Routes in Brief: IndiGo, Ryanair, Avianca and more

Kanpur will become the 71st point in IndiGo’s domestic network and the tenth new regional destination this year. The airline will offer daily connectivity between Kanpur (KNU) and Delhi (DEL) from Oct. 31, while direct 6X-weekly flights will be available between Kanpur-Hyderabad (HYD), Kanpur-Bangalore (BLR), and Kanpur-Mumbai (BOM), starting on Nov. 1. “Kanpur, known for its leather and textile industries is one of the prime industrial centres in North India and the ninth-largest urban economy in the country,” IndiGo chief strategy and revenue officer Sanjay Kumar said.


Ryanair is adding 12 new routes from Naples (NAP) this winter, taking the number of destinations served from the airport to 46. The ULCC plans to station five aircraft at the airport during the season. New destinations are Agadir (AGA), Bucharest (OTP), Fuerteventura (FUE), Lanzarote (ACE), London Luton (LTN), Milan Malpensa (MXP), Prague (PRG), Sofia (SOF), Tallinn (TLL), Tel Aviv (TLV), Tenerife (TFS) and Zagreb (ZAG).


A new route is being opened between San Jose (SJO) in Costa Rica and Mexico City (MEX) by Colombian flag-carrier Avianca. Daily flights will begin on Dec. 1 using A319s. “Central America is an important market for Avianca and Costa Rica is at the center of our route expansion in the region,” Avianca general director for Central and South America David Alemán said.


Air Belgium is launching two flights per week from Brussels (BRU) to Curacao (CUR) from Dec. 15, which will operate via Punta Cana (PUJ) in the Dominican Republic. Flights will be onboard A330neo aircraft. The route sees the carrier switch from serving Curacao from Brussels Charleroi (CRL) with a stop in Fort de France (FDF).


Latvian airline airBaltic has launched direct flights between Riga (RIX) and Dubai (DXB), connecting the cities with four weekly flights. Service is onboard Airbus A220-300s. “Dubai has been one of the most demanded destinations among our passengers for some time now, and it will be hosting the Expo 2020, which attracts a lot of interest to this city,” airBaltic CEO Martin Gauss said. OAG data shows the carrier is the sole provider of nonstop Riga-Latvia flights. LOT Polish Airlines has also launched a new route to DXB, flying 3X-weekly from Warsaw (WAW) using 737-800s.


Smartwings has opened a new route to London Heathrow (LHR) from Prague (PRG). Four flights per week will be available on Thursdays, Fridays, Sundays and Mondays. The route, which began on Sept. 30, will be operated using 737-800s. OAG data shows that the airline will compete with British Airways in the LHR market, while easyJet serves Prague from London Gatwick (LGW) and Ryanair flies to the Czech capital from London Stansted (STN). In addition, Smartwings plans to resume daily flights from PRG to Dubai (DXB) on Oct. 20.


SAS Scandinavian Airlines has expanded the number of flights it offers from Stockholm (ARN) and Oslo (OSL) to New York. Newark (EWR) will be served with daily flights from Stockholm as well as 4X-weekly from Oslo, in addition to existing daily flights from Copenhagen (CPH). “Many people are looking forward to visiting family and friends in the US and the New York routes are also important for both business travel and air cargo,” EVP and CCO Karl Sandlund said.


Canadian ULCC Swoop is introducing a nonstop service from Toronto Pearson (YYZ) to Punta Cana (PUJ) in the Dominican Republic. The route launches on Dec. 5 with two frequencies per week. “Punta Cana has long been a traveler favourite and we are excited to begin operations to the popular Caribbean destination as we continue to recover our operations and return to a growth strategy this winter season,” Swoop head of commercial and finance Bert van der Stege said.


Cancun (CUN) in Mexico, Mauritius (MRU) and the Maldives (MLE) have been added to Austrian Airlines’ flight program this winter. Flights from Vienna (VIE) to Male in the Maldives start on Oct. 21, while Mauritius begins two days later. Both routes will be served twice a week. Additionally, service to Cancun starts on Oct. 24 and will be 2X-weekly. Austrian last served Cancun in 2006, while flights to Mauritius have been suspended since the onset of the pandemic. However, the Maldives route formed part of the airline’s 2020/21 winter network.

Photo credit: Arun Sankar/AFP/Getty Images

David Casey

David Casey is Editor in Chief of Routes, the global route development community's trusted source for news and information.