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: Tel Aviv – Chicago O’Hare

Data

Carrier
Aircraft	Boeing 787-8 and 787-9
Frequency	Three weekly
Start date	22 March 2020
Distance	9,923 km
O&D traffic demand (2018)	99,575
Growth % YOY	9.0%
Average one-way fare $ (2018)	$455.71

Insight

El Al Israel Airlines has confirmed the schedule for its planned route between Tel Aviv and Chicago O’Hare. The service will start on 22 March 2020 and operate three times per week using a mix of Boeing 787-8 and 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft. Chicago will become El Al’s ninth destination in North America as the airline continues to grow its network in the region. In May 2019, the carrier will open its long-awaited route from Tel Aviv to San Francisco and the following month it will begin service to Las Vegas. It also serves New York (Newark and JFK), Boston, Los Angeles, Miami, Orlando and Toronto. The US - Israel market is 2.7 million in size and grew by 7 percent in 2018, compared with the previous 12 months. However, 61 percent of passengers fly indirectly between the two countries. It is clear the carrier is seeking out leisure destinations that Israelis want to visit.

Route 2: Shenzhen – Rome

Data

Carrier
Aircraft	Boeing 787-8
Frequency	Two weekly
Start date	30 May 2019
Distance	9,249 km
O&D traffic demand (2018)	3,598
Growth % YOY	3.8%
Average one-way fare $ (2018)	$320.98

Insight

Hainan Airlines has opened reservation for its latest international flight from Shenzhen which will connect the city in south east China with Italy’s capital Rome. The route will begin on 30 May 2019 and operate twice weekly using Boeing 787-8 aircraft. Confirmation of the airline’s plans came soon after Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit to Rome. During the visit, Italian leaders signed a memorandum of understanding to participate in China’s Belt and Road Initiative, a state-led development strategy. Hainan currently operates two twice-weekly services to Rome from Chongqing and Xi'an. China Southern flies to Guangzhou and Wuhan, while China Eastern and Air China operate daily services to Shanghai and Beijing respectively. Shenzhen is a massive city in its own right with a population of about 12.5 million. According to a report by the China Tourism Academy and the travel agency Ctrip, Italy is the second most popular European destination for Chinese tourists with a total of 1.8 million trips made in 2018.

Route 3: Frankfurt – Las Vegas

Data

Carrier
Aircraft	Airbus A330-200
Frequency	Three weekly
Start date	27 October 2019
Distance	8,962 km
O&D traffic demand (2018)	122,237
Growth % YOY	0.4%
Average one-way fare $ (2018)	$397.20

Insight

Eurowings is planning to add a new long-haul route from Frankfurt as part of its winter 2019/20 schedule. From 27 October 2019, the low-cost carrier will fly between Frankfurt and Las Vegas, the host of Routes Americas 2017, three times per week using Airbus A330-200 aircraft. The airline is no stranger to the Las Vegas market, having previously operated routes from Cologne Bonn and Munich. In July, it will begin a three-weekly service to Las Vegas from Dusseldorf using Airbus A340-300 equipment. Eurowings will compete with Condor Flugdienst on the route from Frankfurt, which has also scheduled a three-weekly service for winter 2019/20.

Source: Sabre Market Intelligence