The latest airline route news, featuring network changes, schedule alterations, codeshares and interline agreements.
July 5
Garuda Indonesia and Singapore Airlines (SIA) have gained approval from Singapore regulators to launch a metal-neutral joint venture that will allow for extensive cooperation on services between Indonesia and Singapore. The Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS) cleared the JV on July 5. It did attach conditions, such as requiring that the airlines not decrease capacity on Indonesia-Singapore services, but there is no indication the airlines will not comply. “With this approval, the airlines will be able to deepen their strategic partnership on a wider range of commercial activities,” the carriers said in a joint statement. “These potentially include operating joint revenue-sharing flights between the two countries, coordinating flight schedules to offer travelers more options and seamless connectivity between Singapore and Indonesia and beyond, and exploring joint sales and marketing initiatives that provide greater value to both airlines’ customers.” The airlines already codeshare: Garuda has its codes on SIA flights from Singapore to Bali, Jakarta, Medan and Surabaya, as well as long-haul flights to Johannesburg, London Heathrow, and Mumbai. SIA has its codes on Garuda flights from Singapore to Bali, Jakarta, and Surabaya. Explaining the approval, CCCS CEO Alvin Koh said: “Airline alliances are an important part of the aviation industry, bringing significant benefits to the Singapore economy as well as overseas markets.”
Vietjet opened service between Nha Trang in Vietnam and Daegu in South Korea. The airline will build up to daily service on the route by Oct. 27. “Vietjet currently holds the largest capacity between Vietnam and South Korea,” the carrier said. “The airline’s route expansion aligns with increasing demand in international air travel and cargo markets across Asia-Pacific, driven by global economic activities.”
EasyJet will extend its summer seasonal route between London Gatwick Airport and Menorca, Spain to a year-round service that will operate 2X-weekly through the northern hemisphere winter. “The extension of the route to Menorca will provide an additional 16,000 seats throughout the winter,” the airline said.
July 3
Alaska Airlines has announced two new routes to Mexico from Los Angeles International Airport. Flights to La Paz will commence on Nov. 20, operating up to three times per week. This will be followed by daily flights to Monterrey starting on Feb. 13, 2025. Both routes will be served using Embraer E175 aircraft. “We recently celebrated 35 years of service to Mexico and are proud to connect travelers with the rich culture and natural beauty of the country,” says Kirsten Amrine, vice president of revenue management and network planning at Alaska Airlines.
Italy’s flag-carrier ITA Airways plans to open a new service between Rome Fiumicino and Bangkok, starting on Nov. 16 with five weekly frequencies. The new route is the airline’s first connection between Italy and Thailand. "Our new Rome – Bangkok connection represents an important step forward in ITA Airways' development strategy as it adds another intercontinental destination and opens for our passengers the doors to Thailand, a strategic market in terms of leisure tourism and business segment,” says Emiliana Limosani, chief commercial officer of ITA Airways.
IndiGo has unveiled a new route connecting Mumbai and Vijayawada. Set to commence from Aug. 16, the daily service aims to facilitate travel between the capital of Maharashtra, Mumbai, and Andhra Pradesh’s business capital, Vijayawada. With induction of this flight, IndiGo will now operate 130 weekly flights from Vijayawada to eight cities in India.
Thai AirAsia has launched a new route connecting Bangkok Don Mueang Airport and Beijing Daxing International Airport. The LCC now operates flights from Bangkok to 12 destinations in China, flying to Kunming, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Shantou, Changsha, Chengdu, Chongqing, Hangzhou, Wuhan, Xi'an, Shanghai and the latest addition Beijing, offering a total 115 flights a week.
Latvia’s airBaltic is adding three routes from its Riga hub during the winter 2024/25 season. Flights to Sharm El Sheikh and Hurghada in Egypt will now operate as scheduled service to both destinations twice a week, starting on Oct. 25 and Oct 26 respectively. A route to Innsbruck will also be introduced from Dec. 22, operating once a week on Sundays. This will be airBaltic's third destination in Austria, in addition to Vienna and Salzburg.
Mexican ULCC Viva Aerobus has commenced flights to Miami International Airport from both Monterrey and Merida. Service from Monterrey will be 3X-weekly and from Merida will be 2X-weekly. The routes will be served by the airline’s Airbus A320 and A321 aircraft.
July 2
Flydubai is opening two new services to Iran from Dubai International Airport. Operations to Kish Island will be 4X-weekly from Sept. 7, followed by a 2X-weekly service to Kerman from Sept. 9. CCO Hamad Obaidalla says the LCC is continuing to seek out underserved markets, like the new Iranian destinations. The airline recently announced the start of daily flights to Islamabad and Lahore in Pakistan, which began on July 1. Later this year, flydubai is also set to add Basel in Switzerland from Aug. 2, Riga in Latvia from Oct. 11 and Tallinn in Estonia and Vilnius in Lithuania from Oct. 12.
Delta Air Lines and Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) have submitted a joint application to the U.S. Transportation Department to begin a codeshare partnership. The move comes as SAS prepares to exit Star Alliance and join SkyTeam from Sept. 1. Delta has also applied for an amendment to its codeshare exemption to allow services on SAS-operated flights to non-open-skies countries, while SAS Connect, SAS Link and CityJet seek exemptions to display Delta's designator code on their intra-European flights for SAS.
