The latest airline route news, featuring network changes, schedule alterations, codeshares and interline agreements.
Jan. 17
Icelandair and Southwest Airlines have formalized a strategic partnership, enabling connections between their networks. Starting in February, customers can connect via Baltimore/Washington International, with Nashville and Denver to be added this summer. The agreement marks Southwest’s first airline partnership. “The partnership will open new and exciting connections for our customers onwards with Southwest to numerous destinations in North America, and at the same time, their customers will benefit from our extensive connections to Iceland and Europe,” Icelandair Chief Commercial Officer Tómas Ingason says.
Thai AirAsia X is suspending flights between Bangkok Don Mueang and Sydney from Feb. 18. The long-haul LCC, which only relaunched the route in December 2024, says the decision is “in accordance with the fleet management plan.” The airline currently operates the route six times per week.
Saudi Arabia’s Flynas has inaugurated flights between Riyadh and Entebbe, Uganda. The route will operate three times per week, further expanding the LCC’s reach in the African market. Currently operating 139 routes across 30 countries, flynas plans to expand to 165 destinations by 2030.
Starting Feb. 7, Allegiant Air will begin nonstop service from Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT) to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. This will mark the return of Allegiant to the Pittsburgh-Phoenix market, which it flew via Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport until 2022. The airline will operate the route seasonally on Mondays and Fridays through early May for spring break traffic. Additionally, PIT has confirmed that American Airlines will launch nonstop service to Los Angeles International Airport from April 4, operating the route for the first time since 2017.
Air Cairo is adding a new route to Italy from April 3, commencing flights between Sharm El Sheikh and Milan Bergamo Airport (BGY). The nonstop route will be served twice a week using Embraer E190 aircraft. “This new route not only enhances our connections to Egypt but also aligns with our commitment to providing passengers with diverse and convenient travel options,” says Giacomo Cattaneo, Director of Commercial Aviation at BGY airport operator SACBO.
Transavia France is opening two new routes to Algeria from its Marseille Airport (MRS) base. From July, the LCC will offer two flights per week to Annaba and one per week to Sétif. “Algeria is a market where we are seeing sustained demand,” says Nicolas Hénin, Deputy General Manager for Sales and Marketing for Transavia France. The airline has already announced four new routes from MRS during summer 2025 to Cairo, Egypt; Djerba, Tunisia; Larnaca, Cyprus; and Funchal, Madeira. The additions to Annaba and Sétif follow Volotea’s decision to suspend flights to the destinations from MRS.
Jan. 16
JetBlue has announced several route additions for summer 2025, including flights to five new destinations. From Boston Logan International Airport, the airline will launch new daily seasonal services to Islip, New York; Norfolk, Virginia; and Wilmington, North Carolina, starting April 30. Additionally, 3X-weekly service to Traverse City, Michigan, will begin on June 5, followed by daily operations to Halifax, Canada, from June 26. From New York John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), JetBlue will resume daily service to Washington National Airport on March 30. On April 30, the carrier will introduce daily flights from JFK to Detroit; Hartford, Connecticut; Pittsburgh; and Providence, Rhode Island. On the same day, the airline will also resume service between JFK and Burbank, California, on a seasonal basis. Additionally, flights from JFK to San Pedro Sula, Honduras, are scheduled to open on June 12, operating daily year-round.
IndiGo is launching a new route to Saudi Arabia. Flights connecting Hyderabad and Madinah will start on Feb. 20, operating three times per week. The new route marks IndiGo's 38th international destination and the 128th overall. “By commencing direct flights to Madinah, a major Islamic pilgrimage site, we aim to simplify travel within the region and beyond,” says IndiGo Head of Global Sales Vinay Malhotra. “With the launch of this flight, IndiGo will now operate over 100 weekly flights to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from India.”
Canadian airline WestJet has announced new seasonal service between Calgary and New York LaGuardia, complementing its existing year-round Calgary-New York John F. Kennedy flights. The route, launching May 24, will operate weekly through Aug. 30.
