The latest airline route news, featuring network changes, schedule alterations, codeshares and interline agreements.
Sept. 25
Avelo Airlines will launch four routes from McKinney National Airport (DTX) in December and base a third aircraft at the Texas airport, expanding its network there to nine destinations. Flights to Denver International Airport and Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport will begin on Dec. 16, operating 4X-weekly. Service to Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport and Nashville International Airport will follow on Dec. 17, with both routes operating 2X-weekly. Avelo will station a third 184-seat Boeing 737-800 at DTX, taking its planned workforce at the base to about 150 employees.
Emirates plans to deploy an Airbus A350 on one of its three daily flights between Dubai International Airport and Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta International Airport from Oct. 25. The 298-seat aircraft will operate Flights EK717 and EK718, introducing Emirates’ premium economy cabin to the Kenyan market for the first time. The A350 is configured with business, premium economy and economy cabins. The deployment follows Emirates’ introduction of a third daily Dubai-Nairobi flight in July, increasing frequencies on the route to 21X-weekly.
EasyJet will add two routes from Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER) during the summer 2027 season, introducing nonstop flights to Rimini, Italy, and Ljubljana, Slovenia. Service to Rimini Federico Fellini International Airport will operate up to 2X-weekly from the start of the summer schedule. The airline will also serve Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport 2X-weekly. Both destinations will receive their first nonstop connections from BER.
Sept. 24
Finnair will operate up to 3X-daily flights between Helsinki and Tokyo during the peak summer 2027 season as it continues to expand capacity to Japan. The airline will add a second daily service from Helsinki Airport (HEL) to Narita International Airport (NRT) between May 12 and Aug. 14, alongside its existing daily Airbus A350-900 NRT operation. Finnair will also continue serving Tokyo Haneda Airport (HND) daily. The expansion will increase Finnair’s overall Japan schedule from 28X-weekly during summer 2026 to as many as 32X-weekly next summer. The flights will be timed to connect with destinations across the carrier’s European network. Finnair operates year-round flights to HND, NRT and Osaka, as well as summer service to Nagoya.
Condor plans to add flights from Frankfurt Airport (FRA) to Athens and Florence during the summer 2027 season, expanding its European city network to 16 destinations. Daily service to Athens International Airport will begin on Apr. 28, followed by 2X-daily flights to Florence Airport from May 6. Both routes will be operated using Airbus A320-family aircraft featuring business and economy cabins. The expansion forms part of Condor’s strategy to develop FRA as a connecting hub. As previously reported, Condor will also begin a 2X-daily, year-round service between Frankfurt and Stockholm Arlanda Airport on May 13.
ITA Airways is restoring a third daily flight between Rome Fiumicino Airport (FCO) and Tel Aviv Ben Gurion Airport from Oct. 25. The additional outbound service, Flight AZ812, will depart Rome at 4 p.m. and arrive in Tel Aviv at 8:20 p.m. local time. Flight AZ815 will leave Tel Aviv at 8:30 a.m. and arrive in Rome at 11:20 a.m. ITA Airways says the 3X-daily schedule will provide additional connections through its FCO hub to destinations across its domestic, international and intercontinental networks. The route will be operated using Airbus A321neo aircraft.
Starlux Airlines and American Airlines are launching a codeshare partnership on Sept. 30, expanding connecting options between Taiwan and 20 destinations across North America. Codeshare destinations include New York John F. Kennedy International Airport, Boston Logan International Airport, Philadelphia International Airport, Miami International Airport, Dallas Fort Worth International Airport and Las Vegas Harry Reid International Airport.
AirBaltic has confirmed plans to suspend nonstop flights between Riga International Airport and Dubai International Airport (DXB) for the 2026-27 winter season. The Latvian carrier says the decision followed an assessment of the situation in the region and potential operational restrictions affecting the routings normally used by flights to and from DXB.
