Routes Insights: Malaysia Airlines, Virgin Atlantic, China Southern Airlines

Kuala Lumpur-Paris Charles de Gaulle

After a nine-year hiatus, Malaysia Airlines is set to reinstate its Kuala Lumpur-Paris service in March 2025. The carrier previously suspended the route in 2016 due to a strategic review, but is now reentering the market as part of its broader network expansion plans.

Paris will become the airline’s second European destination after London, utilizing its Airbus A350-900s to support the service. Flights from Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KUL) to Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) will initially be 4X-weekly from March 22, rising to daily from March 29.

Paris was chosen over other European cities like Amsterdam, which is limited by slot availability. The French capital is intended to provide additional feed from regions like Eastern Europe, North Africa and potentially even South America, complementing the carrier’s existing London services.

While Malaysia Airlines will operate from CDG’s Terminal 1, separate from its Oneworld partners in Terminal 2A, the airline plans to ensure a smooth transfer experience for connecting passengers. The carrier is also exploring collaboration opportunities with Air France-KLM at CDG, benefiting from Oneworld’s flexible partnership arrangements.

The A350-900s designated for the Paris service will be rerouted from flights to Doha and Tokyo Narita, with these routes eventually being serviced by incoming A330neos.

While Paris is seen as a strong candidate for network growth, the airline has no immediate plans to add other European destinations in 2025. However, the reintroduction of the KUL-CDG route marks the next step in Malaysia Airlines' efforts to strengthen its long-haul network in Europe.

London Heathrow-Accra

Virgin Atlantic plans to resume flights to Accra, Ghana, during the summer 2025 season, marking the airline’s return to the market after a 12-year hiatus.

Starting May 1, 2025, the daily service from London Heathrow Airport (LHR) to Kotoka International Airport (ACC) will be operated using Boeing 787-9 aircraft. This launch follows the airline’s proposed introduction of flights to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in late March.

The UK is home to the third-largest Ghanaian diaspora globally, with about 114,000 Ghanaian-born residents, according to the UK Office for National Statistics. This number does not include British-born individuals of Ghanaian descent. As a result, significant demand for the new route is anticipated from the visiting friends and relatives (VFR) segment.

Approximately 10% of passengers are also expected to connect through London onto Virgin Atlantic’s New York John F. Kennedy (JFK) service.

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Additionally, the Accra route is expected to be strong for cargo, with Virgin Atlantic providing 30 metric tons of capacity per flight for goods such as fresh produce between Ghana and key markets in the UK and the U.S. Total trade in goods and services between the UK and Ghana was £1.2 billion ($1.6 billion) in the 12 months to the end of the first quarter of 2024.

Virgin Atlantic will compete with British Airways (BA) on the 3,167-mi. (2,752-nm) London Heathrow-Accra route. BA currently operates daily flights between LHR and ACC using A350-1000s and four times a week between London Gatwick Airport and ACC with 777s.

Guangzhou-Adelaide

China Southern Airlines will resume flights to Adelaide Airport in South Australia from December after almost five years away.

Operations from the carrier’s Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport (CAN) hub will operate three times per week from Dec. 12 using 787-8 aircraft. It will become the Australian airport’s sole nonstop connection to mainland China.

The airline launched Guangzhou-Adelaide service in December 2016, offering three flights per week before operations ceased in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is estimated that the service will generate more than A$69 million ($47 million) annually and create in excess of 255 full-time equivalent tourism-related jobs for south Australians.

According to Sabre Market Intelligence data, O&D traffic between Adelaide and mainland China totaled 116,000 two-way passengers in 2019—a year when China Southern’s route was the sole nonstop service. Looking at the flow of traffic from Guangzhou to Adelaide, about 59% of passengers started their journey behind CAN, with New Delhi, Shanghai and Beijing the top three behind destinations.

China Southern currently flies to three destinations, operating routes from CAN to Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney, as well as between Shenzhen and Sydney.