Turkish Airlines has resumed flights to Benghazi, Libya, after a hiatus of more than a decade. The route will be served three times per week on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, using a mix of Boeing 737-800 and 737-900 aircraft. “We foresee that the strong investments in the region will further boost the continent’s tourism and trade potential,” Turkish Airlines CEO Bilal Ekşi says.
Emirates is increasing service to Madagascar. The airline, which began flying to the island nation in September 2024, plans to increase frequencies from 4X to 6X-weekly, starting April 2. “Enhancing services will also strengthen the economic ties between Madagascar and the UAE, by supporting more inbound and outbound leisure and business travel to the island and bolstering trade lanes with additional cargo capacity,” says Essa Sulaiman Ahmad, Emirates’ senior vice president of commercial operations for West Asia and Indian Ocean.
Kazakhstan’s Air Astana has confirmed that service from Almaty to Cam Ranh International Airport, Vietnam, will start on March 30, operating four times per week. A route from Astana to the Vietnamese airport, which serves the coastal city of Nha Trang, will commence the following day with three flights per week. Both routes will be served using Airbus A321LR aircraft.
Caribbean Airlines has pushed the launch of a daily service between Montego Bay, Jamaica, and Fort Lauderdale from March 7 to March 11. The airline is also increasing frequencies on its existing route between Kingston, Jamaica, and Fort Lauderdale from 3X-weekly to daily from March 11. Both routes will be served using Boeing 737-8 aircraft. “These flights will offer connectivity between both the northern and southern points of Jamaica to South Florida—and are a direct response to customer feedback, highlighting Caribbean Airlines' dedication to putting its customers at the heart of its operations,” the carrier says in a statement.
Kenya Airways has resumed daily Boeing 787-8 flights between Nairobi and London Heathrow Airport. The airline had been operating six flights per week using Airbus A330-300s and one onboard 787-8 aircraft.
Jan. 15
Ryanair is set to expand its base at Pescara’s Abruzzo Airport, Italy, during the summer 2025 season. The ULCC will base a second aircraft at the airport and launch two new domestic routes to Cagliari and Milan Malpensa, alongside international services to Kaunas, Lithuania; Valencia, Spain; and Wroclaw, Poland. Overall, the summer schedule will represent growth of 30% compared with summer 2024.
Brazil’s GOL Linhas Aéreas has announced plans to launch two new routes, including an additional service to Argentina. From May 5, the carrier will add flights between Porto Alegre and Buenos Aires Aeroparque, operating three times per week using Boeing 737-8 aircraft. The following day, the airline will also start a domestic route in Brazil linking Rio de Janeiro Galeao and Caxias do Sul. This will be offered twice a week using 737-8s.
Eurowings is launching three new routes from Hannover Airport, Germany, during the summer 2025 season. Starting March 31, the LCC will add a 2X-weekly service to Erbil, Iraq. Weekly flights to Bastia, Corsica, begin on May 3, followed by a 3X-weekly route to Portugal’s capital Lisbon from June 6. Additionally, the Lufthansa subsidiary is introducing a weekly flight between Dusseldorf and Ponta Delgada in the Azores from May 10, while Stuttgart will see a new 4X-weekly route to Dublin commencing on March 31. From May 1, Eurowings will also add a connection between Cologne and Porto, operating three times per week.
Jan. 14
Air Serbia and China Southern Airlines have signed a codeshare agreement to enhance connectivity between Serbia and China. Air Serbia’s JU code will be added to China Southern’s Belgrade-Guangzhou flights, offering access to 20 destinations across Asia-Pacific, including Sydney, Bangkok, and Singapore. Meanwhile, China Southern has added its code to Air Serbia’s Belgrade-Guangzhou and newly launched Belgrade-Shanghai flights, enabling connections via Belgrade to 21 European cities, such as Berlin, Milan and Zurich. “We will continue to search for opportunities to strengthen and expand our cooperation, with the goal of offering our passengers new travel options and enabling them to reach far-away destinations quicker and easier,” Air Serbia CEO Jiří Marek says.