Sept. 23
Condor plans to remove its daily services from Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER) and Stuttgart Airport to Dubai International Airport (DXB) from its winter schedule, citing challenging economic conditions across the global aviation industry. The German carrier says affected passengers would be contacted and offered rebooking or refund options under its conditions of carriage. Condor linked the decision to Germany’s high state-imposed aviation costs, which it said placed a particularly heavy burden on airlines. The carrier also argued that any expansion of international traffic rights should consider reciprocity, competitive neutrality and the effects on German airlines and domestic economic activity. This comes as Emirates was recently granted approval to serve DXB-BER daily, ending a 22-year wait to launch the route. Separately, Condor will launch service between Frankfurt Airport and Stockholm Arlanda Airport on May 13, 2027, expanding its European feeder network at its Frankfurt hub. The German carrier will operate the route 2X-daily using Airbus A320-family aircraft configured with up to 180 seats.
Thai AirAsia and Thai AirAsia X will restore 10 international routes during the fourth quarter of 2026 as they rebuild capacity for the year-end peak travel season. Thai AirAsia will resume flights from Bangkok Don Mueang International Airport (DMK) to Kuala Lumpur and Gaya on Oct. 25, followed by Ahmedabad on Nov. 6; Guwahati, Hyderabad and Lucknow on Nov. 16; and Jaipur on Nov. 17. Phuket-Siem Reap service will also restart Oct. 25. Thai AirAsia X will reinstate DMK-Sapporo flights on Oct. 1 and launch its resumed Nagoya service the following day. Sapporo frequencies will rise from 4X-weekly to daily on Dec. 1. The airlines reduced frequencies and temporarily suspended routes during the third quarter in response to softer demand and higher fuel prices. Together, they plan to serve 46 international cities across 53 routes from DMK during the 2026-27 winter season.
British Airways will increase flights between London Heathrow Airport and St. Louis Lambert International Airport during the summer 2027 season, raising capacity by 80% year-over-year. The airline will operate the route 5X-weekly from March 28, 2027, before increasing to daily service from April 19 through June 28 and again from Sept. 6 through Oct. 30. Boeing 787 aircraft will serve the route. The expanded schedule will add more than 35,400 seats between London and St. Louis compared with summer 2026.
Volotea has launched two new routes to Florence, Italy, from Seville and San Sebastian, Spain. The Spanish low-cost airline is offering up to two flights per week on each service. San Sebastian-Florence will initially operate on Mondays and Thursdays, switching to Thursdays and Sundays from November. The route is Volotea’s first international route from San Sebastian. Florence becomes Volotea’s third Italian destination from Seville, alongside Olbia and Verona. The new route also expands the carrier’s Seville network to 11 destinations—six domestic and five international.
Sept. 22
Riyadh Air plans to launch a 4X-weekly service between Riyadh and Milan Malpensa Airport on Dec. 16, marking the Saudi carrier’s first route to Italy. Flights will be operated using Boeing 787-9 aircraft. The addition further expands Riyadh Air’s European network and will see it compete with Flynas in the Riyadh-Milan market, according to OAG Schedules Analyser data. Earlier this month, the airline started a 3X-weekly route to Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport, followed by daily service to Manila Ninoy Aquino International Airport and a 3X-weekly route to Manchester Airport, England.
An Air Arabia-led consortium has launched operations from its base at King Fahd International Airport in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, with an inaugural flight to Riyadh. The new Saudi LCC is initially operating 2X-daily flights from Dammam to both Riyadh and Jeddah, alongside daily service to Madinah, using 174-seat Airbus A320 aircraft. The consortium, comprising Air Arabia Group, Nesma Group and Kun Holding, was selected by Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation in July 2025 to establish the new carrier. It received its air operator certificate earlier this month.
