June 30
Jetstar will launch a fourth weekly return service between Sydney and Seoul Incheon from Feb. 5, 2024. The airline started flying between Sydney and the South Korean capital in November 2022 and currently operates three return flights a week. The additional flight will add about 30,000 extra seats annually. The expansion comes a week after Jetstar announced three new return flights per week between Brisbane and Seoul starting on Feb. 1. Additionally, the LCC’s inaugural flight from to the Cook Islands took off from Sydney on June 29—the first time an Australian airline has serviced the South Pacific route since Ansett three decades ago. Sydney-Rarotonga will be served 3X-weekly using Airbus A321LRs.
Leeds Bradford Airport, England, will become a new point in SunExpress’ network during the summer 2024 season. The Turkish airline will serve the airport from Antalya three times per week, starting next March. SunExpress has also appointed Eray Mert as UK and Ireland country manager to help further the carrier’s growth in the region. It currently flies to London Gatwick, London Luton, Manchester, Birmingham, Newcastle, Bristol, and Edinburgh in the UK.
Belarussian carrier Belavia is launching a new nonstop route to India. Minsk-Delhi will commence on Aug. 11 with one flight per week. A second weekly frequency is scheduled to begin on Sept. 20. The flight time to Delhi will be about 6 hours 40 minutes, while the return to Minsk will be 7 hours 15 minutes.
Irish airline Aer Lingus is opening a new route from Cork Airport to Lyon. Starting Dec. 23, flights will operate once a week on Saturdays. Additionally, the carrier has announced plans to resume service from Cork to Tenerife from Oct. 28 and to Malaga, which will operate over Christmas and the February mid-term break. Cork-Lanzarote will also double from two flights per week to 4X-weekly during the peak winter travel period.
American Airlines has extended its seasonal nonstop services from Philadelphia (PHL) to Lisbon and Barcelona to year-round. “We thank American Airlines for recognizing our passengers’ desires to travel to these popular European destinations all year long and adding more Lisbon and Barcelona flights to their PHL roster,” said PHL CEO Atif Saeed. In addition to Lisbon and Barcelona, American Airlines’ year-round PHL transatlantic service includes London, Dublin, Amsterdam, Zurich, Paris, Madrid, and Rome.
Australia’s Rex has launched daily flights connecting Adelaide and Sydney. The inaugural service between the two cities commenced on June 29, utilizing the airline’s fleet of Boeing 737-800NG aircraft. “Rex has again demonstrated its strong support for the Adelaide market, having introduced the Adelaide-Melbourne route in 2021,” Adelaide Airport managing director Brenton Cox says.
June 29
Ryanair is cutting six routes from Venice Marco Polo Airport, Italy, and reducing frequencies on six more during the winter 2023-24 season. The ULCC is blaming Venice Municipality’s decision to implement a €2.50 ($2.73) tax increase for passengers departing the airport from May 30, adding to a €6.50 tax already in place. The airline said capacity would be relocated to airports in Spain and Portugal. The canceled routes are to Alghero, Bournemouth, Cologne, Fuerteventura, Helsinki and Nuremberg.
Canada Jetlines has received a foreign Air Operator Certificate from Jamaica’s government, enabling the airline to launch flights to the Caribbean country. Transport Canada has also added North Atlantic operations to Jetlines’ certificate that will allow it to operate charter flights to Greenland this summer. Additionally, the airline says it is in the process of obtaining a European Third Country Operator certificate, so it can bid on wet lease contracts in summer 2024.
Luxair is opening a route from Luxembourg to Slovenia’s capital Ljubljana. Service begins on Sept. 14 and will be operated twice a week on Thursdays and Sundays. Ljubljana becomes the 93rd destination in the airline’s network.
China Southern Airlines is opening three new routes to Bangkok Don Mueang in July. Flights from Jieyang start July 4, operating 3X-weekly, followed by daily service from Wuhan on July 6. The third route begins on July 10, linking Nanning and Bangkok four times per week. Frequencies on this route will rise to daily from Aug. 1.
June 28
The Australian government released preliminary flight paths for Western Sydney International Airport (WSI), which is under construction and slated to open in 2026. Qantas Group earlier this month committed to operating up to 15 aircraft on domestic routes from the airport in 2026. WSI will be Sydney’s second airport, with capacity to handle 10 million annual passengers. Unlike Sydney Airport, WSI will not have a night curfew, making the flight paths a potentially contentious issue for residents living near the airport. The airport will have one runway when it opens.
