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: Doha – Osaka Kansai

Data

Carrier
Aircraft	Airbus A350-900XWB
Frequency	Five-weekly
Start date	6 April 2020
Distance	7,905 km
O&D traffic demand (2018)	668
Growth % YOY	-50.3%
Average one-way fare $ (2018)	$897.75

Insight

Qatar Airways is to resume service to Osaka in Japan from 6 April 2020. The flight will be operated by an Airbus A350-900 aircraft, featuring 36 seats in business class and 247 seats in economy. The operation will initially begin with a five times weekly service, increasing to a daily service from 23 June 2020.

Osaka will be the airline’s third route to Japan. It began direct services to Tokyo Narita in 2010 and launched its Tokyo Haneda service in 2014 from Doha’s Hamad International Airport (HIA). The oneworld carrier also previously operated the Doha - Osaka route until March 2016 but dropped it because of “commercial reasons”. Qatar Airways' Gulf rival Emirates currently operates daily service between Dubai International and Osaka Kansai.

Osaka is located in the Kansai Region, which is home to well-known attractions like Arima Onsen - one of the most famous and oldest hot springs and Nara, the former historic capital. Visitors can also see historical landmarks including UNESCO World Heritage Sites such as Himeji Castle.

Route 2: Kolkata – Guangzhou

Credit: Byeangel

Data

Carrier
Aircraft	Airbus A320
Frequency	Daily
Start date	17 October 2019
Distance	2,541 km
O&D traffic demand (2018)	24,128
Growth % YOY	25.7%
Average one-way fare $ (2018)	$204.66

Insight

Indian low-cost carrier IndiGo is to launch its second route to China in October. The airline plans to serve Guangzhou, the host city for World Routes 2018, from Kolkata. The route will operate daily using Airbus A320 aircraft from 17 October 2019. IndiGo launched its first route to China earlier this month, operating between Delhi and Chengdu.

Guangzhou, one of the world’s oldest and busiest trade hubs, is located in the province of Guangdong, which contributes one eighth of China’s aggregate economic value. The city currently has two non-stop links to India, but the route to Kolkata is unserved. China Southern Airlines flies Delhi - Guangzhou twice daily, while RwandAir operates Mumbai - Guangzhou three times per week.

According to data from Sabre Market Intelligence, O&D traffic between Kolkata and Guangzhou totalled 24,128 two-way passengers in 2018, a rise of almost 26 percent on the previous 12 months. The top connecting city was Kunming.

Route 3: Copenhagen – Los Angeles

Data

Carrier
Aircraft	Airbus A330-300/340-300
Frequency	Six-weekly
End date	13 January 2020
Distance	9,028 km
O&D traffic demand (2018)	74,926
Growth % YOY	6.5%
Average one-way fare $ (2018)	$421.77

Insight

Scandinavian carrier SAS is opening a year-round route to Los Angeles from Copenhagen from early next year, replacing its current service from Stockholm. The route will “relocate” to Denmark’s capital on 13 January 2020, initially operating six-weekly before increasing to daily in March. As reported by Airlineroute, the Star Alliance carrier previously served Copenhagen – Los Angeles until August 1994.

Karl Sandlund EVP commercial at SAS, said Los Angeles is one of the most in-demand intercontinental routes from Copenhagen, and an important route for our leisure customers in particular. “The timetable is attractive, and thanks to the economies of scale we can achieve in fully utilising our fleet, we are in a position to provide a daily service from Copenhagen Airport,” he added.

Source: Sabre Market Intelligence