KLM will serve 164 destinations in 64 countries during the winter 2026-27 season, including 93 in Europe and 71 intercontinental markets, while increasing capacity on several routes. Minneapolis will return to the winter schedule for the first time since 2023-24, while San Diego will operate throughout the winter for the first time. Panama City will increase to as many as 10X-weekly and Sao Paulo to 9X-weekly, with additional capacity also planned to Curacao, Rovaniemi, Kittila, Florence and Basel. The airline intends to resume Amsterdam services to Dubai, Riyadh and Dammam, subject to conditions in the Middle East, and is working to restore 4X-weekly Kigali-Entebbe flights. KLM’s first Airbus A350 will also enter passenger service this winter, initially operating five of its 12 weekly Toronto flights before expanding to Montreal as well as several destinations in East Africa.
Icelandair has launched flights between Reykjavik’s Keflavik International Airport and Gdansk, Poland. Flights will operate up to 4X-weekly. “Poland is an important market for us, and this new route further strengthens the ties between our two countries,” Icelandair CCO Tomas Ingason says. “We see strong opportunities in both point-to-point travel and connecting traffic through Keflavik to and from North America.”
Aeromexico will commence two new nonstop routes from Mexico City to the Caribbean in March 2027. The carrier will begin 3X-weekly flights to Montego Bay, Jamaica, on March 18, followed by 3X-weekly service to Nassau, Bahamas, on March 19. Montego Bay flights will operate on Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays, while Nassau will be served on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Aeromexico says the additions will provide new nonstop options ahead of the Easter holiday period.
Sept. 21
Ryanair will increase capacity at Riga Airport, Latvia, by 6% during the winter 2026-27 season, adding 40,000 seats and operating 16 routes with two based aircraft. The airline will increase frequencies on 10 routes, including services to Barcelona, Spain, and Milan Bergamo, Italy. Ryanair says Latvia will be the only Baltic market where it will grow this winter, while its capacity in Estonia and Lithuania will fall by 25%, which it attributed to higher airport charges. The airline also outlined a five-year proposal to double its traffic across the three Baltic states to 11 million annual seats, supported by 16 based aircraft.
Australia and Indonesia have updated their bilateral air services agreement, allowing airlines from each country to operate an additional 5,000 seats per week between the two markets. The revised memorandum of understanding is the first update to the arrangements since 2011 and also expands traffic rights beyond Jakarta and Denpasar to destinations including Lake Toba, Borobudur, Mandalika, Komodo and Likupang. The agreement also allows Australian and Indonesian airlines to operate services to and from Western Sydney International Airport. The Australian government says the changes are intended to support increased passenger services and provide airlines with greater scope to expand connectivity between the two countries.
Frontier Airlines will launch service between Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport and New York LaGuardia Airport on Nov. 20 as it continues to expand into markets previously served by Spirit Airlines. Flights will operate daily during peak holiday periods and 3X-weekly at other times. The addition will take Frontier's Detroit network to 15 nonstop destinations, 11 of which were served by Spirit before it ceased operations earlier in 2026. Frontier is also increasing frequencies from Detroit to Fort Lauderdale, Tampa, Orlando and Miami. The airline expects to offer 41% more seats from Detroit in March 2027 than a year earlier.
Ethiopian Airlines will launch 4X-weekly service between Addis Ababa and Port Harcourt, Nigeria, on Dec. 1. Flights will operate on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays using Boeing 737-8 aircraft. Port Harcourt will join Lagos, Abuja, Kano and Enugu in Ethiopian’s Nigerian network, providing connections through Addis Ababa to destinations across Africa, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and the Americas. The carrier has served Nigeria since 1960.
Air New Zealand plans to increase capacity between Auckland and Hobart, Australia, when the seasonal route returns for a sixth season in October. Flights will operate 3X-weekly for most of the season, increasing to 4X-weekly between Feb. 27 and March 20, 2027, while the operating period will be extended from Oct. 25 through the end of April. Hobart Airport says the expanded schedule will provide up to 170 flights and more than 33,000 seats, representing increases of 27% and 28%, respectively, compared with the previous season.
Related Content
