Welcome to my 136th 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. As I am away next week, the next routes article will be out on July 30.
This article is about choosing services that intrigue or are particularly significant, not covering them all.
Qantas starts Perth-Paris CDG
History was made on July 12 when Qantas began the first non-stop flights between Perth and Paris CDG. The start was timed for the Olympics being held in France. It is among the world’s longest non-stop scheduled services at a considerable 7,702 nautical miles (14,264 km) each way and blocked at 17h 20m to France.
Photo: Qantas
The route originates and ends in Sydney. Qantas last served Paris 20 years ago. During 2024, it runs four weekly and later three weekly, all on the 787-9.
QF33 departs from Sydney at 13:55, arrives in Perth at 17:00 local, leaves at 19:35, and gets to France at 06:55+1. The first Perth-CDG flight took 16h 27m. Returning, QF34 departs at 10:00, gets to Perth at 08:30+1, and eventually to Sydney at 16:05.
Paris is Qantas’ third European route from Perth. It joins London Heathrow (daily) and Rome Fiumicino (three times weekly). The UK link started in 2018, while Rome first appeared four years later.
Related
Qantas Returns To Paris Charles de Gaulle With Nonstop Boeing 787 Dreamliners
After an absence of 20 years, Qantas is back in Paris as it keeps on whetting the appetite of Australians for the launch of Project Sunrise.
Europe gets 1-stop India 737 service
Operated by Italy’s Neos, it runs weekly from Milan Bergamo to Amritsar, the leading place for Sikhs. I have good memories of visiting the Golden Temple. The 186-seat, all-economy 737 MAX 8 is used. It stops in Aktau, Kazakhstan, to refuel in both directions.
Given the circuitous routing, it covers approximately 3,300 nautical miles (6,112 km) each way. N0376 departs Bergamo at 10:55, arrives in Aktau at 18:35 local time, leaves at 19:35, and arrives in India at 00:15+1 local. Returning, N0377 departs at 01:45 and returns to Italy via Kazakhstan at 09:25.
Photo: Milan Bergamo Airport
Neos began flying to Amritsar during the pandemic. While it initially used MAXs via Tbilisi, it now has 787-9 flights from Milan Malpensa and Rome Fiumicino. Curiously, it now serves Amritsar from Malpensa and Bergamo, both pretty close to each other.
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11+ Hours: A Look At Neos’ New 1-Stop Boeing 737 India Flights
It is the only 737-operated scheduled service between Western Europe and India.
China Airlines to Seattle
The Seattle to Taipei market has gained a third carrier: China Airlines. The 5,278 nautical mile (9,775 km) airport pair has never had a trio of non-stop operators before. Indeed, between 2009 and 2023, it had only one carrier: EVA Air. It was because China Airlines ended passenger flights there in 2008.
Things changed in June 2024 when Delta started non-stop flights for the first time. It replaced its previous one-stop operation via Tokyo, which existed until 2016. One, two, three airlines. As if that were not enough, a fourth carrier – yes, a fourth – will begin in August: Starlux. Who will blink first?
Back to China Airlines. While it previously deployed the A340-300 to Seattle, the route is now in the hands of the significantly more efficient but far less characterful A350-900. It runs five weekly, arriving in Seattle at 19:50 and departing for home at the fun time of 01:40.
Related
China Airlines Becomes 3rd Carrier On Seattle-Taipei With 4th Airline Starting Soon
Only one carrier operated it last year!
Prague welcomes first Mongolia flights
Mongolia’s tiny but long-established Eznis Airways has started flying between Ulaanbaatar and Prague in a highly intriguing development. It appears to be the sole scheduled service for what is among the world’s least-discussed carriers.
The route overflies Russia and operates twice weekly on Eznis’ sole A330-200, registered JU-1332. The aircraft is 25.2 years old and was delivered to Canada 3000 in 1999. After stints with Volare, Etihad, Alitalia, and others, it joined Eznis’ fleet in 2022.
The airport pair has never been served before. It appears to be premised on the Mongolian diaspora in Czechia, with 12,000+ people living there, quite significant for the Mongolian overseas population.
Ryanair celebrates Tangier base launch
Which is the largest airline serving Africa? While it may surprise you, the answer is Ryanair, despite only flying to Morocco on the vast continent. Of course, many people may prefer to examine North Africa and the sub-Saharan area separately, which would yield a very different result.
