxury Travel Advisor’s ULTRA Summit

Also this week, American announced plans to introduce its premium A321T aircraft to transcontinental service between Los Angeles and Boston as of April 2, 2019. The twice-daily service will offer passengers a three-class aircraft, with fully lie-flat seats, a chef curated menu, premium wines and amenity kits in Flagship First and Flagship Business class, as well as power at every seat, high-speed Wi-Fi and seatback entertainment in the Main Cabin. 

American also announced a plan to strengthen its partnership with China Southern Airlines by expanding codeshare cooperation and launching reciprocal frequent flyer benefits and lounge access. American will place its AA code on flights to a number of additional cities from Beijing and Shanghai, bringing its total to 20 cities in China beyond those two points of entry, while China Southern Airlines will place its CZ code on additional flights beyond Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York – JFK. 

In low-cost carrier news, this week Norwegian announced the launch of two more nonstop routes to Europe out of Boston Logan starting net summer, as well as a move of its existing London service from Fort Lauderdale to Miami and from Oakland to San Francisco. The airline will launch new, four times weekly service from Boston to Rome on March 31, 2019, and three times weekly service to Madrid on May 2, 2019. The move of the two London routes will take place starting March 31, 2019. 

Finally, in aircraft news, this week Cayman Airways took formal delivery of its new Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft, marking the first such aircraft in the Caribbean. As part of its fleet modernization plan, Cayman Airways is replacing its four 737-300 aircraft with the MAX 8, offering 30 percent more seating capacity while achieving up to 30 percent savings in fuel costs. 

Related Stories

Marriott: Starwood Hack Exposed Info of Up to 500M Guests Since 2014

UK, U.S. Sign Post-Brexit Open Skies Agreement

Taking the Kids — Aboard the Celebrity Edge

Cruise Planners’ Conference: Soaring Sales New Tools

Christmas went by at a dizzying pace as I am sure it did for most of you. We had a great day with our youngest son and his family, plus our daughter, my sister and her son, and a couple of other friends. One tradition was carried on – that is, The Blonde in the house’s famous biscuits. She baked them here and we took them down. Now half way across the country in Colorado our oldest son made them for his family. To top that our youngest grandson can make them too (although he didn’t need to since Grandma brought them). Thus the tradition is now into a third generation (actually fourth as my mother also made them). It is somewhat different now as it is the male side of the family who are carrying on.
One of the aspects of the Christmas Season is that it involves travel. There is a significant amount which involves the glorious airplane. Flying would be great if there weren’t airports and you could be picked up at your house. I would have to guess that is unfortunately sometime down the road. I thought of this several times when I went to pick up our daughter and found all the lanes south of I-4 on the Turnpike closed. On top of that I had just found a September 1997 issue of Time that we had been saving for some unknown reason. What intrigued me was that the issue contained a large four page ad from one of the biggest airlines in the U.S.
In reading this ad, I was informed that they were taking all kinds of steps to make flights more enjoyable. For example, they had hired a renowned chef who was creating a new menu in coach. In addition, in every class new seats were being redesigned for optimal comfort. Finally, their employees were being trained to help minimize the hassles of travel. Perhaps, someone out there can explain to me what has happened between 1997 and now. I suppose that it is possible that they are trying to work out the bugs and that someday in the future we will see the results of their fine work. On the other hand they may be blaming the problems on this administration or the one before – or both!
Now all is not problem ridden in this world. For example, Husbands United (a secret society) just had an exemplary year. We had a year-end social (still secret of course) wherein we discussed and applauded our many successes. It is a difficult and sometime dangerous operation that has been guided by Husbands United. However, the benefit to mankind makes it all worthwhile. As is tradition we do not practice business at the year-end social with one exception. We hold a lottery and the winner can bring in one sorely besot husband and we will solve his problem for him. This year husband’s problem was an easily solvable one. When we removed the applicant’s blindfold (it’s a secret meeting), he explained in a halting voice that his member of the opposite sex was displeased with him because he had bought her an Instant Pot as a Christmas gift. She said that not only did she expect something more, but it was also an insult to her cooking powers.
Normally, the problem and the solution cannot be made public until the statute of limitations expire. This can have varying expiration dates depending mostly on how long the opposite sex person decides to recall the offense even after the solution. In this case, everything meshed completely and all is happy and loving in the threatened household mention above. What we simply told him was that he should head straight to a jewelry store, pick out something very nice, head home and bury it in the bottom of the Instant Pot. Then he should tell her that he was just “funning” and that she should look in the bottom of the Instant Pot. All is now well!
Ah, if all the problems of the world could be so easily corrected. But then there is only one Husbands United (a secret society)!

Barry Evans writes about Life in The Villages for Villages-News.com

COMMENTS DISCLAIMER
We encourage users to issue comments that are well-informed and are relevant to the article in question. To be approved for publication, comments should be civil and avoid name-calling, personal attacks, obscenity, vulgarity, profanity, commercial promotion, or CAPS LOCK. Any comments that fail to meet our criteria may be removed. Villages-News.com reserves the right and has sole discretion in removal of any and all comments that fail to meet our criteria. Read our complete terms of service by clicking here.