Vietnamese LCC VietJet has launched a new route connecting Ho Chi Minh City and Xi'an, China. The service will operate four times per week and will be the sole nonstop connection between the cities. Since its first flight to China in 2014, the airline has transported more than 12 million passengers on flights to and from the country. Earlier this year it commenced operations from Ho Chi Minh City to Chengdu and Shanghai.
Hamburg has become the fifth city in Germany to be served by Qatar Airways, joining Berlin, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt and Munich. Flights from Doha to Hamburg will be offered daily. The carrier says it saw growth of 62% in outbound passengers from Germany in 2023, compared with the previous year.
Aeroméxico has started three new U.S. routes from Mexico City Felipe Ángeles International Airport. Daily service has been launched to Raleigh/Durham, Tampa and Washington. During July, the carrier says the Aeroméxico-Delta Air Lines alliance will offer more than 90 daily flights between Mexico and the U.S., covering nearly 60 routes. The Transportation Department in January issued a tentative decision stating it would not renew antitrust immunity for the alliance, but the carriers have appealed the ruling.
Air Arabia has inaugurated a new route connecting Sharjah International Airport and Athens International Airport. Flights will be 4X-weekly on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays using Airbus A320 aircraft. Adel Al Ali, group CEO of Air Arabia, says: “Athens is the latest addition to our expanding [European Union] network from Sharjah, joining Milan and Krakow. This new route provides our customers in the [United Arab Emirates] and beyond with more opportunities to explore Greece with our renowned value-driven service.”
July 1
Cathay Pacific is launching a new route connecting Hong Kong and Ningbo, China. Operations will begin on Aug. 1 with four return flights per week using Airbus A321neo aircraft. The service will complement the daily flights operated by subsidiary HK Express to Ningbo. So far in 2024, Cathay Pacific has added Chennai, Colombo and Barcelona to its global network, with Riyadh launching on Oct. 28 and its seasonal Cairns service returning on Dec. 17.
The number of Air Astana flights between Kazakhstan and China is set to increase following agreements reached at the meeting of the China-Central Asia Aviation Cooperation group held in Xi'an, China, June 18-20. Designated carriers from Kazakhstan received approval to operate up to 52 passenger flights per week during the current summer season, with the figure increasing up to 62 flights per week starting from the 2025 summer season. In addition to existing destinations in China, Kazakh carriers are now additionally allowed to operate flights to Guangzhou. Designated airlines also received the right to operate an unlimited number of flights to the cities of Sanya, Haikou and Qionghai on Hainan Island using the fifth, sixth and seventh freedom rights. Air Astana currently operates scheduled daily flights from Almaty to Beijing, from Astana to Beijing three times a week, as well as from Almaty to Urumqi in western China five times a week.
IndiGo is to start flights between Bengaluru and Abu Dhabi. Commencing from Aug. 1, the route will operate six times a week. With the launch, the LCC will now operate 75 weekly flights from Abu Dhabi to 10 cities in India. “This new flight will further strengthen travel, trade and tourism between India and the UAE by offering smooth and convenient options for business as well as leisure,” says Vinay Malhotra, IndiGo head of global sales.
Hong Kong Airlines is launching a new route to Xining, China, offering two flights weekly from July 9. Xining, situated on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, serves as a key gateway linking China's eastern and western regions, including Tibet. Since 27 May, Xining has been included in the Individual Visit Scheme for travel to Hong Kong and Macau.
Emirates has announced the first three destinations that will be served using its refurbished Boeing 777 cabin interiors. The upgraded product will be offered on flights EK 83/84 to and from Geneva from Aug. 11, followed by EK 312/313 to and from Tokyo Haneda from Sept. 1 and EK 183/184 to and from Brussels from Sept. 11. Emirates is refurbishing its first-class cabin, installing 38 new business-class seats in a 1-2-1 seating configuration, in addition to 24 premium economy seats and 256 economy seats.
Nile Air has opened a new route between Cairo and Milan Bergamo Airport (BGY). Flights will operate 3X-weekly on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays using Airbus A320 aircraft. The addition of the service sees BGY offer a record number of flights to Egypt this summer. Alongside Cairo, nonstop flights are available to Alexandria, Marsa Alam and Sharm El Sheikh.
Qantas has operated its first Airbus A220 service between Melbourne and Hobart. The A220s will steadily replace QantasLink’s fleet of Boeing 717s as part of the group’s domestic fleet renewal program and will operate up to 26 flights per week between Melbourne and Hobart. The A220 will also begin operating on the Melbourne-Launceston route from Nov. 12. “Their size and economics make them a great fit for many of our Tasmanian routes, and this is just the start," Qantas Group executive Andrew Parker says. "We’ll continue to add A220 services as we receive additional new aircraft in the coming months and years."
FlyLili has commenced its first flight from Brasov to Munich. The Romanian airline will serve the route on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays using Airbus A319 and A320s.
Related Content
