Nigel Mayes is the senior vice president, consulting & product development at ASM. Nigel has more than 15 years’ experience in route development and is responsible for product development at ASM.
The sister company to Routes, ASM is the world‘s leading route development consultancy and has supported the creation of new air services since 1993.
Route 1: Da Lat – Seoul Incheon
Data
|
Carrier |
 |
|
Aircraft |
Airbus A320 |
|
Frequency |
Four-weekly |
|
Start date |
15 January 2020 |
|
Distance |
3,378 km |
|
O&D traffic demand (2018) |
6,773 |
|
Growth % YOY |
53.0% |
|
Average one-way fare $ (2018) |
$426.33 |
Insight
Low-cost carrier VietJet is further expanding service to Seoul during the winter season as part of celebrations to commemorate 30 years of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and South Korea relations.
The airline will open a four-weekly route between Da Lat and Seoul Incheon from 15 January 2020 on board Airbus A320 aircraft, in addition to three weekly Can Tho – Seoul flights launching a day later. In addition, VietJet’s existing Phu Quoc – Seoul Incheon service will increase from one to two daily. With 11 direct services, VietJet will fly the most routes between South Korea and Vietnam.
Tourism between Vietnam and South Korea has risen strongly after Vietnam introduced a visa waiver programme for South Korean passport holders in 2015. The country is now the second most popular international tourist destination for South Koreans after China.
In 2018, the number of visitors from South Korea to Vietnam climbed to 3.49 million, an increase of 44.3 percent compared with 2017. The figure reached 3.14 million in the first nine months of 2019 and is expected to top 4.2 million this year. The number of Vietnamese visiting to South Korea is also growing. There were about 450,000 visitors last year, up by 40 percent on the previous 12 months.
Route 2: Paris CDG – Monrovia
Data
| Carrier |  |
| Aircraft | Airbus A330-300 |
| Frequency | Up to five weekly |
| End date | 20 April 2020 |
| Distance | 4,909 km |
| O&D traffic demand (2018) | 1,310 |
| Growth % YOY | 7.4% |
| Average one-way fare $ (2018) | $1,212 |
Insight
Air France is resuming service to Monrovia in Liberia from April 2020 after a near six-year hiatus. The airline will fly a Paris CDG – Bamako – Monrovia – Paris CDG routing two times per week from 20 April, increasing to three weekly from 15 June to 20 September. A twice-weekly Paris CDG – Monrovia – Bamako – Paris CDG routing is effective from 22 April.
The flights to Monrovia will be operated by Airbus A330-300 with a capacity of 224 seats, 36 in business, 21 in premium economy and 167 in economy. As a result of the route launches, service to Bamako, the capital of Mali, will increase to up to 12 weekly, representing a 63 percent increase in capacity compared with last year.
Air France scrapped its flight to Liberia in June 2014 after struggling to turn a profit and issues with the runway at the Roberts International Airport. However, the planned resumption provides Monrovia with a second non-stop link to Europe in addition to Brussels Airlines’ five weekly flights to Brussels Airport.
Route 3: Frankfurt – Edmonton
Data
|
Carrier |
 |
|
Aircraft |
Boeing 767-300ER |
|
Frequency |
Two-weekly |
|
End date |
1 June 2020 |
|
Distance |
7,313 km |
|
O&D traffic demand (2018) |
8,463 |
|
Growth % YOY |
-10.9% |
|
Average one-way fare $ (2018) |
$588.40 |
Insight
German leisure airline Condor will be flying non-stop from Frankfurt to Edmonton in Canada for the first time as of June 2020. Flights to the capital of the Canadian province of Alberta will operate on Monday and Thursday. The addition of Edmonton means the carrier will operate to six destinations in Canada. It currently flies to Calgary, Toronto, Vancouver and Whitehorse from Frankfurt and Halifax from Frankfurt and Munich. Edmonton is one of the northernmost cities in the world and is considered the gateway to the Rocky Mountains due to its geographical location.
In addition, long-haul destinations from Munich will be on the flight schedule again in summer 2020, with a Boeing 767 stationed in Munich as of May 2020. The airline will fly from the Bavarian state capital to Cancun in Mexico on Mondays, to Halifax in Canada on Fridays, to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic on Wednesdays and to Seattle in the US on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
Source: Sabre Market Intelligence
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