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

Sept. 15

Flair Airlines is opening a ninth route between Canada and Cancun International Airport, Mexico. Service from Calgary International Airport will launch on Dec. 17, operating three times per week. “We’re confident this offer will be popular in the cold winter months as Canadians look to escape the ice and snow,” Chief Commercial Officer Garth Lund says. Earlier this month, the ULCC reported that it carried more than 514,000 passengers in August—the highest monthly total in its history. The figure was matched by a record load factor of 93%.

Star Alliance partners TAP Air Portugal and SAS Scandinavian Airlines have signed a new codeshare agreement. TAP will place its TP flight code on intra-Scandinavian routes operated by SAS, namely Copenhagen (CPH)-Oslo (OSL), CPH-Stockholm (ARN) and OSL-ARN, as well as to various other Scandinavian cities beyond the three hubs. SAS will place its SK code on TAP’s routes from Lisbon to ARN, CPH, and OSL, and on domestic routes to Porto and Funchal.

Jetstar Japan is to open a new ski route between Tokyo Narita International Airport (NRT) and Asahikawa, a city on northern Japan's Hokkaido island. Starting on Dec. 15, flights will operate daily. Asahikawa is known for its ski resorts—including Kamui Ski Links, Furano Ski Resort and Tokachi-dake, among others. OAG Schedules Analyser data shows that NRT-Asahikawa Airport (AKJ) is currently unserved at present, but Japan Airlines and AirDo offer Tokyo Haneda-AKJ flights 4X-daily and 3X-daily, respectively.

Dallas-based Southwest Airlines has scheduled a new service linking Washington Dulles International Airport and Phoenix Sky Habor International Airport. Commencing April 9, 2024, flights will operate five times per week using a mix of Boeing 737-800s and 737-8s. Additionally, the carrier plans to resume previously operated seasonal service on the weekends between Houston Hobby and North Carolina's Charlotte Douglas International Airport on April 13. The next day, Sunday-only service will resume between Dallas and Portland, Oregon, as well as Atlanta and Oakland, California.

From Sept. 25, WestJet is expanding its codeshare agreement with Air France from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG). The arrangement will be expanded so WestJet passengers have access to 31 additional cities across 11 European countries from CDG. Previously, the codeshare partnership comprised 22 destinations. In June, WestJet announced plans to extend its summer-season Calgary-CDG route to year-round.

China Eastern Airlines will reinstate nonstop operations between Shanghai Pudong International Airport and Australia's Brisbane Airport (BNE) from Oct. 31. The carrier will return with three flights per week, rising to daily seasonal flights from Dec. 8 for the peak travel season. It will deploy 232-seat Airbus A330-200 aircraft on the route. Earlier this month, China Southern Airlines announced it will resume a 4X-weekly service to BNE from Guangzhou starting Nov. 17. This will rise to seasonal daily service from Dec. 8 through Feb. 25, 2024. “With two carriers now set to resume services from mainland China, we’re forecasting China will likely regain its spot as Queensland’s number-one source for inbound tourists in 2024,” Brisbane Airport Corporation CEO Gert-Jan de Graaff says.

Sept. 14

Norwegian has announced plans to launch three routes from Tromso/Langnes Airport, Norway. Service to Paris Charles de Gaulle will start on Jan. 15, 2024, followed by flights to Milan Bergamo the next day. Operations to Berlin will begin on Jan. 19. All three destinations will receive two flights per week.

Emirates and Maldivian have agreed an interline partnership, enabling Emirates passengers to access 16 vacation destinations in the Maldives beyond Malé. The agreement follows last year’s signing of a memorandum of understanding between the two airlines to explore opportunities for mutual cooperation. The latest agreement covers a selection of airports via Malé including Dharavandhoo Island, Faresmathoda Airport, Funadhoo Airport, Fuvahmulak Island Airport and Gan Island International. “By extending this added-value benefit, our customers from across the Middle East, Europe, Africa and Americas can plan their journey to the Maldives with the convenience of booking flights on a single ticket to reach their final destination,” says Adnan Kazim, Emirates’ Chief Commercial Officer.

Ryanair says it plans to add six new routes from Prague this winter. Routes will be offered to Catania, Italy; East Midlands, England; Gdańsk, Poland; Malaga and Seville, in Spain; and Tirana, Albania. A further 12 destinations will receive increased frequencies. Overall, the Irish ULCC will serve 27 points from Prague during winter 2023-24. “With the addition of a fourth based aircraft in Prague this winter, Ryanair has fully restored its pre-COVID traffic to Prague Airport,” Ryanair Chief Commercial Officer Jason McGuinness says.

Osaka’s Kansai International Airport (KIX) has confirmed that Qatar Airways will resume service from Doha’s Hamad International Airport on March 1, 2024. Flights will be daily using Airbus A350-900 aircraft. The airline last served the Japanese airport in March 2016. “The Kansai-Doha route is expected to bring a lot of transit passengers, with KIX as a gateway connecting Europe and Asia,” a statement from KIX says.