Holiday travel headaches continue for travelers at select airports across the country.

Cancellations and flight delays aren’t as severe or widespread as they were in the days before Christmas but trouble spots remain due to weather.

Flight tracker FlightAware says 307 U.S. flights have been canceled and an additional 863 have been delayed.

Travelers headed to, through or from Dallas will be affected the most. American Airlines and Southwest Airlines have major operations in Dallas. 

Dallas was hit with severe storms on Wednesday, with the weather bad enough to force the cancellation of a college bowl game, and airlines are still playing catch up.

Airlines have canceled 104 flights and delayed an additional 41 to and from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport Friday, according to FlightAware. American, which has a huge hub at the airport, accounts for most of the cancellations and delays.

American had 85 flights diverted late Wednesday and early Thursday due to the weather. Flights to and from the airport were close from 3 p.m. Wednesday until early Thursday morning, according to American spokesman Ross Feinstein.

He said the airline’s operations in Dallas should return to normal Friday afternoon.  

 At smaller Dallas Love Field, home to Southwest Airlines, three flights to and from the airport have been canceled. 

At Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, home to another American Airlines hub, 28 flights have been canceled and an additional 22 are delayed, according to FlightAware.

Atlanta and Charlotte are showing the most delays.

More: Holiday travel: 6 things to know if you haven’t flown in a year

Airlines waive fees ahead of winter storm

The holiday travel rush continues through Sunday, Jan. 6.

Following a decrease in the amount of spending on airport infrastructure between 2013-2017, Simple Flying has learnt that fares could increase. Reports suggest that over the next 5 years, US airports will spend some $100bn on infrastructure over the next 5 years. Of course, these costs would likely be passed down to the passenger through increased airfares. This would follow the airport handing to costs down to to the airlines.

What Is Infrastructure Spending?

Infrastructure spending involves a range of spending on the usability of the airport. Examples could include resurfacing ramps, building new terminals, or even buying snowploughs. Each enables the airport to operate. An example of a recent large infrastructure project in the US is the refurbishment of the Tom Bradley International Terminal at Los Angeles International (LAX).

Why Is Spending Needed?

There are two main reasons why it is necessary to spend on infrastructure. The first is that nothing lasts forever. A great example of this point is the new Berlin airport. Built to open in 2012, the airport has become a rather large white Elephant. While a year ago Reuters reported that the airport will finally open in 2020, it has yet to be seen if this will actually happen. As all of the screens were installed into the airport ready for the 2012 opening, they have already reached the end of their useful life. Despite never being used, it was necessary to replace them. Now imagine how their life would be even shorter with daily use.

The second reason for infrastructure spending is the handle the ever-growing number of passengers travelling. In 2008, Heathrow airport opened its 5th Terminal to further increase its capacity, while Istanbul is getting ready to open a brand new airport in March 2019.

How Do The Costs affect Me?

As the passenger, you will be the end user paying a large cut of the additional spending. Each carrier will pay a certain infrastructure fee when using an airport. As the airline makes their money from selling tickets, if the cost of operating the flight goes up, the ticket cost will go up. A report by Cowen analysts estimates that the fee paid to airports for each passenger will increase by 19% by 2020.

Seeking Alpha suggests that 4% of the total costs for ultra-low-cost carriers amounts to airport fees. As such, they are the most likely to have to raise ticket prices, as they have the lowest operating margins. Additionally, only 63% of the $100bn infrastructure fees will be spent on expanding airport capacity.

Are you prepared to pay more to use airports? Let us know in the comments down below!

Holiday travel headaches continue for travelers at select airports across the country.

Cancellations and flight delays aren’t as severe or widespread as they were in the days before Christmas but trouble spots remain due to weather.

Flight tracker FlightAware says 307 U.S. flights have been canceled and an additional 863 have been delayed.

Travelers headed to, through or from Dallas will be affected the most. American Airlines and Southwest Airlines have major operations in Dallas. 

Dallas was hit with severe storms on Wednesday, with the weather bad enough to force the cancellation of a college bowl game, and airlines are still playing catch up.

Airlines have canceled 104 flights and delayed an additional 41 to and from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport Friday, according to FlightAware. American, which has a huge hub at the airport, accounts for most of the cancellations and delays.

American had 85 flights diverted late Wednesday and early Thursday due to the weather. Flights to and from the airport were close from 3 p.m. Wednesday until early Thursday morning, according to American spokesman Ross Feinstein.

He said the airline’s operations in Dallas should return to normal Friday afternoon.  

 At smaller Dallas Love Field, home to Southwest Airlines, three flights to and from the airport have been canceled. 

At Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, home to another American Airlines hub, 28 flights have been canceled and an additional 22 are delayed, according to FlightAware.

Atlanta and Charlotte are showing the most delays.

More: Holiday travel: 6 things to know if you haven’t flown in a year

Airlines waive fees ahead of winter storm

The holiday travel rush continues through Sunday, Jan. 6.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Holiday air travel woes: Cancellations, delays continue in Dallas