Welcome to my 135th weekly routes article! I have analyzed subjectively exciting services that began in the past week or so. As usual, multiple other example launches are listed at the bottom. Click here to see the last jam-packed edition.
This article is about choosing services that intrigue or are particularly significant, not covering them all.
Go Beond to Milan
The all-business-class Maldivian operator has inaugurated its next European route. It is to Milan Malpensa, operating via Dubai Al Maktoum in both directions to refuel. Of course, there is no fifth freedom service.
It uses an ex-easyJet, 44-seat A319, of which it has one, on the twice-weekly operation. Flights leave Malé at 13:15 and arrive in Milan 12h 55m later at 22:10 local time. Returning, they depart at 23:10 and arrive in the Maldives at 13:15 local – the same time 24h later.
Milan is Beond’s third European destination. It joins Munich and Zurich, both of which are also served twice-weekly. Of the trio, Zurich covers the greatest distance. There is no indication that the carrier’s first A321ceo – delivered initially to British Mediterranean – will be deployed to Europe.
avianca is back in France
It took over 20 years, and avianca’s newfound existence post-bankruptcy protection, but the Colombian flag carrier is back in France. It touched down in Paris CDG from Bogotá ahead of schedule on June 4.
The Star Alliance member runs five times weekly on the 787-8, the sole widebody type in its fleet. When it last served Paris, it used the 767. It competes directly with Air France (daily, A350-900). Excluding Spain, it is the only Europe-Bogotá market with more than one carrier.
avianca’s CDG-Bogotá flights depart at 08:40, quite a contrast to 22:05 from London Heathrow. Its CDG departure time is among the earliest daytime Europe-South American services this northern summer.
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These South America-bound flights leave Europe between 06:00 and 09:30.
Take off: ITA Airways to Dakar
ITA Airways replaced Alitalia. As you might expect, ITA operates many routes previously served by its predecessor. But Rome-Dakar is not one of them, at least not in the past twenty years.
The 2,226 nautical mile (4,122 km) route is not long enough to be classed as long-haul. Flights run four times weekly on the 165-seat A321neo. They leave Rome at 14:55 and, to drive connectivity, get back at 07:20+1. It competes with fellow Italian carrier Neos (weekly 737 MAX 8).
You can see the appeal. In 2023, about 40,000 people flew between Rome and Dakar, rising to ~245,000 for Italy generally – with Milan by far the largest market. However, as a lot of the market seems relatively low-yielding, it is hoped that ITA can capitalize on higher-yielding segments destined to/from other European cities.
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McAllen gets first Cancun link
Volaris has started flying between the Texas border city of McAllen (across from Reynosa in Mexico) and Cancun. The flights run twice-weekly on the A320ceo. Other nearby Cancun services go from Harlingen (with Sun Country) and Reynosa (with Viva Aerobus).
Photo: Volaris
Readers might wonder why I have chosen this route to focus on. Not only is Volaris a new airline at McAllen, but the airport pair has not been served before – and the water arch photo helps. McAllen again has two international links, with Cancun coexisting with Aeromexico Connect from Mexico City Felipe Ángeles.
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Which airlines do you think made the cut?
Ethiopian jets to Poland
Despite being mentioned in last week’s edition, Ethiopian’s launch of Addis Ababa to Warsaw deserves more than a passing reference. Although not an obvious route choice, it is mainly because of its relationship with fellow Star Alliance member LOT Polish.
The four-times-weekly service is currently on the 160-seat 737 MAX 8. All flights operate via Athens in both directions, although the timings, which are not good for the local market, contribute to the lack of fifth freedom rights. From late October, the stopover city will switch to Vienna, and the A350-900 will take over.
To maximize Africa-wide connectivity via Addis Ababa, flights depart Ethiopia at 23:35 and get to Warsaw at 08:05+1. Like many of the airline’s European routes, aircraft remain on the ground all day, leaving at 21:00 and returning at 06:55+1.
Last year, 114,000 roundtrip passengers traveled from Warsaw to/from sub-Saharan Africa, with Johannesburg, Seychelles, Zanzibar, Cape Town, and Nairobi being the five most popular markets. The market revolves around outbound tourism.
Take off: new China-Europe routes
The recovery of international routes from China continues apace, as evidenced by the multiple new services to Europe recently – many covered in previous editions of this article. It is no different this week. However, despite the influx of new services, China-Europe flights remain 12% lower than in July 2019.
Among other additions, Juneyao has inaugurated flights from Shanghai Pudong to Brussels, with a three-times-weekly 787-9 service. (This came shortly after it began flying to Manchester.) The Brussels airport pair has a second airline for the first time, as Juneyao joins Hainan Airlines (four weekly).
More unusually, Marseille has Chinese flights for the first time. Shanghai Airlines has started flying from its namesake city to the French airport on a three-weekly 787-9 basis. In 2019, before the pandemic, Shanghai had about half of all China-Marseille passengers, not that there were many.
Pegasus: Ankara to… Dublin
In a highly intriguing development, Pegasus has inaugurated the first-ever flights between the capitals of Türkiye and Ireland. The route covers 1,775 nautical miles (3,288 km) each way and operates a surprisingly high three weekly during the summer on the A320neo. It is Pegasus’ second-longest European route after Ankara-Lisbon.
Ankara-Dublin had only around 4,000 indirect point-to-point passengers last year – a tiny market. Almost no connections are available within a reasonable wait, so it will rely on stimulating demand.
It is also Pegasus’ only Ireland route, at least for now. How long until it begins Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen, its main airport, to Dublin? It started flying to Edinburgh from Sabiha Gökçen in late June.
Then there’s…
Many other routes have started in the past week or so. Among the long list was LATAM between Bogota to Madrid (sadly, no celebratory photos when writing), along with Puerto Montt to Concepción and Puerto Natales (all in Chile) and Lima-Huaraz (Peru) and more; flynas has commenced Riyadh-El-Alamein, becoming the Northern Egyptian airport’s only Middle East route; and Volotea has opened its Bari base (17 routes in the peak summer).
Frontier has started San Juan-Barbados, its only Barbados route; Pegasus Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen-Mashhad (Iran); Gol has resumed Belo Horizonte-Buenos Aires and more; SAS Copenhagen and Stockholm Arlanda to Tirana, Copenhagen-Dalaman, and others; and Jet2 has begun its first flights to Porto (initially from Manchester).
Solomon Airlines has reinstated the link between Brisbane and Luganville, Espiritu Santo, previously served by the now defunct Air Vanuatu; Ajet (formerly AnadoluJet) is now on Amsterdam-Ankara; easyJet Pisa-Barcelona, Nice-Kefalonia, among others; Ryanair Sarajevo-Thessaloniki, Bristol-Prague, Bari-Girona, and more; Transavia Montpellier-Rabat, Marseille-Heraklion…