Sept. 13

WestJet plans to resume service between Kelowna, British Columbia, and Las Vegas for the first time since 2020. Beginning Dec. 15, the airline will operate 2X-weekly nonstop flights between the destinations. “WestJet is proud to add yet another transborder connection to our winter schedule, between Kelowna and Las Vegas, as we continue to provide guests across Canada with even more affordable and accessible opportunities to escape the cold and find the Sun this winter,” says John Weatherill, WestJet executive vice president and chief commercial officer. The airline operates one other transborder service from Kelowna, with nonstop weekly flights to Phoenix.

Japan’s All Nippon Airways has announced plans to increase frequencies to Shanghai Pudong International Airport from both Tokyo Narita International Airport (NRT) and Osaka Kansai International Airport (KIX). From Oct. 2, service from NRT will rise from 7X-weekly to 10X-weekly, while operations from KIX will grow from 3X-weekly to 8X-weekly from Oct. 10.

Ryanair has announced a string of new routes from Italy for the winter 2023-24 season. At Milan Bergamo Airport and Milan Malpensa Airport, the ultra-low-cost carrier will base one new aircraft at each airport and offer a total of 120 routes including 10 new connections to Belfast in Northern Ireland, Brussels, Cluj and Iasi in Romania, Kaunas in Lithuania, Lanzarote and Tenerife in Spain’s Canary Islands, Lublin in Poland, Rovaniemi in Finland and Tirana, Albania. The schedule also includes increased frequencies on an additional 30 routes. From Rome Ciampino International Airport and Rome Fiumicino Airport, 64 routes will be offered including seven new connections to East Midlands in England, Gdansk and Poznan and Wroclaw in Poland, Memmingen in Germany, Riga in Latvia and Tirana. Elsewhere, Ryanair says its schedule from Zagreb, Croatia, will feature one new connection to Lanzarote, while from Cork, Ireland, five new connections will be available to Barcelona, Fuerteventura and Seville in Spain, Paris, and Venice Treviso Airport.

Azerbaijan Airlines is opening a new route to the Belarus capital Minsk, the carrier has announced. Service from Baku will start on Oct. 1, operating four times per week. OAG Schedules Analyser data shows Belavia is currently the sole provider of nonstop flights between the destinations, offering five round trips per week.

Russia’s national carrier Aeroflot will launch a nonstop route to Mauritius during the winter season. From Dec. 23, the airline will offer two flights per week from Moscow Sheremetyevo International Airport using Boeing 777 aircraft. The carrier last served Mauritius in the mid-1990s using Ilyushin Il-62M equipment.

Sept. 12

Uganda Airlines has confirmed the schedule for two new international routes from Entebbe set to start in October. Flights to Mumbai, India, will begin on Oct. 8, followed by a route to Lagos, Nigeria, on Oct. 19. Both services will be offered three times per week using Airbus A330-800neo aircraft, according to OAG Schedules Analyser data.

Spain’s LEVEL has announced that seat capacity to the U.S. will increase by 19% during winter 2023-24, meaning that it plans to offer more than 6,700 weekly seats between Barcelona El Prat International Airport (BCN) and New York John F. Kennedy (JFK), Boston Logan International Airport (BOS) and Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) at peak times. Service will be 5X-weekly to JFK, and 3X-weekly to both BOS and LAX. LEVEL will also provide a 27% hike in capacity to Latin America this winter, compared with winter 2022-23. The airline’s schedule includes increasing service from BCN to Santiago, Chile, from 3X to 5X-weekly at peak times, and offering up to nine roundtrips per week to and from Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Starting Nov. 15, Ethiopian Airlines will commence flights from Addis Ababa to Bangui, Central African Republic. Operations will be 3X-weekly on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. “With this travel option, Bangui will have a great opportunity to bolster its bilateral ties with the rest of the world,” Ethiopian CEO Mesfin Tasew says.

Maldives-based Beond, a startup offering an all-business-class service, has unveiled its launch network. Flights will start on Nov. 15, connecting Male (MLE) with Munich. Service from MLE to Zurich starts two days later. Beond will begin operations with an Airbus A319 aircraft featuring 44 seats.

Sept. 11

Batik Air Malaysia has confirmed plans to launch a new route connecting Kuala Lumpur International Airport and Dubai International Airport. Flights will start on Nov. 10, operating daily using Boeing 737-800 aircraft. Dubai will become the airline’s second destination in the Middle East following the recent launch of its route to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, which started on Aug. 15.

Irish ULCC Ryanair has announced it will operate 51 routes from Malta International Airport (MLA) during the winter 2023-24 season. The schedule includes the continuation of 2X-weekly flights to Memmingen, Germany, which began during summer 2023. Frequency increases are also planned on a further 20 services. Overall, Ryanair says its operations will grow by 23% this winter from MLA, compared with winter 2022-23.

South Korea’s Eastar Jet plans to grow its international network with the addition of service to Japan's Osaka and Tokyo, as well as Bangkok. Established in 2007, the LCC was recently acquired by private equity fund VIG Partners and took delivery of two leased 737-8s in August, with three more scheduled before the end of the year. The airline resumed international flights on Sept. 2 after a hiatus of more than three years, connecting Seoul Gimpo and Taipei, Taiwan. It says more international routes will be added in line with aircraft deliveries.