Routes & Networks Latest: Rolling Daily Updates (W/C Dec. 9, 2024)

Aaron Karp December 13, 2024

zurich airport — Credit: Aleksandr Vorobev/Alamy Stock Photo

The latest airline route news, featuring network changes, schedule alterations, codeshares and interline agreements.

Dec. 13

Mexican ULCC Viva, recently rebranded from Viva Aerobus, opened service between Guadalajara International Airport and Oakland Airport (OAK) in northern California. The route will be operated daily with a mix of an Airbus A320 (configured to carry 186 passengers) and an A321 (with capacity for 240 passengers), according to OAK. Viva started serving OAK earlier this year when flights from Monterrey, Mexico, kicked off in July. That route saw frequencies upped from 2X-weekly to 3X-weekly on Nov. 1. OAK attempted to rebrand as San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport in May—publicly using the name for several months—-but a federal judge in November ordered the airport to stop using the new name while a trademark infringement lawsuit filed by the city of San Francisco plays out in court. The lawsuit alleges the name violates San Francisco International Airport’s name trademark. OAK, which had been Metropolitan Oakland International Airport until changing its name, is now publicly using the moniker “Oakland Airport.”

Zurich Airport (ZRH) handled 2.2 million passengers in the month of November, up 7% year-over-year. Transfer passengers made up 32% of the total. During the month, the airport handled 98% of the level passengers processed in November 2019. Average load factor for flights to and from ZRH in November was 77%. November’s cargo volume of 37,493 tons was up 9% year-over-year, but 4% below November 2019.

Houston Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) will open a new international arrivals curb for passenger pickups on Dec. 14. “Since January 2022, people have dealt with cramped, chaotic conditions at the temporary Terminal E pick-up zone on South Terminal Road,” IAH said, noting the temporary pickup zone was needed to allow for a $1.5 billion terminal renovation project. “The bane of our existence—the temporary Terminal E arrivals curb—will finally close on Dec. 14," Jim Szczesniak, director of aviation for Houston Airports, said in a statement. The new curb will have eight dedicated passenger pick-up lanes, IAH said.

Dec. 12

Air Seychelles will launch nonstop service between Seychelles International Airport (SEZ) and Abu Dhabi International Airport (AUH) from May 24, 2025. The route will be operated 6X-weekly with an Airbus A320neo aircraft. Etihad Airways said it has reached an agreement to add its code to the 6X-weekly SEZ-AUH flights, enabling Air Seychelles passengers to make connections at its AUH hub. “The flights will integrate seamlessly with Etihad’s global network, enhancing connectivity for passengers of both airlines,” Etihad CCO Arik De said. Air Seychelles CCO Charles Johnson added that the United Arab Emirates “remains a crucial inbound tourist market” and “conditions are now optimal” to serve Abu Dhabi nonstop.

LOT Polish Airlines will open service between Warsaw Chopin Airport and Reykjavik-Keflavik International Airport in Iceland from April 12, 2025. The year-round route will be operated 4X-weekly during the summer season, lowering to 3X-weekly during the winter. Flight duration is around 4 hr.

SAS Scandinavian Airlines said it will add two new routes from Copenhagen in its summer 2025 schedule: Bilbao, Spain, and Wroclaw, Poland.

Dec. 11

JetBlue Airways will operate its first route to Spain when it launches 2025 summer seasonal service between Boston Logan International Airport (BOS) and Madrid-Barajas Airport (MAD). The route will be flown daily from May 22 to Oct. 24, 2025. The airline will also add transatlantic service between BOS and Edinburgh Airport (EDI). The seasonal BOS-EDI route will be flown daily from May 23 to Oct. 25, 2025. Both routes will be operated with Airbus A321neo aircraft. EDI and MAD will bring to six the number of European destinations served by JetBlue from BOS in the 2025 summer. These include year-round, daily flights to both London Heathrow (LHR) and Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG) airports, as well as daily seasonal flights to Amsterdam Schiphol (AMS), Dublin (DUB) and London Gatwick airports. From New York JFK, JetBlue will offer summer 2025 service to AMS (daily), CDG (daily) and LHR (2X-daily), with all three routes served year-round. The carrier will also offer seasonal service next summer from JFK to DUB and EDI.

Alaska Air Group said Hawaiian Airlines will launch service between Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) and both Tokyo Narita Airport (NRT) and Seoul Incheon Airport (ICN) in 2025. Alaska Air Group completed its acquisition of Hawaiian in September, creating a merged airline with Alaska Airlines. Alaska, which does not operate any long-haul international service, is based in Seattle. Both the SEA-NRT and SEA-ICN routes will be flown daily with an Airbus A330-200 aircraft. Hawaiian and Alaska are maintaining separate brands even as they integrate their networks. The NRT service will begin May 12, 2025, while flights to ICN will commence in October 2025. Alaska Air Group said it now views SEA as a “gateway” airport and “plans to serve at least 12 nonstop global destinations with long-haul widebody aircraft from our Seattle gateway by 2030, with further specifics on where and when to be revealed later.”

