The latest airline route news, featuring network changes, schedule alterations, codeshares and interline agreements.
April 12
Chinese carrier Hainan Airlines will resume a 3X-weekly service to Prague Airport from Beijing Capital International Airport from June 24. Airbus A330 aircraft will be deployed on the sector. The airline last served the sector until February 2020 at the onset of the pandemic. Prague Airport Chairman Jiří Pos says: “While in 2019, a record number of more than 600,000 tourists from China arrived in the Czech Republic, in last year it was only 90,000. I firmly believe that the just-renewed direct line to Beijing will be the right stimulus for the further development of inbound tourism from China.”
Flair Airlines is adding a new international route between Toronto Pearson International Airport and Guadalajara, Mexico. Flights will be 3X-weekly from Sep. 13. “Our alliance with Flair and this route announcement connecting Guadalajara with Toronto, one of Canada’s most important cities, reflects our commitment to expansion in the Canadian market,” Guadalajara International Airport Director Martín Zazueta Chávez says.
American Airlines is launching two new routes from Provo Airport, Utah. From Oct. 7, service to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport will be 2X-daily, while Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport will be served once a day.
Delta Air Lines has inaugurated a new transatlantic route linking New York John F. Kennedy International Airport and Munich Airport (MUC), Germany. Service operates three times per week on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays using Boeing 767-300/400 aircraft. “This means that three airlines are now taking off from Munich Airport with a total of 24 weekly departures to two New York airports—JFK and Newark,” MUC CEO Jost Lammers says.
Canada’s Porter Airlines has launched service between Vancouver International Airport (YVR) and Montréal Trudeau International Airport (YUL). The route marks Porter’s first Western Canada destination from Montréal. Flights will be daily using 132-seat Embraer E195-E2 aircraft.
Indian startup FLY91 is adding Agatti and Jalgaon to its domestic network. The regional carrier will commence operations from Goa to Agatti and Jalgaon on April 18, as well as flying between Hyderabad and Jalgaon. Goa-Agatti will be served 4X-weekly, while the two Jalgaon routes will each receive three flights per week. FLY91 has a fleet of two ATR 72-600s.
April 11
China Southern Airlines has confirmed that it will add flights to Budapest Airport (BUD) this summer. Service from Guangzhou will start on June 27, operating four times per week using Boeing 787-8s. “This announcement introduces our fifth Chinese destination for passenger flights, and we are confident that our new partnership with China Southern Airlines will contribute to strengthening ties between our two regions,” BUD CCO Balázs Bogáts says. According to OAG Schedules Analyser data, Budapest has nonstop links to Beijing Capital and Chongqing with Air China and flights to Ningbo and Shanghai Pudong with Shanghai Airlines. The Hungarian airport says there will be almost 250,000 two-way available seats on routes to and from China during the summer 2024 season, marking a record for BUD.
Sun Country Airlines has inaugurated a route connecting Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport and Washington Dulles International Airport. Flights will initially be offered three times per week, doubling to 6X-weekly during the peak summer season. Frequencies will then reduce to 4X-weekly. “With this new option, Sun Country becomes the 42nd airline at Dulles,” says Richard Golinowski, Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority vice president and Dulles airport manager. “The airport served more than 25 million passengers in 2023 and became the fastest growing international gateway in the U.S.”
Iraqi Airways plans to launch a new service to mainland China in May. The airline plans to operate a Baghdad-Basrah-Beijing Daxing route, flying twice a week from May 4. Boeing 787 aircraft will be deployed on the service. OAG Schedules Analyser data shows Iraq Airways last served Beijing in November 2016, flying to Beijing Capital.
Aer Lingus is adding extra flights to its winter 2024-25 schedule from Manchester Airport (MAN). The carrier will increase service to Orlando to 4X-weekly, up from 3X-weekly, during the peak winter period from Dec. 18 through Jan. 8, 2025. Aer Lingus will offer direct flights from MAN to Barbados, New York and Orlando this winter, in addition to flights to Belfast City and Dublin.
April 10
Finnair is launching a new route to northern Norway during the summer 2025 season. The carrier will fly to Kirkenes, located 400 mi. north of the Arctic Circle, from Helsinki via Ivalo, Finland, three times a week. Service starts on April 1, 2025, using a 68-seater ATR aircraft. The Oneworld alliance member also plans to add frequencies to Tokyo Narita and Nagoya, Japan, during summer 2025. Operations to Narita will rise to daily, while Nagoya becomes 3X-weekly. In the Baltics, Finnair will add frequencies to Tallinn, Estonia; Riga, Latvia; and Vilnius, Lithuania, for the summer of 2025. Tallinn and Riga will get five and Vilnius two additional weekly frequencies. Additionally, the carrier has also updated its winter 2024-25 traffic program, adding flights to Dallas, making it a year-round daily service.
Beginning June 20, WestJet will operate a new nonstop domestic service between Fredericton and Calgary, bolstering connectivity between Atlantic Canada and WestJet’s global hub at Calgary International Airport (YYC). The seasonal route will operate twice a week through Oct. 28. “The connections between family and friends in the two provinces are historically very strong, and this new route will be great for those wanting to plan a visit to New Brunswick's capital city this summer,” says David Seabrook, Fredericton Capital Region director of tourism.
