The latest airline route news, featuring network changes, schedule alterations, codeshares and interline agreements.
Nov. 28
Kuwait Airways and Emirates have expanded their commercial partnership, widening reciprocal access to each carrier’s global network and increasing itinerary options for passengers. The move builds on an MoU signed in April to deepen bilateral cooperation. Under the expanded agreement, Kuwait Airways gains access to 19 destinations served by Emirates across regions including Australia, China, Japan, South Africa, the U.S. and Cyprus. Emirates, in turn, will be able to offer connections to eight Kuwait Airways destinations, including points in Egypt, Turkey, Iraq and Azerbaijan. Meanwhile, Emirates will operate its Airbus A350 on all 7X-weekly flights to Baghdad beginning Jan. 1, 2026, replacing the Boeing 777 currently used on four of the rotations. The airline first deployed the A350 on flights EK941/942 to Baghdad in August.
LOT Polish Airlines plans to commence a new Warsaw-Heraklion route during the 2026 summer season. The carrier will operate three weekly flights—on Mondays, Fridays and Saturdays—starting May 30, 2026. Services will be flown with Boeing 737-8 aircraft. Heraklion becomes LOT’s fourth Greek destination, joining Athens, Thessaloniki and Preveza.
Norse Atlantic Airways has launched the nonstop service from Manchester, England, to Bangkok. The weekly Boeing 787-9 operation gives passengers in the North of England a direct connection to Thailand’s capital for the first time, eliminating the need to connect through other hubs. In 2024, around 230,000 travelers from Manchester Airport’s catchment flew to Bangkok via indirect routings.
KLM has started a new seasonal service between Amsterdam Schiphol and Kittila, Finland. The weekly route, operated with a Boeing 737-800 through March 22, 2026, expands the Dutch carrier’s presence in Lapland following its existing Rovaniemi service. “We see a very strong demand from the rest of Europe and beyond for travels to the northern part of Europe,” says Tom Verbugt, Air France-KLM’s Regional Director for Northern Europe and CIS countries.
Nov. 27
Porter Airlines has launched roundtrip service between Toronto Pearson and Nassau, Bahamas, expanding its growing portfolio of winter sun routes. The seasonal service will increase to daily flights on Dec. 12, with additional nonstop routes from Ottawa beginning Dec. 13 and from Montreal on Feb. 5. All flights are operated by 132-seat Embraer E195-E2 aircraft. “The introduction of Porter Airlines' service to the Bahamas is a win for both our tourism sector and our economy,” says Chester Cooper, the Bahamas' Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Tourism, Investments and Aviation.
LATAM Airlines Brazil is planning a series of adjustments to its international network starting in April 2026, expanding connectivity to North America, Europe and Africa. The airline will resume weekly Fortaleza-Miami service in April while maintaining Fortaleza-Lisbon, which will shift from 3 to 2X-weekly. Service on Sao Paulo Guarulhos-Miami will increase from 14 to 15X-weekly flights in May and to 16 in July. LATAM will also bring forward the launch of Sao Paulo Guarulhos-Cape Town to July. The route was previously scheduled to start in September using Boeing 787s.
Emirates will introduce its Airbus A350 on its Dubai-Montreal route from Feb. 1, 2026, replacing the Boeing 777 currently operating the daily service. The airline says the A350’s arrival “marks a significant enhancement to its services on the route,” adding that the rollout underscores its commitment to the Canadian market. The A350 will operate as flights EK243/244, complementing the airline’s A380 service to Toronto.
Spanish carrier Volotea plans to grow capacity at Bilbao Airport by 10% in 2026, bringing its offering to nearly 730,000 seats—the airline’s largest schedule at the airport since launching operations there in 2012. The expansion represents a 320% increase compared with 2018, the first year Bilbao became a base. Next year, the LCC will operate 21 routes from Bilbao across five countries.
Vietjet will resume service to Con Dao on Dec. 3, restoring one daily roundtrip from both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. The airline plans to increase frequencies to 2X-daily roundtrips on each route from Dec. 15 to meet year-end travel demand to the Vietnamese island.
