The latest airline route news, featuring network changes, schedule alterations, codeshares and interline agreements.
Aug. 24
Thai Airways plans to resume Bangkok Suvarnabhumi-Auckland service in March 2027, restoring nonstop air links between Thailand and New Zealand for the first time since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The carrier last operated the route on a regular scheduled basis in March 2020, flying daily using Boeing 787-9 aircraft. The planned relaunch was announced as Thailand and New Zealand elevated their bilateral relationship to a strategic partnership during Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul's official visit to New Zealand.
Oman’s SalamAir will launch 2X-weekly nonstop service between Muscat and Erbil on Oct. 25, making Erbil its second destination in Iraq after Baghdad. The new route will expand SalamAir’s presence in Iraq and target business, trade, VFR and leisure demand between Oman and the Kurdistan Region. The carrier also plans to offer onward connections via Muscat to destinations across the Indian subcontinent and Asia. The move comes less than a week after the LCC announced the appointment of Yaqoob bin Saif bin Hamoud Al Kiyumi as its new CEO.
Starlux Airlines will commence nonstop services from Kaohsiung, Taiwan, to Osaka Kobe and Okinawa in Japan. Flights will be daily from Jan. 1, 2027, coinciding with the opening of its new Kaohsiung base. The additions will expand Starlux’s Japan network from southern Taiwan and provide more nonstop options from the new base. According to OAG Schedules Analyser data, the airline currently offers 17 nonstop routes to Japan, including services to Osaka Kobe and Okinawa from both Taipei Taiwan Taoyuan and Taichung.
Fly Jinnah will launch 3X-weekly nonstop service between Karachi, Pakistan, and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Sept. 18, increasing the route to daily from October. Riyadh will become the airline’s third destination in Saudi Arabia from Karachi, alongside Dammam and Jeddah. Fly Jinnah says the new service is aimed at growing demand from business travelers and expatriates. The route will be operated with Airbus A320 aircraft. The carrier also serves Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam from Islamabad and Lahore.
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