Fiji Airways opened service between its Nadi International Airport (NAN) home base and Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (DFW). Flights will be operated 3X-weekly with an Airbus A350-900 aircraft. Flight time is around 13 hr. The A350-900 is configured with 334 seats, including 33 lie-flat seats. The airline will offer 1,002 weekly seats each way on the NAN-DFW route. DFW becomes the third U.S. airport served by Fiji Airways, which already flies to Honolulu, Los Angeles and San Francisco. The carrier additionally serves Vancouver in North America.

Etihad Airways deployed its first Airbus A320neo on the inaugural flight of a new route connecting Abu Dhabi with Chennai, India. The airline now operates 181 weekly flights from Abu Dhabi to 11 Indian cities. Arik De, Etihad’s chief revenue and commercial officer, recently told reporters that the United Arab Emirates has emerged “as the top aspiration destination for Indian travelers,” adding, “If you ask Indians today what’s their number one aspiration destination, they will tell you the UAE is number one on their list, by a far margin.”

Dec. 10

U.S. carrier Avelo Airlines will next year add five routes combined from Tweed-New Haven Airport (HVN) and Bradley International Airport (BDL), both located in Connecticut. All flights will be operated 2X-weekly with Boeing 737NG aircraft. From Feb. 14, 2025, the airline will commence service between HVN and Jacksonville, Florida. From Feb. 21, the carrier will start flights between BDL and Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, which will mark Avelo's third international route from BDL. It already serves Cancun, Mexico and Montego Bay, Jamaica, from the airport. From March 7, the Houston-based airline will start flights between HVN and Dallas-Fort Worth. Starting April 4, Avelo will open service between HVN and Detroit. From May 22, the carrier will start summer seasonal flights between HVN and Portland, Maine. “With the addition of these five new destinations, Avelo will ... operate 39 routes from Connecticut—31 routes from HVN and eight routes from BDL,” Avelo noted.

Brussels Airlines said it will offer 56 weekly flights between its Brussels Airport (BRU) hub and sub-Saharan Africa in its 2025 northern hemisphere summer season schedule, up 10% year-over-year. The focus is on adding capacity to existing routes. Starting June 2025, daily service will be offered to Accra, Ghana, and Nairobi, Kenya. Dakar, Senegal, and Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, will see nonstop flights. Those routes were only served with three-city, one-stop routes in summer 2024. Starting in March 2025, flights between BRU and Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, will be nonstop daily. The route currently is flown 5X-weekly nonstop and 2X-weekly as part of a three-airport route with a stop in Luanda, Angola. “A nonstop flight is not only more comfortable, it is also more sustainable and it reduces the chances of delays or other operational hiccups,” Brussels Airlines said, adding that, “Kinshasa is without a doubt our flagship route” to Africa.

Canada’s Porter Airlines opened 4X-weekly, year-round service between Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ) and San Diego, California. On Dec. 12, it will commence 3X-weekly winter seasonal flights between YYZ and Palm Springs, California. Both routes will be flown with Embraer 195-E2 aircraft. The new services bring to four the number of routes Porter operates to California from YYZ. It already flies to Los Angeles and San Francisco with E195-E2s from YYZ.

Dec. 9

Norwegian will open four new routes from Stockholm Arlanda Airport (ARN) starting May 2025. The airline will kick off 2X-weekly service between ARN and Bucharest, Romania, from May 1, 2025. Beginning June 4, Norwegian will start flights between ARN and Porto, Portugal, operating the route 2X-weekly. Also at that frequency, the carrier will launch service between ARN and Lyon, France, from June 13. That will be followed by 2X-weekly service between ARN and Bilbao, Spain, starting June 14.

Virgin Australia has added its code to a host of Air New Zealand routes operated across the Tasman. The codeshare routes connect Australian cities to three New Zealand airports: Auckland (AKL), Christchurch and Wellington. The codeshare includes Air New Zealand flights to all three points from Australian cities Adelaide, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Melbourne and Sydney. The Virgin Australia code will also be on Air New Zealand’s year-round flights between Perth and AKL. Three more codeshare routes include seasonal flights to AKL from Cairns, Hobart and Sunshine Coast.

Spanish carrier Vueling is operating a brief seasonal route between Bilbao, Spain, and Budapest. The service, being flown with a 180-seat Airbus A320, started Dec. 5 and will run through Jan. 1, 2025. The airline said it will operate six flights on the route over the four-week period. No other carrier operates between Bilbao and the Hungarian capital.

LOT Polish Airlines will introduce flights between Warsaw Chopin Airport and Thessaloniki, Greece, from June 17, 2025, flying the route daily. Service frequency will be reduced to 4X-weekly during the northern hemisphere winter season. Thessaloniki will become a new point in LOT”s network.