Nov. 26
Iberia will add a new daily Madrid-Newark service on March 29, 2026, expanding its New York presence to three daily flights alongside its existing 2X-daily operations to New York John F. Kennedy International Airport. The new service will be operated using Airbus A321XLR aircraft. During summer 2026, Iberia will offer more than 350,000 seats between Madrid and New York, up by 42% on summer 2025. María Jesús López Solás, chief commercial, network development and alliances officer, says that diversifying between JFK and Newark “allows us to optimize operations and better adapt to market needs.”
Ryanair has unveiled its summer 2026 schedule at Bratislava, announcing three based aircraft, 10 new routes and predicted 70% traffic growth to 2 million passengers annually. The move brings the network to 33 routes, including new services to Alicante, Athens, Barcelona, Lamezia, Malaga, Naples, Palermo, Pisa, Tirana and Warsaw, alongside frequency increases on eight existing routes.
Southwest Airlines has extended its schedule through September 2026, unveiling growth in Southern California and new mainland Hawaii services. San Diego will see an all-time high of 139 peak-day departures in August and September 2026, alongside new daily service to Santa Barbara beginning Aug. 4. Southwest will also double daily roundtrips between San Diego and Portland, Salt Lake City and Seattle. In the Los Angeles region, new Burbank–Honolulu flights will begin Aug. 4, with Ontario-Honolulu starting June 4. The carrier will also launch Long Beach-Portland and Long Beach-Seattle service six times per week starting Aug. 4.
EasyJet will expand its Glasgow base in summer 2026, adding a seventh A320-family aircraft. The announcement follows the planned introduction of four new Glasgow routes for next summer—Pisa, Sharm El Sheikh, Lisbon and Malta—which bring the airport’s easyJet network to 42 destinations. Additionally, easyJet will grow its Liverpool base with the addition of a ninth A320-family aircraft. The move follows the announcement of two new Liverpool routes—to Lisbon and Paphos—set to launch next summer. At Bristol, the LCC will also base a 20th aircraft at the airport, increasing its network to 83 routes including new flights to Bari, Cape Verde, Reus, Seville and Thessaloniki.
Maldivian will increase service from Male to Trivandrum and Cochin to 5X-weekly flights from Dec. 19, enhancing connectivity between the Maldives and South India. All flights will be operated with Airbus A320 aircraft.
Nov. 25
Royal Air Maroc has applied for U.S. approval to launch nonstop service between Casablanca and Los Angeles, seeking exemption authority from the Transportation Department to begin flights in June 2026. The airline says it hopes regulators will act quickly so it can “initiate sales and advertising activities immediately upon receipt of all required government approvals.” Royal Air Maroc plans to operate the route using its Boeing 787-8 or -9 fleet and says the service “would represent the first nonstop service between Los Angeles and Casablanca,” expanding travel options for passengers and cargo.
TransNusa has launched nonstop service between Jakarta and Penang, expanding its regional network as demand grows between Indonesia and Malaysia. Flights will initially operate on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, increasing to daily service on Dec. 1. “Penang International Airport is Malaysia's second-busiest airport and provides access to more than 20 international and domestic destinations,” TransNusa Group CEO Bernard Francis says. “It has become the strongest alternative to [Kuala Lumpur], offering robust long-term incentive structures that many secondary airports in the region do not yet provide. This made the Jakarta-Penang route not only viable but highly strategic for our network expansion.”
Uganda Airlines has signed a new interline agreement with South Africa-based Airlink, expanding connectivity for travelers across both networks. The partnership will allow passengers to travel on a single ticket from Entebbe through Johannesburg to more than 45 destinations across Southern Africa. “This interline agreement is a significant step in our aspirations of making intra-African travel easier,” Uganda Airlines CCO Adedayo Olawuyi says.
Frontier Airlines has launched a 2X-weekly nonstop service between Memphis International Airport and Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, operating on Thursdays and Sundays. The carrier already serves Denver from Memphis. "We are excited to soon begin offering our ultra-low-fare flights from Memphis to Atlanta, which is one of our largest operational bases and offers many connecting opportunities to destinations beyond," says Frontier Airlines Vice President of Network and Operations Design Josh Flyr.
