As the northern winter 2023-24 schedule gets underway on Oct. 29, airlines around the world are adjusting their networks to account for traffic seasonality. Among the changes happening this month are a string of new long-haul routes being launched by the likes of Air Canada, Air France, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines.
Two of the more eye-catching services starting in October are between Los Angeles and Auckland. Both Delta and United will enter the market on Oct. 28, with Delta providing daily service using Airbus A350 aircraft and United flying three times per week using Boeing 787-9s.
The two U.S. carriers will provide competition for Air New Zealand, which is currently the sole carrier serving the 4,046-mi. (5,659-nm) sector nonstop. The surge in activity is set to push nonstop weekly seat capacity to about 11,100 two-way seats by early November, up from 6,840 at present.
Fellow North American carriers Air Canada and American are each making alterations to their Middle East networks this month, with Air Canada opening a new route to Dubai and American switching its Doha, Qatar, service to Philadelphia.
Air Canada will commence a nonstop route between Vancouver International Airport and Dubai International Airport (DXB), operating four times per week from Oct. 28 using 787-9s. The service will become the Canadian airport’s sole connection to the Middle East and the airline’s second to DXB, alongside its existing flights from Toronto Pearson International Airport. The move comes after Canada and the United Arab Emirates expanded their air services agreement in April to allot 21 flights per week for each country, which is 50% more than what was previously available.
Meanwhile, American is suspending its 6,690-mi. (5,814-nm) daily service between New York John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) and Doha’s Hamad International Airport (DOH), which launched last summer as part of efforts to further deepen ties with fellow Oneworld alliance member Qatar Airways. Instead, American will operate flights to DOH out of Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) from Oct. 29. In turn, Qatar Airways will end DOH-PHL flights and increase capacity to JFK.
Other notable new routes launching in October include Air France’s flights between Paris Charles de Gaulle and Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, which will operate 3X-weekly from Oct. 30 using 787-9s, and Etihad Airways’ 5X-weekly flights to Osaka from Oct. 1, marking the airline’s inaugural passenger service to the Japanese city.
Elsewhere, Eurowings will return to Dubai for the first time since April 2016. Flights from Stuttgart, Germany, will start on Oct. 29, followed by service from Berlin the next day. Both routes will operate using A321neos. SAS Scandinavian Airlines is also resuming flights to Thailand's capital Bangkok after an absence of nearly 10 years, and South African Airways is set to reintroduce long-haul flights for the first time in more than three years, establishing a new route linking Cape Town and São Paulo.
Starting on Oct. 31, flights from Cape Town International Airport (CPT) to Sao Paulo's Guarulhos International Airport will operate twice a week on Tuesdays and Saturdays. It will become the carrier’s first intercontinental route from CPT in 11 years since flights to London Heathrow ended in August 2012.
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