Canada-U.S. Routes Heat Up

• The U.S.-Canada market is heating up this summer. First, Air Canada and United‘s planned joint venture on transborder routes has been approved by regulators, allowing the two airlines to coordinate schedules, fares, and other commercial activities in the market. This has them planning more than 260 daily U.S.-Canada departures this summer, including at least two new routes to United’s Washington Dulles hub: Calgary daily operated by United, and Vancouver five-times weekly operated by Air Canada. Both routes begin in June and operate through the summer. But the airline’s are not only adding new routes, they are defending their turf: The Washington-Calgary route announcement comes a week after WestJet said it would add the market this summer. WestJet has a partnership with Delta, though the two do not have the antitrust immunity for a joint venture and can only codeshare on transborder routes.
  
• U.S. discounters Allegiant Air and Avelo Airlines added more lines to their maps last week. Allegiant announced eight new routes, including Denver to Allentown, Pa.; Portland, Ore., to Appleton, Wisc.; Austin to Omaha; Phoenix to Asheville; Myrtle Beach to Akron-Canton; Las Vegas to Lexington, Ky.; Chicago Midway to Provo, Utah; and Los Angeles to Sioux Falls, S.D. All of the routes will operate just two days per week. And Avelo will add Brownsville, Texas, Charlottesville, Va., and Colorado Springs to its map from May. The startup will connect Brownsville and Colorado Springs with its Burbank base; and Brownsville and Charlottesville with its Orlando base.
  
• Route tidbits: JAL subsidiary Zipair will launch new service between Tokyo Narita and San Francisco, its fourth U.S. destination, with a Boeing 787 this summer. ANA, JAL, and United all serve the Tokyo-San Francisco route, per Diio. American will add two new routes to its map this summer: daily Chicago O’Hare to Columbia, S.C., flights begin July 5, and weekly seasonal Austin to Pensacola flights begin July 2. Easy come, easy go for Delta, the carrier will end its nonstop between New York LaGuardia and Washington Dulles on May 25 — just seven months after launching the route — per Diio.

— Jay Shabat & Edward Russell