Nigel Mayes is the senior vice president, consulting & product development at ASM. Nigel has more than 15 years’ experience in route development and is responsible for product development at ASM.

The sister company to Routes, ASM is the world‘s leading route development consultancy and has supported the creation of new air services since 1993.

Route 1: Chengdu – Copenhagen

Image: byeangel

Data

Carrier
Aircraft	Airbus A330
Frequency	Twice weekly
Start date	10 December 2018
Distance	7,348 km
O&D traffic demand (2017)	3,706
Growth % YOY	8.4%
Average one-way fare $ (2017)	$362.34

Insight

Sichuan Airlines is launching new service to Europe from 10 December 2018. The airline plans to operate a route to Copenhagen in Denmark from Chengdu, the host city for World Routes in 2016. The service will be the carrier’s fourth European route in addition to flights from Chengdu to Moscow Sheremetyevo, Prague and Saint Petersburg’s Pulkovo. It will be served twice a week on Mondays and Fridays by an Airbus A330 with capacity for 301 passengers Since the China-Denmark Tourism Year in 2017, Copenhagen has now attracted three routes to Asia this year. The other two are Air China‘s Beijing-Copenhagen service and Cathay Pacific‘s Hong Kong-Copenhagen service. SAS also operates a service from Denmark's capital city to Shanghai.

Route 2: Washington Dulles – Tel Aviv

Data

Carrier
Aircraft	Boeing 777-200ER
Frequency	Three weekly
Start date	22 May 2019
Distance	9,506 km
O&D traffic demand (2017)	47,748
Growth % YOY	5.4%
Average one-way fare $ (2017)	$579.88

Insight

United Airlines will begin its 20th year of service to Israel with a new non-stop flight between its hub at Washington Dulles and Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion International Airport starting 22 May 2019, subject to government approval. The new flight will be the first to be operated by a US carrier between the two cities and becomes United’s fourth flight to Israel. The airline currently operates twice-daily service between New York/Newark and Tel Aviv and daily non-stop service between San Francisco and Tel Aviv. Greater Washington has a large Jewish population, with almost 300,000 inhabitants. A study published earlier this year by The Steinhardt Social Research Institute found that approximately two-thirds of Washington-area Jews have been to Israel or have lived there.

Route 3: Seoul Incheon – Okinawa

Data

Carrier
Aircraft	TBC
Frequency	Four weekly
Start date	2 November 2018
Distance	862 km
O&D traffic demand (2017)	426
Growth % YOY	10.5%
Average one-way fare $ (2017)	$143.92

Insight

Air Asia continues to strengthen its Asean connectivity with the launch of direct services between Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and Phu Quoc, Vietnam. The four weekly flights will commence on 2 November 2018. Phu Quoc is the largest island in Vietnam that is home to a diverse landscape featuring forests, beaches and mountains. Phu Quoc marks AirAsia Malaysia’s 59th route and the fifth route into Vietnam. Besides Phu Quoc, AirAsia also flies to four other destinations in Vietnam from Malaysia to Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang, Hanoi and Nha Trang.

Source: Sabre Market Intelligence