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SAS is opening service to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport for the first time in 15 years from May 2025.
Scandinavian Airlines, Vietnam Airlines and United Airlines are each entering unserved markets during the summer 2025 season as they expand their international networks.
COPENHAGEN-SEATTLE
Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) is continuing its network realignment following its entry into the SkyTeam alliance, with plans to resume service to Seattle, a key hub for partner Delta Air Lines.
Beginning May 21, 2025, SAS will offer five round-trip flights per week between Copenhagen Airport (CPH) and Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA), marking the carrier’s return to the Washington state airport after more than 15 years.
The resumption comes as SAS completes its restructuring, which has included leaving Star Alliance and joining SkyTeam in September. The move aligns with a new investment from Air France-KLM, which now holds a 19.9% stake in SAS, and the airline’s new codeshare agreement with Delta.
With the new service, Seattle becomes the 10th North American destination served by SAS and the second connection to the Nordic region, alongside Finnair’s seasonal service from Helsinki.
Washington state is home to approximately 740,000 Scandinavian Americans. The route will also provide one-stop connections via Copenhagen to 39 European cities, including Berlin, Helsinki, Milan, and Zurich.
Additionally, SAS will benefit from Delta’s extensive network at SEA, which is Delta’s primary West Coast hub. According to OAG data, SEA ranks as the eighth-largest airport in Delta’s system by capacity.
This expansion follows SAS’s recent launch of flights to Delta’s Atlanta hub, while Delta will start service between Minneapolis and Copenhagen in May 2025.
HANOI-MILAN MALPENSA
Vietnam Airlines will become the sole carrier to offer nonstop service between Vietnam and Italy from next summer, with a new route connecting Hanoi’s Noi Bai International Airport (HAN) and Milan Malpensa Airport (MXP).
Starting July 1, 2025, the service will operate three times a week—on Tuesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays—using Boeing 787. This addition will bring the airline’s European network to nine destinations.
The carrier is currently the sole provider of nonstop flights between Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and European cities such as Frankfurt, London and Paris. Munich joined its network in October, further expanding its European presence. Plans are also underway to introduce a Ho Chi Minh City–Milan route after 2025.
Vietnam and Italy established diplomatic relations in 1973 and upgraded to a strategic partnership in 2013. Vietnam is Italy’s largest trading partner in ASEAN, while Italy ranks as Vietnam’s fourth-largest trading partner in the European Union.
As well as encouraging further bilateral trade, it is hoped that the new route will stimulate additional tourism. In 2023, Vietnam welcomed 81,000 Italian tourists, nearly reaching pre-COVID levels, with a 32% increase in Italian visitors in early 2024 compared to the same period in 2019.
Meanwhile, Milan recorded 37,800 passengers traveling from the city to Vietnam in 2023—a 1.4% increase from 2019. The figure rose by 24% in the first quarter of 2024, according to data provided by Vietnam Airlines.
NEW YORK NEWARK-NUUK
United Airlines’ summer 2025 schedule will feature several destinations not served by any other US carriers, including flights to Greenland’s capital Nuuk.
The Chicago-based airline will introduce nonstop service between its New York Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) hub and Nuuk Airport (GOH) from June 15, 2025, operating twice a week using Boeing 737 MAX-8s. It will become the sole nonstop connection between the US and Greenland, the world’s largest island.
Until now, most international flights to Greenland have arrived in Kangerlussuaq, with passengers taking connecting flights to Nuuk. Cruise passengers have typically traveled from Reykjavik or Canada’s Arctic regions to reach Greenland.
However, Kalaallit Airports, set up by the country’s government in 2016, is behind the redevelopment of three airports in Greenland set to open by 2026. It hopes to increase inbound tourism, as well as improving business links and international accessibility for citizens of Greenland.
A new terminal building opened at Nuuk earlier this summer, with a new runway becoming operational in late November. The new runway is 2,200 m (6,560 ft.) in length and 45 m (147 ft.) wide, allowing for direct flights to and from North America and Europe.
Alongside the redevelopment of Nuuk, airport projects are progressing in the tourism center of Ilulissat and Qaqortoq, a town in southern Greenland set within a system of fjords.
The addition of United’s new service will increase the number of countries served nonstop from Greenland to four. According to OAG data, there will be service during summer 2025 to Billund and Copenhagen, Denmark; Iqaluit, Canada; and Reykjavik, Iceland; alongside the new New York flights.
Although O&D traffic between the US and Greenland was just 1,858 two-way passengers in 2023, United hopes the addition of nonstop flights will stimulate demand.
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