US Airways plans Washington-Alabama, Phoenix-Tokyo, Phoenix-Honolulu, Phoenix-Sao Paulo flights

The United States-based US Airways is on an expansion spree and has announced a number of new domestic and international flights. The airline is launching a non-stop service between Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Washington, D.C., and Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport in Alabama.

The Washington-Alabama service, according to US Airways, is awaiting approval of a slot transaction with the United States-based Delta Air Lines.

In a statement, US Airways, based in Tempe, Arizona, the United States, said it will launch the first non-stop flight between Phoenix in Arizona, the United States, and Asia – with a service from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport and Tokyo in 2012.

(At present, Phoenix has a non-stop service to Europe – a flight by British Airways to London).

US Airways – which operates most of its international flights from its hub at Philadelphia International Airport – said it is considering launching services between
Phoenix and Honolulu (Hawaii) and between Phoenix and Sao Paulo in Brazil.

(It had announced 6 months ago that it will start direct flights from Charlotte in
North Carolina to Rio de Janeiro in Brazil).

The airline said it hopes to commence flights to Sao Paulo by late 2010, and the service to Honolulu will begin on December 17, 2009.

The other cities included in the ambitious extension plans of US Airways are: Islip and Ithaca (New York); Little Rock (Arkansas); Myrtle Beach (South Carolina);

Tallahassee, Pensacola, and Miami (Florida); Savannah (Georgia); Cincinnati (Ohio); Des Moines (Iowa); Grand Rapids (Michigan); Madison (Wisconsin); as well as Montreal and Ottawa in Canada.

Flight schedules and pricing for the new flights are not yet available, but US Airways said it will post the information soon on its website usairways.com

The new routes, according to US Airways, is a part of the airline’s efforts to expand service to Washington from 15 cities as well as enhance its “average peak-day departure count” at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport to 229 by the middle of 2010.

Commenting on the proposed services, Scott Kirby, president of US Airways, said in the statement that passengers would like non-stop flights with “easy, direct

access to the heart of the US capital” and that the company is “pleased to expand the choices that passengers will have to and from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.”

At present, US Airways operates a total of 3,200 flights a day to over 200 destinations in North America, South America, and Europe.