Ryanair has a considerable and fast-growing Moroccan network because the country has EU open skies. The ULCC’s latest development has seen the official launch of its Tangier base, its fourth in Morocco, alongside Marrakech, Fez, and Agadir. Oddly, its Tangier base actually opened in May.
It has served Tangier since 2008 and now has two 737s stationed at the airport, across the water from Spain. It has 25 Tangier routes, many of which are genuinely new this year.
Ryanair serves 12 Moroccan airports and will have 175 routes to/from/within the country until the end of the year. Most interesting are its 11 domestic links – the only time it has flown within Africa and entirely outside Europe! They began in March 2024.
Related
Ryanair Launches 4th Moroccan Base And 13 New Routes At Tangier
While operations at Tangier commenced in May, the airline has now made it its fourth official base in Morocco.
Salerno’s first airline flights in 12 years
Located south of Naples, Salerno reopened to airlines on July 11. The honor of the first landing went to Volotea from Nantes, which touched down at the airport at 08:00. easyJet followed from Milan Malpensa at 08:10. Universal Air begins on July 25 and Ryanair on August 1.
While Salerno’s airport shut in 2016, the last airline flights were 12 years ago, in 2012. The runway was extended to 6,561 feet (2,000 meters), enabling larger aircraft to operate with a full payload. Without this, it’d probably have remained a white elephant. A new, larger terminal is supposedly coming in 2026.
In the peak summer (July-September), Salerno has 13 routes. easyJet will fly from Basel, Berlin, Geneva, London Gatwick, and Milan Malpensa; Volotea from Cagliari, Catania, Nantes, and Verona; Universal Air from Malta; and Ryanair from London Stansted, Milan Bergamo, and Turin.
Reconnected after 13 years
Cairo to Prague has flights again. While the airport pair was last served by CSA (Czech Airlines, if you prefer) until 2011, it is now in EgyptAir’s hands. The Egyptian flag carrier runs three times weekly year-round on the 737-800 (despite what the model in one of the following photos suggests).
Prague is EgyptAir’s 25th European airport from the Egyptian capital. In the current week, MS739 departs from Cairo at 12:20 and arrives in Czechia at 15:20 local time. Returning, MS790 departs at 16:20 and arrives home at 20:55.
As expected, the timings fit with EgyptAir’s primary European departure/arrival banks, driving onward connectivity. That’s just as well: the Prague-Cairo point-to-point market only had 15,000 roundtrip passengers last year (20 passengers daily each way).
In contrast, Czechia-Egypt had 700,000+ passengers (959 PDEW), especially to Hurghada, Marsa Alam, and Sharm el Sheikh. EgyptAir’s new service connects some 20+ cities in Egypt, the Middle East, and Africa.
Then there’s…
Many other routes have started in the past week or so. Among the long list was Delta between Seattle and Dallas/Fort Worth, its ninth route to the Texas airport. Shortly afterward, Spirit began San Antonio-Dallas Fort/Worth, becoming the ULCC’s seventh-shortest route in July.
SalamAir introduced Muscat-Islamabad, one of 15 South Asian cities in its network this month; SyrianAir (remember them?) Damascus-Riyadh; and Cyprus Airways Larnaca-Barcelona (sadly, no photos).
Turkish Airlines has restarted flights to Turin, its ninth Italian airport; Akasa Air Mumbai-Abu Dhabi, its only route to the UAE capital, along with Mumbai-Jeddah and more; Qingdao Airlines from its namesake city to Kuala Lumpur; and Trade Air from Priština to Hahn.
Hainan Airlines is back on Beijing-Tijuana-Mexico City, having last served it in 2020. Neos has introduced Milan Malpensa to Nur-Sultan (Kazakhstan’s capital), apparently operated triangularly with Almaty, while Air Cairo is on Sharm El Sheikh-Madrid.
Avelo is now in Washington Dulles, having introduced the first flights from Tweed New Haven since 1991; Air Anka has started Antalya-Amsterdam and Hamburg; the Port of Spain is part of Frontier’s network for the first time, with flights from San Juan; Sun d’Or has touched down in Belgrade; Ajet is on Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen to Skopje…
That is it for this week’s example selection. See you next time.