The latest airline route news, featuring network changes, schedule alterations, codeshares and interline agreements.
Jan. 30
SAS Scandinavian Airlines will expand its intercontinental network for winter 2026-27 with three new long-haul routes from Copenhagen to Dubai World Central, as well as Phuket and Krabi in Thailand. SAS will resume flights to Dubai for the first time since 2011, operating daily between Oct. 25 and March 27, 2027, using Airbus A320neo aircraft. Flights to Phuket will begin on Dec. 9, operating twice a week until the end of December, increasing to 3X-weekly services from January through late March, operated by A350 aircraft. Krabi will be served twice a week from Dec. 8 through March 28, also with A350 equipment.
Kazakhstan’s Air Astana will expand its China network with the launch of a new Almaty-Shanghai service at the end of March, adding a fifth destination in the country alongside Beijing, Guangzhou, Sanya and Urumqi. The route will operate three times per week using Airbus A321LR aircraft. Flights from Almaty are scheduled on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, with evening departures arriving in Shanghai the following morning, while return services from Shanghai will operate on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
Porter Airlines has announced several additions to its summer 2026 schedule, adding new routes, destinations and frequencies across Canada and the U.S. New domestic services begin on May 1, with daily flights from Ottawa to Windsor and Sudbury. International growth follows on May 11, when Porter launches daily Toronto City-Nashville flights, making Nashville a new destination for the airline. Additional routes are introduced through mid-May, including Toronto Pearson-Quebec City with up to 12X-weekly flights from May 12, Ottawa-Kelowna five times per week from May 13, and expanded U.S. connectivity with Toronto Pearson-Boston up to twice a day and Montreal-Boston daily from May 14. From May 15, Porter will add Hamilton-St John’s five times per week and Hamilton-Winnipeg 4X-weekly. Porter is also extending several leisure routes through the summer, operating Toronto Pearson-Cancun up to 6X-weekly, Toronto Pearson-Guanacaste and Nassau twice a week each, Hamilton-Fort Lauderdale 2X-weekly and Ottawa-Cancun 3X-weekly.
Virgin Atlantic will increase capacity from Manchester, England, in summer 2026 by adding extra flights to Orlando, Florida, following Aer Lingus’ withdrawal from long-haul services. The airline will boost Manchester-Orlando capacity by 12% during peak summer, while capacity will rise further in winter 2026-27 with a 17% increase as flights are upgauged to Airbus A350-1000 aircraft. Aer Lingus confirmed on Jan. 28 that it will close its Manchester Airport base by the end of March, ending routes to Barbados, New York John F. Kennedy and Orlando.
Turkish LCC AJet will launch a new service between Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen and Iasi from May 29, expanding its network into northeastern Romania. The new route will operate twice weekly on Tuesdays and Fridays. The launch will target leisure and VFR demand, while improving access to Iasi, a cultural and academic centre in the Moldavia region.
Eurowings will expand its summer 2026 programme at Cologne Bonn Airport with new routes and higher frequencies. From July, the airline will launch new services to Tbilisi and Belgrade, while London Gatwick will return from the start of the summer schedule on March 29. Pristina also joins the network, and Lanzarote will be extended into the summer season. Tbilisi will initially operate weekly from July 2, increasing to 2X-weekly from 20 July, while Belgrade will be served 2X-weekly from 17 July. Pristina launches with weekly flights from July 1, and Lanzarote will be operated up to 2X-weekly from late March. All services will use Airbus A320-family aircraft. Eurowings will also increase frequencies on several existing routes from Cologne/Bonn, including Bastia, Erbil, Yerevan, Klagenfurt, Pula, Split and Valencia.
Qantas will increase capacity on its seasonal route between Sydney and Sapporo, Japan, for the 2026-27 northern winter, expanding flights from three per week to up to five per week in response to strong demand for travel to Hokkaido. The enhanced schedule adds more than 10,000 seats, lifting total capacity on the route to nearly 35,000 seats for the season. Qantas remains the only airline operating nonstop services between Sydney and Sapporo, a route launched in December 2025.
