All Nippon Airways (ANA) is adding the second of three new European routes this month with the launch of flights to Stockholm, Sweden.
The airline will begin a 3X-weekly service between Tokyo’s Haneda Airport and Stockholm Arlanda Airport on Jan. 31, using Boeing 787-8 aircraft. The new route follows the debut of service to Milan Malpensa Airport in December. Flights to Istanbul are set to start in February.
Stockholm marks a new point in the Star Alliance member’s network and is being opened despite Scandinavian Airlines’ (SAS) recent switch from Star to SkyTeam.
However, Japan is Sweden’s second-largest trading partner in Asia, with close to 150 Swedish companies operating in Japan. Sweden in turn is the largest Nordic export market for Japan, and roughly 180 Japanese companies have operations in Sweden.
Air Serbia is also opening a new Europe-Asia connection in January, commencing flights between Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport and Shanghai Pudong International Airport. Operations will start on Jan. 11 with two flights per week aboard Airbus A330-200 aircraft.
The move comes less than four months after the carrier opened a route to Guangzhou, located in China’s Guangdong province. However, Air Serbia suspended flights to Tianjin in November—almost two years after first introducing the route.
Other notable new routes launching in January 2025 include Delta Air Lines’ service between Boston Logan International Airport and São Paulo Guarulhos International Airport in Brazil, set to begin on Jan. 6, and JetBlue Airways’ inaugural flights from Manchester-Boston Regional Airport in New Hampshire.
Qatar Airways has also resumed flying to Abha International Airport, Saudi Arabia, from Jan. 2, taking the number of destinations served in the country to 11. Flights from Doha’s Hamad International Airport will be twice a week.
Additionally, Italy’s ITA Airways is relaunching flights to Libya later this month, commencing flights from Rome Fiumicino Airport to Tripoli’s Mitiga International Airport (MJI) from Jan. 12. Service will be twice a week using A319s.
The airline’s planned entry into the market comes despite a Conflict Zone Information Bulletin issued by EASA on Oct. 31, which remains in effect until April 2025. The advisory urges airlines to avoid Libyan airspace at all altitudes and flight levels due to the “high risk” of intentional or unintentional attacks on civil aviation.
Exceptions are allowed for flights to coastal airports under specific conditions: approaches must be made from the sea, operations must be closely coordinated with local authorities and air traffic control, and a comprehensive risk assessment must be completed.
MJI’s coastal location will enable ITA Airways to approach via the Mediterranean Sea, while the airline says it has worked in close collaboration with the Italian and Libyan governments, as well as Italy’s Civil Aviation Authority, to make the route a reality.
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