Nov. 24
Air Arabia plans to add London Gatwick Airport (LGW) to its network next spring, launching double-daily flights from Sharjah, starting on March 29, 2026. Service will be operated using Airbus A321LR aircraft. “The launch of our new service to London Gatwick marks a significant milestone in Air Arabia’s ongoing growth journey,” Group CEO Adel Al Ali says. “This expansion reflects our continued commitment to connecting our key markets with greater reach and convenience.” Air Arabia Maroc already serves LGW from Tangier three times per week, OAG Schedules Analyser data shows.
Etihad Airways will deploy its Airbus A380 to Tokyo Narita from June 16, 2026. Tokyo joins London, Paris, Toronto and Singapore on the carrier’s A380 network as the airline prepares to return its eighth A380 to service. “We've seen strong demand from customers for more seats to Japan, and the A380 allows us to deliver that,” says Etihad Chief Revenue and Commercial Officer Arik De.
Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) and Vietnam Airlines have expanded their codeshare partnership to coincide with Vietnam Airlines’ launch of nonstop Ho Chi Minh City-Copenhagen service on Dec. 15. SAS will place its code on Vietnam Airlines flights from Copenhagen to Ho Chi Minh City and onward to Hanoi, Da Nang, Phu Quoc, Da Lat and Hue. Vietnam Airlines will codeshare on SAS services beyond Copenhagen, including domestic routes to Aarhus, Aalborg and Billund, and intra-Scandinavian flights to Stockholm, Oslo, Gothenburg, Bergen, Stavanger, Trondheim and Helsinki.
Vietjet has launched its first route to the Philippines, adding 5X-weekly Ho Chi Minh City-Manila service. The carrier is also boosting its Vietnam-Japan network with expanded Hanoi-Hiroshima service. From Dec. 20, frequencies will rise to four roundtrip flights per week—adding Saturday service to the existing Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday operations—and lifting the LCC’s Vietnam-Japan operation to more than 70X-weekly return flights.
Air India will reinstate its codeshare agreement with Air Canada from Dec. 2. The agreement allows Air India to place its AI code on Air Canada flights from Vancouver to Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Montreal and Halifax, and from London Heathrow to Vancouver and Calgary. In return, Air Canada passengers gain seamless connections to Amritsar, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Kochi via New Delhi, and to New Delhi and Mumbai via London Heathrow. “More than two million people travel between India and Canada every year,” Air India CEO Campbell Wilson says. “The reinstatement of our partnership with Air Canada eases journeys for thousands of them every day moving forward.” Additionally, Air India plans to increase its New Delhi-Manila service from 5X-weekly flights to daily starting Dec. 11.
Aurigny is supporting partner airline Skybus after it secured an emergency public service obligation contract to operate Newquay-London Gatwick flights from Nov. 23, following the collapse of Blue Islands. Skybus had planned for Blue Islands to operate the service, but this became impossible after the carrier entered administration. Aurigny says it is assisting “without redirecting or using any of its aircraft or Guernsey-based resources,” adding that it is providing ground handling at Gatwick “under commercial terms,” consistent with its handling of Eastern Airways on the same route. “For clarity, Aurigny is not providing any of its aircraft, pilots or engineering resources to support this operation,” the airline says. Residual capacity from Skybus’s wet-lease provider will be available to Aurigny if needed, strengthening resilience over the Christmas and New Year peak.
Qatar Airways has expanded winter capacity from Doha to Kuala Lumpur, Lagos, Shanghai and Singapore as part of broader schedule enhancements that add frequencies to more than 15 destinations. From Dec. 17, Kuala Lumpur increases from 14 to 17X-weekly services. Lagos will rise from 10 to 14X-weekly flights from Dec. 15 to March 28, while Shanghai grows from seven to 10X-weekly between Jan. 1 and March 28. Additionally, Singapore will see select flights operated by Airbus A380 aircraft from Jan. 12.
Spirit Airlines has launched its first flights to Belize City, introducing the only nonstop service between Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and Philip S.W. Goldson International Airport. The route operates three times weekly—on Mondays, Fridays and Saturdays—and expands the ULCC’s international network from Fort Lauderdale to 24 destinations. The service offers one-stop connections from 19 additional cities and follows Spirit’s recent launch to Key West, with Grand Cayman service beginning Dec. 4.
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