Jan. 29
Breeze Airways has unveiled an expansion of its summer 2026 schedule, adding several new point-to-point routes across the U.S. and the Caribbean, all operated with Airbus A220-300 aircraft. The expansion begins in May, with the LCC introducing new 2X-weekly services from cities including Atlantic City, Brownsville, Columbus, Fort Lauderdale, Louisville, Madison, Memphis, Raleigh-Durham and San Antonio, linking them to underserved leisure and secondary markets. Highlights include Breeze’s first services from Atlantic City, the airline’s debut in Brownsville, Texas, and the launch of Tampa-Nassau, making Nassau Breeze’s fourth international destination. Several routes will operate year-round, including Raleigh-Durham-San Antonio and Memphis-San Antonio, while others are seasonal through the summer period. Founder and CEO David Neeleman says the growth reflects strong demand for nonstop service in overlooked markets, adding that Breeze is “eager to introduce Atlantic City and Brownsville to our unique, elevated product offering,” while also welcoming the airline’s return to San Antonio after a four-year absence.
Indonesia AirAsia will increase its Adelaide-Denpasar Bali service from four times per week to daily flights from March 22, responding to strong demand since launching the route in June last year. The daily operation will be flown with Airbus A320-200 aircraft, adding more than 56,000 seats annually. Acting President Director Achmad Sadikin Abdurachman says the increase “reflects our strong commitment to the Australian market and to Adelaide as a key gateway onto the AirAsia network,” adding that frequencies may rise to 10X-weekly flights during peak periods. Separately, China Eastern Airlines is scheduled to launch 3X-weekly Shanghai Pudong-Adelaide service from June 20, operated with Airbus A350-900 aircraft. The seasonal service is planned to run until Aug. 2.
Iberia is temporarily boosting domestic capacity from Madrid between late January and mid-February 2026, adding extra flights and seats on key Andalusian routes to support travel demand following a high-speed train crash in southern Spain earlier this month. On the Madrid-Seville route, the airline will add one additional daily frequency from Feb. 3 to Feb. 15, with further extra services operating on Jan. 31, resulting in a 74% capacity increase and 19,270 additional seats. The Madrid-Malaga route will see 5,856 additional seats between Jan. 27 and Feb. 15, increasing capacity by 57%. On Madrid-Granada, Iberia will operate extra daily flights on Jan. 27, Jan. 28 and Feb. 1, lifting capacity by 85%, while Madrid-Jerez will receive additional daily flights on Jan. 26, Jan. 29 and Jan. 30, increasing capacity by 58%.
KLM expects to resume flights to Dubai from Jan. 30, continuing the gradual restoration of its Middle East network following recent operational suspensions. As previously reported, services to Riyadh and Dammam have already restarted following their initial suspension on Jan. 24. KLM reiterated that safety remains its top priority and said it continues to monitor developments closely, with the aim of restoring reliable connections as soon as conditions allow.
Jan. 28
Virgin Australia will launch a new route between Canberra and Bali from June 22, adding more than 40,000 seats annually and marking the airline’s first-ever international services from Australia’s capital. The service will operate three times per week using Boeing 737-800 aircraft. Virgin Australia will be the sole operator on the route. “This is the first time in the history of the company that we will operate internationally from the capital, marking an important milestone in our broader network expansion story,” Virgin Australia CEO Dave Emerson says. He adds that Indonesia has now overtaken New Zealand as one of Australia’s most popular international destinations, underlining strong demand for Bali services.
American Airlines plans to open a new seasonal nonstop route between Springfield-Branson National Airport (SGF) and Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX), adding a fifth nonstop destination from SGF. The Saturday-only service will operate from May 23 to Aug. 1. PHX offers onward connectivity to more than 110 domestic and international destinations. "As we've steadily grown our flights out of SGF, travelers have responded positively. This has given us the confidence to add flights to Phoenix,” says American’s Director of Domestic Network Planning Jordan Pack.
SalamAir has launched flights between Muscat and Port Sudan, marking the first time an Omani airline has operated the route. The new connection operates three times per week. The LCC says the route supports community ties, trade and mobility, while also feeding into its wider network via Muscat.
Wizz Air has unveiled further network growth for summer 2026, adding new routes from both Romania and Moldova. From Iasi International Airport, the ULCC will introduce flights to Milan Malpensa from May 20 and to Pisa from May 23, providing new nonstop links between northeastern Romania and Italian destinations. The airline is also expanding its footprint in Chisinau, where it will launch four new services in May and June. New routes to Cologne and Basel Mulhouse will begin in May, followed by summer services to Rhodes and Rimini in June. Additionally, Wizz Air is set to open a 3X-weekly connection between Chisinau and Stuttgart from March 31.
Pegasus Airlines has added Slovenia to its international network with the launch of flights between Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen Airport and Ljubljana, making Slovenia the airline’s 55th country served. The new route operates three times per week. OAG Schedules Analyser data shows that Pegasus is the sole operator on the route.
