July 14

Southwest Airlines opened service between Colorado Springs Airport (COS) in Colorado and Long Beach Airport (LGB) in California. The LGB-COS route will be flown daily with a Boeing 737 aircraft. LGB becomes the eighth destination served from COS by Southwest, including seasonal flights. The airline will add a ninth destination when it starts seasonal service from COS to Houston Hobby Airport from Nov. 21.

U.S. startup Avelo Airlines plans to launch flights to two destinations from Salem Municipal Airport (SLE) in Oregon in October, marking the first commercial service at SLE in 15 years. The airline will fly from Salem to both Las Vegas Reid International Airport (LAS) and Hollywood Burbank Airport (BUR) in southern California. The LAS and BUR routes will open on Oct. 5 and Oct. 6, respectively, and both be operated 2X-weekly with Boeing 737 aircraft.

IATA pushed Sri Lanka to draft an “aviation blueprint” detailing how the south Asian country will build up air route connectivity “so as to generate greater economic growth … through having a stronger aviation industry.” Philip Goh, IATA’s regional VP for Asia Pacific, said during a July 14 keynote address in Colombo at Aviation Day Sri Lanka that the development of the country’s airline sector “will not happen by chance.” He adds: “We urge the government and all industry stakeholders to collaborate on developing an aviation blueprint.” Goh notes that, according to a 2018 IATA study, Sri Lanka’s aviation sector supported around 700,000 jobs and contributed about $8 billion to the country’s annual GDP. “This has the potential to increase to over 1 million jobs contributing nearly $30 billion to the GDP by 2038,” Goh says.

July 13

American Airlines and The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey say $125 million will be invested in a commercial redevelopment program at New York John F. Kennedy International Airport’s Terminal 8. “The project will feature a new great hall and is expected to bring more than 60 new shopping and restaurant offerings to the terminal,” the Port Authority says in a statement.

Delta Air Lines is reporting strong international demand during the second quarter. “Transatlantic was driven by strong U.S. consumer demand, with southern European destinations leading results,” the SkyTeam member states. “Transpacific benefited from the reopening of Japan and performance of the Korean Air joint venture. Latin America strength continued, driven by demand for travel to South America and the Caribbean, with integration of the LATAM joint venture progressing well.”

July 12

TAP Air Portugal reports it carried 7.58 million passengers in the first half of 2023, up 30.2% over the first six months of 2022 and up 5% over the same period in 2019. “The strong growth in intercontinental flights stands out, namely on the routes to Brazil, North America and Africa,” the airline says. “Very significantly, on these intercontinental routes, TAP has already managed to increase the number of passengers carried by 14.7% compared to the pre-pandemic period, namely the first half of 2019, thus demonstrating the company's solid recovery.” 

Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (MSY) has closed one of its two runways for “necessary safety maintenance work,” according to the airport. MSY’s north-south runway (Runway 2/20) will be closed for approximately 12 days. “All aircraft arriving and departing from MSY will use the east-west runway (Runway 11/29) during this time period,” MSY says, adding that the “temporary runway closure will not impact any airline operations or flight schedules,” but “surrounding areas may experience an increase in aircraft noise.”

Egyptair will start service between Cairo International Airport (CAI) and Manchester Airport in England from July 15, operating the route 5X-weekly with a Boeing 737-800 aircraft. In August, the airline will additionally open flights between CAI and Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport, flying the route 4X-weekly with an Airbus A320neo.

July 11

Norse Atlantic Airways will open service to Miami International Airport (MIA) from both Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) and Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER) in December. The CDG-MIA route will be flown 4X-weekly from Dec. 11, while the BER-MIA route will launch from Dec. 15 and be operated 1X-weekly. The carrier is an all-Boeing 787 operator. Since its launch in June 2022, Norse has been operating flights from its Oslo base to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL), located about 50 miles from MIA. It also operates to FLL from London Gatwick Airport (LGW). The airline plans to transfer all existing FLL flights to MIA from Sept. 18. Norse recently added service from LGW to both Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Wizz Air is adding an Airbus A321neo aircraft to its London Luton Airport (LTN) base, bringing the number of aircraft the ULCC bases at LTN to 12. “The addition of a new aircraft marks a significant investment [in Wizz’s UK operations], and we’re pleased to solidify our market-leading position at London Luton,” Wizz Air UK Managing Director Marion Geoffroy says in a statement. “We are seeing increased demand for more flights to destinations across Europe.” For the 2023/2024 northern hemisphere winter season, Wizz will serve six destinations from LTN, highlighted by flights to Amman, Prague and Reykjavik.

Milan Bergamo Airport (BGY) handled 7.6 million passengers in the first half of 2023, 18% above passenger levels in the first six months of 2019. The total was up 31% compared to the 2022 first half. “Welcoming over 1 million passengers every month, 2023 seems set to beat 2019 as the [busiest] year in the airport’s history,” BGY says in a statement. The airport is currently served by 22 carriers and 19 new routes have been added this year. 

July 10

The Mexican Navy will take over all aspects of managing Mexico City Benito Juárez International Airport (MEX) under orders from President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. The Mexican Navy already runs security at the airport, an arrangement in place since February 2022. López Obrador recently praised the Navy’s performance regarding MEX security, citing a decrease in stolen checked bags.

IndiGo opened two new domestic routes from Pune Airport (PNQ) in the state of Maharashtra. It will fly 6X-weekly between PNQ and Rajkot and 5X-weekly between PNQ and Vadadara. Those route launches follow the carrier in June starting 5X-weekly flights between PNQ and Jodhpur. IndiGo describes Pune as a major technology center and “the most important automobile and manufacturing hub in India.”

Copa Airlines opened 4X-weekly Boeing 737 flights between Panama City’s Tocumen International Airport (PTY) and Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS). The Texas capital becomes the 15th U.S. market served by Panama’s Copa, which in late June started flights between PTY and Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI). The PTY-AUS route is the first airline service connecting Austin with Panama.

Though Copa has no specific plans to launch more U.S. routes beyond BWI and AUS, “we see a lot of opportunities still here in the U.S.,” Copa Chief Commercial Officer Dennis Cary recently told Aviation Week Network. “So, over the next few years, I expect we'll add several more U.S. cities to our network.”

Canada’s Flair Airlines launched Boeing 737 service between Edmonton International Airport (YEG) and Québec City Jean Lesage International Airport. Flights will be operated 2X-weekly. Flair now flies to 15 destinations from its YEG home base.