“Importantly, the preliminary flight paths were developed according to airspace design principles that reflect community feedback," Catherine King, Australia’s infrastructure and transport minister, says in a statement. "These principles include minimizing flights over residential areas and reducing the impact on the community of aircraft operations at night.” King says a draft environmental impact statement on “the noise, social and environmental impacts of the preliminary flight paths” will be released later this year. Qantas has said routes to be opened in the first year of WSI’s operation will include Brisbane, Melbourne and Gold Coast.
U.S. wet lease specialist Omni Air International has started operating two scheduled routes between Mongolia and Europe under an aircraft, crew, maintenance and insurance (ACMI) agreement with MIAT Mongolian Airlines. An Omni-operated Boeing 767-300ER is flying 3X-weekly from Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, to both Frankfurt and Istanbul on behalf of MIAT. Tulsa, Oklahoma-based Omni says it will operate the routes through Aug. 14 while MIAT waits for delivery of a Boeing 787-9 aircraft to take over the services.
Delta Air Lines has named Matteo Curcio the airline’s new senior vice president for Europe, Middle East, Africa and India, while Jeff Moomaw has been named vice president for Asia Pacific. “Based in Paris, Curcio will be responsible for overseeing all commercial activities across the [Europe/Middle East/Africa/India] region while further developing long-term growth opportunities with Delta’s joint venture partners Air France-KLM and Virgin Atlantic,” Delta says in a statement.
Curcio previously served as vice president for Asia Pacific. That role will now be taken by Moomaw, who will be based at Delta’s regional Seoul headquarters heading “overall business strategy planning and execution across the [Asia/Pacific] region,” the airline says. Moomaw will oversee Delta’s transpacific joint venture with Korean Air. He previously served as Delta’s managing director for international customer experience and partner consulting, working from Delta’s Atlanta headquarters. “Delta's commitment to international success hinges heavily on the Asia-Pacific region, one of the world’s most dynamic markets,” Delta President-International Alain Bellemare says.
June 27
U.S. startup Breeze Airways will open service between Tampa International Airport (TPA) in Florida and Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT) in Pennsylvania from Oct. 5. The route will be operated 2X-weekly. That same week, the carrier will also add 2X-weekly service from TPA to both John Glenn Columbus International Airport in Ohio and West Virginia International Yeager Airport in Charleston, West Virginia. The new routes will bring to 15 the number of airports served by Breeze from TPA.
Omani LCC SalamAir will launch service between Muscat International Airport (MCT) and Fujairah International Airport (FJR) in the United Arab Emirates from July 12. The route will be operated 4X-weekly. FJR will bring SalamAir’s network to 39 destinations across 13 countries. “The introduction of Fujairah to our destination network is part of our strategic plan to expand our reach within the regional routes we offer,” CEO Mohamed Ahmed says in a statement. “We are certain that this new route will be a popular choice for all travelers.”
June 26
Air New Zealand started seasonal service between Auckland Airport (AKL) and Sunshine Coast Airport (MCY) in Australia on June 25. Flights will operate 3X-weekly through Oct. 15. MCY GM-Aviation and Commercial Scott Norris says: “The return of Air New Zealand will connect … locals, many of whom are from New Zealand, with friends and family across the Tasman, while also unlocking travel destinations in North America, Asia and the world [via Air New Zealand's AKL hub]." Overall, airlines collectively serve 16 destinations from MCY, according to the airport.
SriLankan Airlines says it has been operating a “reduced fleet” of 15 aircraft instead of a planned 18 aircraft for the past two months, “which has unfortunately impacted the airline’s flight schedule and on-time performance.” The airline explains in a statement that “prolonged time” was needed to complete C checks on two Airbus A320neo aircraft and another A320neo has had a delayed engine replacement because of an “ongoing short supply of engines for Airbus A320neo aircraft in the global marketplace.” SriLankan Airlines predicts the situation will improve by mid-July. “The two aircraft undergoing C checks will finally return to operations,” the carrier states.
Turkish Airlines’ LCC subsidiary AnadoluJet launched 3X-weekly flights between Izmir in Turkey and Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. “By connecting these two close knit nations via the Izmir-Baku route … we are also facilitating the enhancement of the commercial and cultural friendship between Turkey and Azerbaijan,” Turkish Airlines CCO Kerem Sarp says in a statement.
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