Welcome to our rolling daily coverage of new routes alongside services that are scheduled to resume.
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April 7
Turkish leisure carrier Corendon Airlines has started flying from Birmingham Airport (BHX) in the UK. The airline is operating 2X-weekly to Dalaman (DLM) and 3X-weekly to Antalya (AYT) using Boeing 737-800s. The Antalya service is also being extended into winter 2022/23. “We plan to increase our Birmingham flights to many other popular holiday destinations in the following seasons,” Corendon Airlines representative Paul Riches said.
AirAsia is increasing service from Malaysia and Thailand to India. Routes from Bengaluru to Kuala Lumpur and Chennai to Kuala Lumpur commenced on April 1, while Tiruchirappalli-Kuala Lumpur started on April 5. The airline also plans to start service to Kuala Lumpur from Kochi on April 18; Kolkata on April 23; and Hyderabad on May 1. India-Thailand services include fights to Bangkok Don Mueang from Kochi and Jaipur on May 1; Kolkata on May 2; and Bengaluru and Chennai on May 4. “With Malaysia and Thailand reopening and travel restrictions being lifted, AirAsia will be continually re-introducing international services, starting from April 2022,” said Manoj Dharmani, AirAsia regional commercial head for India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
April 6
British Airways will continue to operate flights between London Heathrow (LHR) and Jersey (JER) for the next five years after reaching an agreement with airport operator Ports of Jersey. The airline has operated the Heathrow route to the island since July 2020. According to research produced by Oxford Economics, the enhanced connectivity from LHR is projected to deliver growth in GDP of £123 million ($161 million) per annum by 2025, supporting 1,200 jobs. “Along with giving islanders access to UK and rest of the world, it will bring enormous benefits for our business and tourism sectors,” Ports of Jersey CEO Matt Thomas said.
Air Serbia and ITA Airways have further expanded their codeshare cooperation, signed in November last year. Air Serbia will place its JU flight code on additional ITA-operated domestic flights via Rome Fiumicino (FCO), as well as international links to destinations including Barcelona, Cairo, Malta and Tel Aviv. ITA will place its code on Air Serbia flights between Belgrade (BEG) and Venice, as well as flights via the Serbian capital to Dubrovnik, Pula and Split.
Australia’s Jetstar has launched domestic flights between Melbourne (MEL) and Busselton Margaret River Airport (BQB). Flights will operate 3X-weekly using Airbus A320s. The LCC expects to carrier 50,000 travelers between Busselton and Melbourne each year. “We continue to see strong demand for domestic travel and for our new Busselton service, with our customers telling us they’re keen to explore places they’ve never been to before,” Jetstar CEO Gareth Evans said.
Air Malta has restarted flights to Madrid (MAD) after a 10-year hiatus. The link from Malta (MLA) to the Spanish capital will operate on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. “Our return to Spain’s capital city Madrid affirms our strategic commitment to connect the Maltese islands to major cities and major airports and to the affluent European catchments,” Air Malta executive chairman David Curmi said. “We have worked hard on an ambitious flight schedule that demonstrates our strong belief that travel and tourism will bounce back this summer. We have effectively doubled our capacity over last winter.”
Air Europa has resumed two routes to destinations in North Africa. Connections from Madrid (MAD) to Tunis (TUN) and Marrakech (RAK) will each operate 2X-weekly. The airline began operations to Marrakech in 2017 and to Tunis in 2019 but both routes were suspended because of the pandemic. A statement issued by Air Europa said both “performed well before the outbreak of the pandemic, and it is expected that they will continue along the same evolutionary line.”
April 5
Croatia Airlines is returning to Stockholm Arlanda (ARN) in June. The airline previously served the airport from Zagreb (ZAG) until 2019, and now plans to offer a route from Split (SPU). Flights from SPU will be 2X-weekly on Fridays and Sundays from June 10.
Kazakhstan’s Air Astana will launch direct services from Nur-Sultan (NQZ) and Almaty (ALA) to Heraklion (HER), the capital of the Greek island of Crete, on June 1. Flights will be operated using Airbus A321LR aircraft on Mondays and Wednesdays from Nur-Sultan, and on Tuesdays and Thursdays from Almaty. The airline said additional frequencies from both cities are under consideration.
Egyptair will resume direct flights to Mumbai (BOM) in May. OAG data shows the route from Cairo (CAI) will return on May 2, operating four times per week using Boeing 787-800s. Amr Abu El-Enein, chairman and CEO of Egyptair, said the service would “enhance [the carrier’s] existence in the promising Asian markets."
Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines will increase the frequency of its nonstop service between Los Angeles (LAX) and Sydney (SYD) beginning Dec. 16. The airline will operate 10 flights per week onboard A350-900s. Service departing LAX on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays will be added to the existing daily schedule.
April 4
Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) is adding two new destinations from Stockholm Arlanda (ARN): to Pärnu (EPU) in Estonia and Tivat (TIV) in Montenegro. Flights to Pärnu start on June 25, operating twice a week until Aug. 16. The Tivat route begins three days later on June 28 and will also operate 2X-weekly through Aug. 11. SAS said it intends to fly more than 200 direct routes from Scandinavia this summer to in excess of 100 destinations. As previously announced, Stockholm and Copenhagen (CPH) will receive new SAS routes to Toronto Pearson (YYZ) from June, operating 4X-weekly from ARN and 3X-weekly from CPH using A321LR aircraft.
Turkish leisure carrier Corendon Airlines has operated its first flight from London Gatwick (LGW) after the inaugural service to Antalya (AYT) took off April 1. The route will operate daily during the northern summer 2022 season. In addition to the Antalya service, the airline also plans to fly to LGW from Bodrum, Crete, Dalaman and Rhodes. “We are also planning to increase to many other popular UK holiday destinations in the following seasons,” Corendon Airlines UK commercial representative Paul Riches said.
Aeromexico is opening a third route from Mexico City’s new Felipe Ángeles International (NLU). The carrier plans to offer a 4X-weekly service to Puerto Vallarta (PVR) from May 1. Flights will be on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays. The airline also serves Mérida (MID) and Villahermosa (VSA) from NLU.
Air Arabia is resuming seasonal flights to Bodrum (BJV) and Antalya (AYT) in Turkey from Sharjah (SHJ) starting July 1. The LCC currently serves Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen (SAW) from Sharjah, while flights to Istanbul (IST) and Trabzon (TZX) are scheduled to operate from May.
TAP Air Portugal has restarted flying to Porto Alegre (POA) in Brazil. The route from Lisbon (LIS)—the second farthest in its network—will operate 3X-weekly and increases the number of Portugal-Brazil services offered by the airline this summer to 73 per week.
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