American Airlines plans to offer a weekly service between New York LaGuardia Airport and Calgary International Airport (YYC), Canada, from June 7. The route will be served through Aug. 30. YYC says the addition brings the total number of routes flown from the airport to 100. “This is a significant benchmark for YYC," says Chris Dinsdale, president and CEO of the Calgary Airport Authority. "We continue to build momentum for Calgary as a destination, and kicking off 2025 with 100 non-stop routes shows the confidence that our partners have in the city and the region's growth potential.” There were 94 nonstop routes from YYC in 2024 and 82 in 2019. Meanwhile, WestJet has also confirmed the addition of a route from YYC to Mexico City. Operations will commence on May 14 with five flights per week.
Australian LCC Jetstar is adding more capacity between Melbourne and Sunshine Coast. The airline plans to use Airbus A321 aircraft on the route between March and June, boosting capacity by 34,000 seats. “An additional 34,000 seats will improve connectivity with more flights and flexibility for thousands of travelers every week,” Sunshine Coast Airport CEO Chris Mills says.
United Airlines has scheduled the launch of a route between Los Angeles International Airport and Toronto Pearson International Airport. Flights will start on May 22, operating seasonally through Sept. 24 using Boeing 737-8 aircraft. The carrier is set to face competition on the route from Air Canada, Porter Airlines and WestJet.
Virgin Australia has scheduled the launch of flights between Melbourne and Doha’s Hamad International Airport (DOH). Service is set to begin on Dec. 1, operating daily using Qatar Airways Boeing 777-300ER aircraft. Australia’s competition regulator in late November 2024 granted interim authorization for Qatar Airways to wet-lease aircraft to Virgin Australia for long-haul flights as part of a new partnership between the airlines. Virgin Australia will also serve DOH from Sydney, Brisbane and Perth, starting in June.
Jan. 13
Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has resumed service between Islamabad and Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport. The move comes after the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) in November 2024 lifted a four-year ban on the carrier from flying to the European Union. PIA will serve the route to Paris twice a week using Boeing 777-22ER aircraft. The airline will be the sole operator of nonstop flights between the destinations, OAG Schedules Analyser data shows. Overall O&D traffic between Pakistan and Europe totaled 3 million two-way passengers in 2023, marking a rise of 17% on 2019 levels. Dubai, Doha and Istanbul were the largest one-stop markets.
Finnair is increasing its codeshare cooperation with Oneworld alliance partner American Airlines to 12 Mexican destinations. From Jan. 23, the partnership includes American Airlines’ flights from its Dallas-Fort Worth hub to Guanajuato, Monterrey, Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo, Cancún, Cozumel, Guadalajara, Mexico City, Mérida, Oaxaca, Puerto Vallarta, Querétaro and San José del Cabo airports. “The cooperation opens up a comprehensive choice of destinations for our customers to Mexico, which is a popular travel destination from Finland and elsewhere in Northern Europe, especially during the winter,” says Fredrik Wildtgrube, Finnair's senior vice president for alliances and airline partnerships.
ITA Airways has restarted flights to Libya, connecting Rome Fiumicino Airport to Tripoli’s Mitiga International Airport (MJI). Service will be twice a week using Airbus A319s. As previously reported, the launch of the route 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. However, exceptions are allowed for flights to coastal airports, like MJI. Pierluigi Di Palma, President of the Italian Civil Aviation Authority, says the launch of the route is the “result of almost two years of political and institutional teamwork.”
UK regional carrier Eastern Airways is adding a second London service from Newquay Cornwall Airport to London Southend Airport, complimenting the London Gatwick Airport service operated since 2021. Flights will start on April 3, operating daily. “Adding London Southend for 2025 as our second London airport connection to Newquay Cornwall follows the success the team in Southend have shown in the increasing strength of the easyJet product,” says Roger Hage, commercial director at Eastern Airways.
Air Serbia has commenced a 2X-weekly Belgrade-Shanghai service. Flights between Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport and Shanghai Pudong International Airport will use Airbus A330-200 aircraft. The launch 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. “Shanghai is one of the most dynamic cities in the world and an important business and cultural centre,” Air Serbia CEO Jiri Marek says.
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