The latest airline route news, featuring network changes, schedule alterations, codeshares and interline agreements.
Nov. 8
Icelandic LCC Play reported a 10.5% year-over-year drop in passengers carried in October, as the carrier adjusts its network. The airline is increasing point-to-point service to leisure markets in Southern Europe while reducing its focus on connecting passengers through its Reykjavik Keflavik base to destinations in the U.S. and Canada, citing poor yields from its services connecting Europe and North America. The 10.5% drop in October passengers carried—to 138,155—“aligns with Play's strategy of gradually reducing its transatlantic capacity, which is reflected in the October traffic figures,” the airline said. Einar Örn Ólafsson, who took over as Play’s CEO in March, recently told Aviation Week that the carrier “will focus on the aspects of our business that have proven both successful and profitable—namely, transporting passengers between Southern Europe and Iceland.”
Pakistani LCC Fly Jinnah will open service this month from Lahore, Pakistan, to three Saudi cities. From Nov. 16, flights will start between Lahore and Jeddah. The route will initially be flown 4X-weekly with an Airbus A320 before moving to a daily frequency starting Dec. 6. Also on Nov. 16, Fly Jinnah will launch 2X-weekly A320 flights between Lahore and Dammam, increasing to 3X-weekly service on Dec. 7. From Nov. 15, the carrier will kick off flights between Lahore and Riyadh. That route will be flown with an A320 2X-weekly initially, moving to 3X-weekly service on Dec. 6.
The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA), which manages Reagan Washington National (DCA) and Washington Dulles (IAD) airports, has named Terry Liercke DCA airport manager. Liercke moves to DCA from IAD, where he served as airport operations manager. “In his new position, Liercke will oversee all management and operational functions at Reagan National,” MWAA said. He succeeds Paul Malandrino, who retired earlier this year after 17 years as DCA airport manager.
Nov. 7
Air Canada unveiled a host of routes for the 2025 northern hemisphere summer season. New service to Europe will include 4X-weekly seasonal flights between Montreal-Trudeau International Airport (YUL) and Naples, Italy (May 16 to Oct. 12, 2025); 4X-weekly seasonal service between YUL and Porto, Portugal (June 5 to Sept. 20); 3X-weekly seasonal flights between Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ) and Prague (June 6 to Sept. 29); and 2X-weekly service between Ottawa and London Heathrow (Mar. 31 to Oct. 23). Air Canada will also open three new transborder routes. Daily service between YYZ and Jacksonville, Florida, will kick off May 22, 2025, to be operated year-round. Seasonal daily flights between YUL and Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport on the border of Ohio and Kentucky will operate from May 22 to Oct. 14, 2025. The airline will also fly between Vancouver and Nashville, Tennessee, 3X-weekly on a seasonal basis from May 1 to Oct. 24, 2025.
TAP Air Portugal opened 3X-weekly flights to Manaus, Brazil, from Lisbon Airport (LIS), flying a route it previously operated. TAP is using an Airbus A321neo on the LIS-Manaus route, part of a three-city service that includes a stop in Belém, Brazil. TAP noted Manaus is the capital of the Brazilian state Amazonas. TAP now operates to 13 destinations in Brazil.
AirBaltic and Lufthansa have expanded their codeshare agreement. The Latvian carrier will add its code to Lufthansa flights from Munich Airport (MUC) to German cities Bremen, Cologne Bonn, Dusseldorf, Hamburg, Hannover and Stuttgart. The two carriers started codesharing in 2020. Lufthansa already has its code on airBaltic flights from MUC to three cities: Riga, Latvia; Tallinn, Estonia; and Vilnius, Lithuania.
Nov. 6
JetBlue Airways opened service between New York John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) and Flamingo International Airport (BON) on the Caribbean island of Bonaire. The JFK-BON route is being flown 2X-weekly year-round with an Airbus A320 aircraft. The island, a municipality of the Netherlands, adds to JetBlue’s Dutch Caribbean network, which also includes Aruba, Curaçao and St. Maarten. BON becomes JetBlue’s 34th destination in Latin America and the Caribbean.
UK carrier easyJet launched flights between Liverpool, England, and Derry, Northern Ireland. Derry becomes a new point in easyJet’s network. The route will be operated 2X-weekly year-round. EasyJet noted it bases seven aircraft at Liverpool’s John Lennon Airport (LPL). Derry becomes the fifth new destination launched from LPL by the carrier in the last 12 months, following the Greek island of Corfu; Enfidha, Tunisia; Hurghada, Egypt; and Malta. EasyJet now operates around 340 weekly flights from LPL.
Emirates Airline commenced service between Dubai and Edinburgh, Scotland, flying the route for the first time since 2020. The carrier will use a Boeing 777 on the route initially, but plans to switch to an Airbus A350. Service frequency will be daily.
South African Airways started flights between Johannesburg and Lubumbashi, Congo. The route will be flown 5X-weekly with an Airbus A320 aircraft.
LCC Air Arabia will launch service between Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Yanbu, Saudi Arabia, from Nov. 28. The UAE-based carrier will fly the route 2X-weekly with an Airbus A320 aircraft. Yanbu will become the 12th Saudi destination Air Arabia serves from Sharjah.
Nov. 5
Porter Airlines has launched service to Las Vegas Reid International Airport (LAS) from two eastern Canadian cities. The Toronto-based carrier will fly between Ottawa and LAS 4X-weekly. It is the only carrier operating between the Canadian capital and LAS. Porter has also commenced 3X-weekly service between Montréal-Trudeau International Airport (YUL) and LAS. In addition, Porter opened seasonal service between YUL and Fort Lauderdale, Florida. That route will be operated daily through April 22, 2025. All three routes are being flown with Embraer 195-E2 aircraft configured to carry 132 passengers.
American Airlines said it will ramp up service to Italy for the 2025 northern hemisphere summer season. The carrier will increase its daily service between Philadelphia and Rome Fiumicino Airport (FCO) to 2X-daily from June 5, 2025, flying the route with both a Boeing 787-9 and a 787-8. On the same date, the Oneworld carrier will launch daily flights between Miami and FCO using a 777-200 aircraft. From May 6, 2025, American will commence daily service between Chicago O’Hare and Naples with a 787-8, becoming the only carrier to operate the route. From June 5, 2025, the airline will open daily service between its Dallas-Fort Worth base hub and Venice with a 787-8.
UK leisure carrier Jet2.com has started using a new Airbus A321neo aircraft on flights between Edinburgh, Scotland, and Tenerife, Spain. The airline has a firm order for 146 A321neos with deliveries to continue through 2035. It now has 10 A321neos in its fleet, with the other nine operating from Birmingham and Manchester in England. Jet2.com’s A321neos are configured to carry 232 passengers.
Etihad Airways is now operating an Airbus A380 on daily service between Abu Dhabi and Paris Charles de Gaulle. The aircraft is configured to carry 486 passengers.
Related Content