EasyJet will restart a route between Budapest Airport (BUD) and Lyon-Saint Exupéry Airport (LYS) from Aug. 21 after a hiatus of more than four years. The year-round service will be operated 2X-weekly. The LCC previously served the BUD-LYS sector until March 2020 at the onset of the pandemic. BUD estimates that about 180,000 French tourists visited Budapest in 2019, growing to 193,000 last year. “In 2023, even without a direct route, there were 22,000 two-way transfer passengers traveling from LYS to BUD, making it one of BUD’s largest indirect city-pairs in Europe,” says Máté Ritter, BUD head of airline development.
Air Arabia Maroc plans to launch seasonal 2X-weekly service between Oujda, Morocco, and Brussels South Charleroi Airport (CRL). Flights will be operated from June 21 through Sept. 13 using Airbus A320 aircraft. “The arrival of this new airline contributes to the diversity of options and services available from our airport,” CRL CEO Philippe Verdonck says. The LCC will compete on the sector with Ryanair.
April 9
Qatar Airways is adding a new point in Africa with flights to Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo. The airline will open a 4X-weekly Doha-Kinshasa-Luanda-Doha service from June 1 using Boeing 787-8 aircraft. The airline currently offers a 1X-weekly Doha-Luanda route. “The inclusion of Kinshasa in our network is the latest manifestation of our efforts to improve connectivity to Africa," Qatar Airways CCO Thierry Antinori says.
Canada’s WestJet plans to introduce a new year-round domestic route between Winnipeg and Montréal, as well as increasing Winnipeg-Ottawa service. From June 3, daily flights will launch connecting Winnipeg Richardson International Airport (YWG) and Montréal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport, while YWG-Ottawa McDonald-Cartier International Airport frequencies will rise to daily. Additionally, WestJet plans to open a seasonal service between YWG and Nashville International Airport, in Tennessee, from Sep. 16. The route becomes the airline’s seventh transborder connection out of YWG and will be served twice a week through Nov. 15.
AirAsia X has announced the resumption of service between Kuala Lumpur and Changsha, China. Flights will restart on July 5, operating four times per week. “China has always been one of our most popular markets and continues to be amongst our fastest-growing markets,” AirAsia X CEO Benyamin Ismail says. “In 2019, we carried over 140,000 guests to/from Changsha, highlighting the robust demand for our services. Now with strong pent-up demand, we are fully dedicated to propelling the industry forward to achieve the government's international tourist arrival target of 27 million this year.” Changsha becomes the LCC’s sixth destination in China.
Uzbekistan Airways has launched a Tashkent-London Gatwick Airport (LGW) route in addition to its existing 2X-weekly London Heathrow Airport service. Operations to LGW will be weekly using Airbus A320neo equipment.
Saudi Arabia's General Authority of Civil Aviation has authorized China Southern Airlines to commence regular passenger and cargo services between China and Saudi Arabia. The move paves the way for the carrier to launch its first passenger flights to the country. As previously reported, flights from Beijing Capital International Airport to Riyadh will begin on April 16, operating twice a week. The carrier also intends to open routes to Riyadh from Guangzhou and Shenzhen.
Spanish carrier Iberia is launching a new Austrian route during the winter 2024-25 season. Madrid-Salzberg will be served twice a week from Nov. 30 through March 2025.
April 8
Etihad Airways is increasing the number of points served in Saudi Arabia to four with the addition of flights to Al Qassim. Starting on June 24, service from Abu Dhabi’s Zayed International Airport and Al Qassim’s Prince Naif Bin Abdulaziz International Airport will be offered four times per week on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Additionally, the airline plans to grow frequencies to on five routes from June 15. Three additional weekly services will be provided to Amman, Jordan; Cairo; Colombo, Sri Lanka; Karachi, Pakistan; and Thiruvananthapuram, India. The latest expansion contributes to an overall 33% increase in Etihad’s total weekly flights, growing from 642 last summer to 855 in 2024.
Vietnamese LCC VietJet is growing its network in China. The airline plans to add flights between Ho Chi Minh City and Xi’an from April 29, operating four times per week. The move follows the launch of new flights to Shanghai and Chengdu earlier this year.
Italy’s ITA Airways has opened a route from Rome Fiumicino International Airport to Chicago O’Hare International Airport. Service will initially operate 6X-weekly using Airbus A330neo aircraft, rising to daily in June. “This new destination, the seventh in North America, further enriches the intercontinental network of ITA Airways and consolidates our expansion toward the U.S., which is the first international market for our company,” ITA CCO Emiliana Limosani says.
Indian LCC IndiGo has announced three new domestic routes between Kozhikode-Kochi, Kochi-Agatti and Kozhikode-Agatti via Kochi, starting from May 1. Each will be offered daily. IndiGo recently started daily direct flights between Bengaluru and Agatti, the 88th domestic and 121st overall destination in the airline’s network.
Pegasus has launched a new route connecting Türkiye and Portugal with service between Ankara Esenboğa Airport and Lisbon’s Humberto Delgado Airport. The flights, which will operate 3X-weekly, mark the LCC’s entry to the Portuguese market.
SWISS has commenced daily operations between Zurich and Washington Dulles International Airport. Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority’s vice president for airline business development, Paul Bobson, says the service will generate more than $50 million in local economic impact each year. Washington becomes the carrier’s eighth U.S. gateway.
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