Welcome to my 137th 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. As the peak summer has passed, fewer ‘major’ inaugurations exist than in previous weeks.

Frontier returns to San José

It took three years, but ultra-low-cost carrier Frontier is back in San José, one of seven California airports to see its frames. Frontier served San José until 2010 and then again from 2017 to 2021.

It has now returned, with the first two of five routes: Denver (daily) and the intrastate link to San Diego (daily). It is one of three carriers from Denver and four from San Diego. While Frontier served Denver-San José for years, the San Diego route is brand-new to its network.

Three more routes start on August 13: Las Vegas (daily), Los Angeles (daily), and Phoenix (daily). Of the trio, only Los Angeles hasn’t been served by Frontier before. Examining the carrier’s San Jose network shows that it previously flew to Atlanta, Austin, Cincinnati, Los Cabos, San Antonio, and Tulsa – some very briefly.

Air China’s 4th Milan route

Chinese carriers have recently introduced many new European routes. The latest example is Air China between Chengdu Tianfu and Milan Malpensa, which began on July 29. The year-round service runs three times weekly on the A350-900.

Given that there were barely 15,000 roundtrip passengers in 2019, it is not surprising that this is the first time that Chengdu has had nonstop Milan service. It became Air China’s fourth Malpensa route, joining Beijing Capital, Shanghai Pudong, and Wenzhou.

Cirium shows that August flights are 11% below August 2019 when all airlines operating between Europe and China are considered. However, Chinese carriers have 16% more European flights than before the pandemic – quite a development.

Antalya-Düsseldorf gets next airline

Charter carrier Air Anka has started its next route: between the Turkish tourist hotspot of Antalya and Düsseldorf. The pretty new airline, which currently has three A330s and one stored A319 and revolves around tour operators, first flew to the German city on July 25. Depending on the week, flights vary from weekly to daily.

In the all-important third quarter (July-September), Antalya has more Düsseldorf flights than any other international airport except Moscow Vnukovo. Depending on the day, Düsseldorf has 15+ flights. Many airlines operate, including Condor, Corendon, Eurowings, Freebird, Mavi Gok, Pegasus, SunExpress, and now Air Anka.

EgyptAir’s 3rd Euro route in 1 month

Egypt’s flag carrier inaugurated flights between Cairo and Lisbon on July 23. The Portuguese capital became the third European route added during the month, joining Zurich (July 8) and Prague (July 9). The Star Alliance carrier has served Lisbon before, but not since 2011.

Lisbon sees EgyptAir twice-weekly on the 154-seat Boeing 737-800. It is the carrier’s least-served European destination from its Cairo hub. At 2,059 nautical miles (3,814 km), it is also EgyptAir’s second-longest Cairo-Europe service after Dublin.

Partly because of the distance, Lisbon flights leave Cairo at 18:15 and get back at 06:35+. It is EgyptAir’s sole European route to be fully overnight. However, the major markets of London Heathrow and Paris CDG have red-eye services alongside day flights.

Related

EgyptAir Plans To Double Fleet & Boost Route Network By 2030

EgyptAir’s Airbus A350s will help it expand further afield, including to Shanghai and Los Angeles.

Aurigny props to Newquay

Regular readers of my work will probably know that I especially love smaller and/or less discussed developments. Aurigny fits the bill on its new route from its Guernsey base to Newquay. As a born-and-bred West Country lad, I love the following cream tea photo, but notice the horrendous aircraft image in the background!

Launched on July 23, the 111 nautical mile (205 km) overwater link is served on Tuesdays only using the carrier’s 72-seat ATR 72s. The last flight of the short summer season is on August 27.

The airport pair has not had non-stop flights before, or at least not in the past 20 years. However, it seems that Air Southwest’s Dash 8-300s briefly operated Newquay-Jersey-Guernsey in 2011, the year the carrier ceased to exist. Blue Islands operated it in 2019 with the ATR. Notably, Jersey no longer has Newquay flights.

The first Penang-Chongqing flights

Malaysia’s Firefly has launched the first-ever non-stop service between Penang and Chongqing. The lack of previous flights is unsurprising: only around 4,000 people traveled between the two cities in 2019 (and even fewer in 2023 due to the recovery). The mutual visa-free policy between China and Malaysia will aid traffic development.

The 1,504 nautical mile (2,785 km) route runs twice-weekly on the 737-800. FY3846 departs from Penang at 21:35 and arrives in China at 02:00+1 local. Returning, FY3847 leaves at 03:00 and gets back to Malaysia at 07:15. Ouch!

Penang is Chongqing’s second Malaysian destination after Kuala Lumpur, with nine weekly flights this week. Other cities, including Kota Kinabalu and Langkawi, previously had Chongqing service.

Then there’s…

Many other route launches and celebrations have occurred in the past week or so. Among the long list was Iberia Regional on the CRJ1000 between Madrid and Ljubljana; Malta’s Q400-operating Universal Air became the next carrier to serve Salerno; and Uzbekistan’s rarely discussed Centrum Air welcomed its first A321neo, with its inaugural revenue service between Tashkent and Bukhara.

Algeria’s Tassili flew to Paris Beauvais for the first time, although only for a very short period; Vueling celebrated 20 years in Brussels; Bratislava welcomed its one-millionth passenger in 2024; Discover Airlines (formerly Eurowings Discover) has celebrated its third birthday…

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