US Airways adds Norway, England flights

Despite the economic slowdown, US Airways Group Inc. today announced two new international flights from Philadelphia starting next spring.

The region's dominant airline will offer seasonal nonstop daily service to Oslo, Norway, and Birmingham, England, from Philadelphia International Airport starting in May and ending Sept. 30.

Oslo will be US Airways' second Scandinavian destination from Philadelphia. The other is Stockholm, Sweden. Birmingham becomes its fifth U.K. destination from here.

The new routes are subject to approval by foreign government, US Airways said. The carrier, based in Tempe, Ariz., transports two-thirds of passengers that go through the Philadelphia airport.

Suzanne Boda, US Airways senior vice president for East Coast, international and cargo operations, was at the airport today along with Philadelphia aviation director Charles Isdell, to detail the new flights.

Boda said that Oslo and Birmingham were among Europe's 50 largest airports and that the carrier believed Oslo would be a popular destination for business and leisure travel, while Birmingham was a large business hub in the United Kingdom.

In August, US Airways announced that service to Tel Aviv, Israel, would begin in July. The 5,700-mile route will be the longest nonstop segment in the US Airways network.

The airline in March began service to London's Heathrow Airport.

The first Birmingham flight will take off at 6:05 p.m. May 12. The first Philadelphia-to-Oslo flight will depart at 8:35 p.m. May 21.

The carrier will use Boeing 757 ETOPS aircraft, which have 12 "envoy," or business-class seats, and 164 seats in the main cabin. Customers can begin booking the two new flights Saturday.

US Airways will fly to 23 transatlantic destinations from Philadelphia next summer.

Pounded by high fuel prices, US Airways in May postponed a new Philadelphia-to-Beijing route until 2010. Crude oil, which peaked at $147 a barrel in July, has since fallen to less than $70 a barrel.

Boda said US Airways was looking at adding nonstop service to such cities as Istanbul, Moscow, Bogota, Tokyo, and a destination still to be determined in India.

"We don't want to stop here," she said. "We want to add two to three international destinations every year for the next few years."

The carrier is getting 15 new long-haul, wide-body aircraft by 2011, "which bodes well for Philadelphia's international service," Boda said, "and we'd like to begin more service to Europe, the Middle East and Asia in the coming years."

Shares of US Airways, which is scheduled to release third-quarter earnings tomorrow, closed up 66 cents, or 8.43 percent, at $8.49.