Jan. 27
Turkish Airlines has formed a codeshare partnership with Air Montenegro, aimed at enhancing connectivity between Turkey and Montenegro. Under the agreement, Turkish Airlines will place its code on Air Montenegro-operated flights between Istanbul and both Tivat and Podgorica. In return, Air Montenegro will add its code to Turkish Airlines services between the two countries and on selected long-haul routes to Dubai and Baku. Separately, Turkish Airlines has also relaunched flights between Istanbul and Tirana, Albania. The route is now operated daily.
Maldivian has scheduled a new service to Xi’an, becoming its fifth destination in mainland China. The service from Male’s Velana International Airport to Xi'an Xianyang International Airport will operate weekly via Bangkok Suvarnabhumi International Airport. Service will be onboard Airbus A320s, running weekly from Jan. 31 through March 1. Maldivian already serves China with nonstop flights from Male to Beijing Capital, Chengdu and Shanghai Pudong, and operates a Male-Bangkok-Shenzhen route. Xi'an is the host destination for Routes Asia 2026, which runs from April 14-16.
Gulf Air will launch two new seasonal leisure routes for summer 2026, adding Malaga in Spain and Al Alamein in Egypt to its network. Both routes will operate twice a week, boosting leisure connectivity from Bahrain. Services to Malaga will run from June 15 to Sept. 25, while flights to Al Alamein will operate from June 18 to Aug. 30. The additions build on Gulf Air’s previously announced summer 2026 seasonal services to Geneva and Nice via Milan.
KLM will resume flights to Dammam and Riyadh from Jan. 27, following a reassessment of the regional security situation. The airline had suspended services to Dubai, Riyadh, Dammam and Tel Aviv from Jan. 24 as a precaution due to geopolitical tensions and the avoidance of airspace over Iran, Iraq, Israel and parts of the Gulf region. Services to Dubai and Tel Aviv remain under review. “We are closely monitoring the situation,” a statement from KLM says.
FlyOne Armenia will enter the Austrian market with the launch of direct flights between Yerevan and Vienna. The new service is scheduled to begin on April 3, initially operating once a week with Airbus A320 aircraft, before increasing to 3X-weekly from June. Separately, FlyOne has announced its Chisinau-Malaga route will start on June 2, rather than March 31 as previously planned.
Air France will operate special direct flights to Nice in May and June 2026 to coincide with major events on the French Riviera, including the Cannes Film Festival and the Cannes Lions Festival. The airline will offer two roundtrip services between Los Angeles and Nice in May and four special flights between New York John F. Kennedy and Nice in June. All flights will be operated by Boeing 777-300ER aircraft.
Air China has launched a new 4X-weekly direct service between Beijing Capital International Airport and Abu Dhabi’s Zayed International Airport. The route complements the airline’s existing flights from Beijing Daxing. The carrier says the new service will strengthen links between China and the UAE and enhance onward connectivity across the Middle East, Africa and Europe via Abu Dhabi.
Jan. 26
Volotea has announced two new international routes from Sardinia for the 2026 summer season. The airline will launch 2X-weekly services from Olbia to Seville, operating on Tuesdays and Fridays, and from Alghero to Lyon, operating on Mondays and Fridays. The routes were awarded under the Sardinian region’s new routes incentive scheme. Olbia remains Volotea’s largest base in Italy and its third largest in Europe by capacity. In 2025, the airline operated 27 routes from Olbia, offering around 1.1 million seats.
Wizz Air is to further expand its Catania base with the allocation of a third Airbus A321neo from May. The additional aircraft will support the launch of a new 4X-weekly route to Tel Aviv, beginning May 5. The service will complement Wizz’s existing international network from Catania and Comiso, which already includes destinations such as Warsaw, London Gatwick, Budapest, Prague, Vilnius, Gdansk, Krakow, Bucharest Otopeni and Tirana. The ULCC will also increase frequencies from Catania to Milan Malpensa and Turin.
Air China and China Southern Airlines are increasing capacity on their Auckland routes ahead of the Lunar New Year period, responding to strengthening demand between China and New Zealand. Air China will boost its Beijing-Auckland service from seven to 10 flights per week between through March 2, adding 42% more seats over the peak Lunar New Year travel window. China Southern Airlines has already expanded its Guangzhou-Auckland operation for the 2025/26 northern winter season, operating up to 2X-daily flights and upgauging aircraft from 296-seat Boeing 787-9s to 360-seat 777-300ERs. The airline has also confirmed plans to operate 10X-weekly services from late March to late October, restoring pre-pandemic winter frequencies.
Related Content
