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

Nov. 3

Air Canada will operate seasonal flights to Stockholm Arlanda Airport (ARN) on its 2024 summer schedule. From June 12, the carrier will fly to ARN 3X-weekly from Montreal and 2X-weekly from Toronto Pearson. "We continue our strategy of building international scale at our Toronto and Montreal global hubs and we are very pleased to deepen Air Canada's longstanding presence in Northern Europe with the addition of flights to Stockholm,” Mark Galardo, Air Canada’s executive vice president for revenue and network planning, says in a statement.

AirBaltic is in the midst of launching four new routes from Vilnius International Airport (VNO) in Lithuania. The carrier started service from VNO to Dubai on Nov. 1. The route will be operated 1X-weekly. That launch followed the Oct. 31 start of 2X-weekly service from VNO to Tenerife, Spain. Next up will be the Dec. 2 launch of service from the Lithuanian capital to Gran Canaria, Spain, with flights operating 1X-weekly. From Dec. 30, AirBaltic will open 2X-weekly flights between VNO and Turin, Italy. 

Canada’s Porter Airlines operated its first Embraer 195-E2 flight to the U.S. with service between Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ) and Tampa International Airport (TPA). After building a domestic network with the E195-E2s, including a number of transcontinental routes, Porter is now entering the U.S. with the 132-seat aircraft. TPA service is the first of five routes to Florida destinations from YYZ the airline will launch in November and December. It will also launch two routes to Florida from Ottawa before the end of the year. In January 2024, Porter will open daily E195-E2 service from YYZ to both Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Nov. 2

Etihad Airways has added a third Airbus A380 on the Abu Dhabi International Airport (AUH)-London Heathrow Airport (LHR) route. The carrier had been operating two A380s, a Boeing 787 and a 777 on the AUH-LHR route, but one of the Boeing aircraft will now be replaced with another A380. “The new A380 service is in response to increased customer demand,” Etihad says in a statement. “The aircraft adds increased capacity between Abu Dhabi and London Heathrow and is ideally timed to further connect people between the UK, the UAE and onward across Etihad’s growing global network.”

Southwest Airlines will open service between Denver International Airport (DEN) and Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport (GSP) in South Carolina from June 8, 2024. The route will be operated 2X-weekly on Saturdays and Sundays, according to GSP. DEN will become the fourth destination Southwest will serve from GSP. The airline currently operates daily flights from the South Carolina airport to both Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and Baltimore-Washington International Airport, as well as weekend service to Houston Hobby Airport.

LATAM Airlines Group says third-quarter 2023 capacity rose 15.2% year-over-year, with international capacity up 29.2% versus the 2022 September quarter. Average international load factor during the quarter was 87.1%. The South American airline group notes that flights between Santiago, Chile, and Melbourne, Australia, resumed during the quarter, as did service between Sao Paulo and Johannesburg. LATAM Airlines Peru will open service between Lima and London Heathrow from Dec. 1. Among aircraft delivered to LATAM during the third quarter were four 787-9s and the airline’s first A321neo. The group has a total fleet of 321 aircraft, including 18 Boeing freighters.

Nov. 1

Qantas will launch service between Perth Airport (PER) and Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) in 2024. The 17-hr. PER-CDG route will be flown from July 12, 2024, with a Boeing 787 aircraft. Flights will be operated 4X-weekly initially, moving to 3X-weekly in mid-August 2024.

Singapore Changi Airport (SIN) officially opened its upgraded and expanded Terminal 2 (T2), marking the full return of all four of its terminals since the onset of the pandemic in 2020. Changi Airport Group decided to close T2 entirely at the height of the COVID crisis to upgrade the facility. SIN says T2’s handling capacity has increased to 28 million passengers annually, up by five million annual passengers from before the upgrade—bringing Changi’s total capacity to 90 million passengers per year.

Kazakhstan’s Air Astana says it will boost flights from its Almaty International Airport (ALA) base in Kazakhstan's former capital to Bangkok from 3X-weekly to 7X-weekly for the 2023-24 northern hemisphere winter season. ALA-Phuket service will increase from 4X-weekly to 11X-weekly for the season. Air Astana’s Almaty-Dubai route will see frequencies rise from 7X-weekly to 12X-weekly.

Oct. 31

Aer Lingus will operate seasonal flights between Manchester Airport (MAN) in England and Grantley Adams International Airport (BGI) in Barbados for one month longer than planned. The 3X-weekly MAN-BGI service was set to end for the season in April 2024, but has now been extended to May 31, 2024. The Irish carrier is also extending 3X-weekly service between Dublin Airport and Hartford, Connecticut—which had been set to end on Oct. 28—to Jan. 5, 2024.

Vistara, the Tata Group-Singapore Airlines joint venture Indian airline, launched daily flights between New Delhi and Hong Kong. Vistara CEO Vinod Kannan says in a statement: “The launch of direct connectivity to Hong Kong is in line with our strategy of steadily growing our international network. Hong Kong, being amongst the world’s top commercial hubs, attracts a lot of business … and VFR travel from India, besides being a popular leisure destination.”

British Airways (BA) opened service between London Gatwick Airport and Kotoka International Airport in Accra, Ghana. The route will be operated 3X-weekly with an Airbus A350. A fourth weekly frequency will be added in April 2024. BA's Director for Network and Alliances Neil Chernoff says in a statement: “Overall, we’re doubling the number of seats between Accra and London, with 55% more capacity next summer versus 2019. We are always looking at routes and regions where there is potential for growth, and Accra is one of those routes and Africa is one of those regions.”