Routes & Networks Latest: Rolling Daily Updates (W/C July 28, 2025)

Aaron Karp August 01, 2025

DXB airport — Credit: Chris Howes/Wild Places Photography/Alamy

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

Aug. 1

Dubai International Airport (DXB) said India remained its largest country market in the first half of 2025, with 5.9 million passengers flying to/from India. Saudi Arabia followed at 3.6 million passengers. The next biggest markets for DXB in the 2025 first half were the UK (3 million passengers), Pakistan (2.1 million) and the U.S. (1.6 million). DXB handled 46 million passengers in the first six months of 2025, up 2.3 % year-over-year, marking its busiest first half on record.

Alaska Airlines will open three new routes from Hollywood Burbank Airport (BUR) in southern California on Oct. 26. On that date, flights will start from BUR to Eugene and Redmond in Oregon, as well as to Pasco, Washington. The three routes will be operated year-round with Embraer 175 aircraft.

Canada’s Porter Airlines will open two routes to Florida from Hamilton International Airport (YHM). From Dec. 12, the carrier will launch service between YHM and Orlando. From Dec. 13, Porter will commence flights between YHM and Fort Lauderdale. Both routes will be operated 3X-weekly on a seasonal basis until April. Both routes are exclusive and mark the airline’s first U.S. routes from YHM.

July 31

Canada’s Flair Airlines will open two routes to Mexico City’s Benito Juárez International Airport (MEX) in October. From Oct. 27, the all-Boeing 737 operator will begin service between Vancouver International Airport and MEX. The next day, Flair will open service between Toronto Pearson International Airport and MEX. Both routes will be flown 3X-weekly. MEX becomes the fourth Mexican city in Flair’s network, joining Cancun, Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta.

IndiGo, which started serving Europe in July with flights from Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (BOM) to both Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS) and Manchester Airport (MAN), will increase frequencies on both routes. From Sept. 20, the carrier will increase service between BOM and AMS to 6X-weekly, up from 3X-weekly currently. From Oct. 13, the BOM-AMS route will then be boosted to daily flights. From Sept. 22, the BOM-MAN route will be flown 4X-weekly, up from 3X-weekly currently. Both routes are being operated with Boeing 787-9 aircraft. IndiGo said it is upping service because it is “encouraged by the outstanding response to its long-haul flights” to AMS and MAN.

Qatar Airways will boost frequencies on a host of routes from its Doha hub for the 2025-26 northern hemisphere winter season. For example, flights from Doha’s Hamad International Airport (DOH) to Abu Dhabi will be boosted from 5X-daily to 6X-daily. Other routes from DOH seeing increases include: Berlin (from 18X-weekly to 21X-weekly); Cape Town (10X-weekly to 12X-weekly); Casablanca, Morocco (4X-weekly to 5X-weekly); Dublin (14X-weekly to 17X-weekly); Frankfurt (18X-weekly to 21X weekly); Johannesburg (14X-weekly to 18X-weekly); London Heathrow (from 8X-daily to 10X-daily); Madrid (14X-weekly to 17X-weekly); Maldives (3X-daily to 4X-daily); MAN (21X-weekly to 24X-weekly); Phuket, Thailand (3X-daily to 4X-daily); São Paulo (14X-weekly to 18X-weekly); Sharjah, United Arab Emirates (3X-daily to 7X-daily); Tokyo Narita (11X-weekly to 14X-weekly); and Toronto (5X-weekly to 7X-weekly).

July 30

Southwest Airlines revealed the two airports from which it will launch flights to Cyril E. King International Airport (STT) on the island of St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands. From Feb. 5, the airline will open daily service between Orlando International Airport and STT. The carrier will offer “peak-day service” between Baltimore-Washington Thurgood Marshall International Airport from Feb. 7. STT will be the first new destination added to Southwest’s network in five years. The carrier previously said it would start serving STT in early 2026, but did not say from which airports it would fly to St. Thomas. The airline has said it will announce two more new airports to be added to its network in 2026, with one to be revealed in August.

U.S. carrier Breeze Airways unveiled two new destinations to be added to its network in December: Lincoln Airport (LKN) in Nebraska and Tri-Cities Airport (TRI) in Tennessee. Both airports will be served from Orlando International Airport 2X-weekly, with service to LKN commencing Dec. 10 and to TRI starting Dec. 12. The carrier will also open 2X-weekly service between TRI and Washington Dulles International Airport from Dec. 15. LKN and TRI will bring to 78 the number of airports in Breeze’s all-domestic network. Other highlights of new routes announced by Breeze include Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, to Portsmouth, New Hampshire (2X-weekly from Dec. 11), and Manchester, New Hampshire, to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina (2X-weekly starting Feb. 6, 2026). In addition, the airline rolled out a new ancillary offering called BreezeBy, which can be purchased by passengers “who want to conveniently skip the line and board first.”

Allegiant Air, the leisure-focused ULCC based in Las Vegas, will open seven new routes in the fall, including adding Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW) in Fort Myers to its network. From Nov. 13, the airline will launch 2X-weekly service between RSW and Allentown, Pennsylvania. From Nov. 21, Allegiant will commence 2X-weekly flights from RSW to both Des Moines, Iowa, and Appleton, Wisconsin. From Nov. 20, the carrier will also launch 2X-weekly service between Sarasota, Florida, and Toledo, Ohio, and between Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and Fort Wayne, Indiana. From Nov. 21, Allegiant will kick off 2X-weekly service between New Orleans and Punta Gorda, Florida, and between Nashville, Tennessee, and Gulf Shores, Alabama.

July 29

Delta Air Lines will launch two routes to Africa from its Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) base. From Oct. 25, the carrier will commence year-round service between ATL and Marrakesh, Morocco. The route will be flown 3X-weekly using a Boeing 767-400ER aircraft. Delta will also open seasonal service between ATL and Accra, Ghana, from Dec. 1. The route will be operated daily with an Airbus A330neo aircraft. Delta operates the same aircraft type on year-round daily service between New York John F. Kennedy International Airport and Accra.

South African Airways (SAA) will open service between Cape Town and Mauritius from Dec. 9. SAA CEO John Lamola said the airline has wanted to serve the Indian Ocean island off the coast of East Africa “for quite some time.” The route will be operated 3X-weekly initially before dropping back to 2X-weekly from mid-January to mid-March, when it will return to 3X-weekly. Flight time is around 5 hr. The service “supports the broader tourism objectives for both South Africa and Mauritius,” Lamola said.

Hong Kong Airlines will launch service between Hong Kong International Airport (HKG) and Melbourne Airport (MEL) in Australia from Dec. 12. The route will be operated 3X-weekly with an Airbus A330-200 aircraft. “Hong Kong is the fourth-largest international market for us at Melbourne Airport, so I expect there will be strong demand for this service,” MEL CEO Lorie Argus said. Cathay Pacific and Qantas both serve the HKG-MEL route.

Japan Airlines will increase frequencies on its freighter service between Tokyo Narita Airport and Taipei’s Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport from 1X-weekly to 3X-weekly from Oct. 1. JAL operates a fleet of three 767-300ER freighters on routes between Asian cities. The airline started operating dedicated freighters in 2024 for the first time in 13 years.

July 28

Taiwan’s China Airlines will open service between Taipei's Taoyuan International Airport and Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport from Dec. 3, growing its North American network. Flights will be operated 3X-weekly with an Airbus A350-900 aircraft. “China Airlines will become the first Asian carrier to fly to Phoenix, Arizona, an emerging tech hub with a growing demand for business travel,” the airline noted. The carrier currently operates 40 weekly flights to North America, serving Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), Ontario and San Francisco in California, as well as New York John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), Seattle and Vancouver.

American Airlines will switch from an Airbus A321 to a Boeing 777-200 on select flights between LAX and JFK from Oct. 5. The swap will allow American to offer premium economy on the route. The airline’s 777-200s offer 28 premium economy seats. “We are excited to provide customers the opportunity to experience our premium economy service on our premier domestic route,” American CCO Heather Garboden said.

Bahrain' s Gulf Air has committed to operating to JFK’s New Terminal One (NTO), the airport’s new $9 billion international terminal set to open next year. The carrier does not currently serve New York, but will open 3X-weekly service between Bahrain and JFK from Oct. 1. Flights will be operated with Boeing 787-9, which will serve the current Terminal 1 before switching to NTO when it opens in 2026.