Routes In Brief: Rolling Daily Updates (W/C March 14, 2022)

Credit: Rob Finlayson

Welcome to our rolling daily coverage of new routes alongside services that are scheduled to resume.

Do you have a story you would like us to feature? Let us know your network news.


TAP Air Portugal is resuming service to Venezuela to help meet the needs of the large Portuguese community living in the Latin American country. Regular scheduled flights between Lisbon (LIS) and Caracas (CCS) will return on June 21, operating twice a week on Tuesdays and Saturdays. Ahead of that, the carrier plans to operate three special flights on April 21, May 5 and May 16. The route will be operated using Airbus A330neo equipment.


Flights to New Zealand and Japan are set to return to Air Tahiti Nui’s network. Service between Tahiti’s Faa'a International (PPT) and Auckland (AKL) will return on July 2, operating twice a week. The airline also plans to offer a 1X-weekly flight between PPT and Tokyo Narita (NRT) from July 7, so long as the “reopening the borders announced by the Japanese authorities are maintained.”


Emerald Airlines, operating as Aer Lingus Regional, has launched a route linking Dublin (DUB) and the Isle of Man (IOM). The route will be offered six times per week, with Emerald becoming the sole carrier operating nonstop flights between the destinations. “As the demand increases, travellers are looking for more convenient and affordable options for travel between the Isle of Man and Ireland, and we want to facilitate just that,” Emerald’s head of commercial Ciarán Smith said.


Bordeaux Airport’s (BOD) summer 2022 schedule will comprise 123 nonstop routes, including 13 new services. The bulk of the new routes are set to be operated by Ryanair, which is launching flights to 11 destinations. The ULCC will add flights to Zadar; Malta; Trapani, Santiago de Compostela, Alghero, Barcelona, Birmingham, Brindisi, Pisa, Madrid and Rome. In total, Ryanair plans to serve 42 points from BOD during the season. In addition, Volotea is launching two new routes to Athens and Florence.


March 16

UK carrier easyJet is launching a new route between Birmingham (BHX) and Faro (FAO) in Portugal during the summer 2022 season. Flights will start on May 1 through Oct. 26, operating on Wednesdays and Sundays. The addition of Faro means the airline will fly to five international destinations from BHX this summer alongside Amsterdam (AMS), Geneva (GVA), Malaga (AGP) and Palma de Mallorca (PMI). “This popular Portuguese destination is a firm favourite for customers flying from Birmingham Airport and we welcome the extra capacity on this route,” BHX aviation director Tom Screen said. The new Faro route was announced as the LCC celebrated carrying more than three million passengers from Birmingham. EasyJet will compete with Jet2.com, Ryanair and TUI Airways in the BHX-FAO market.

BHX 3M
Credit: Birmingham Airport


LCC flydubai has extended the suspension of flights to Ukraine, Belarus and Russia until May 8. A travel update issued by Dubai-based Emirates said flydubai’s services to Kyiv (KBP), Odessa (ODS), Krasnodar (KRR), Rostov (ROV) and Minsk (MSQ) would remain on hold. The routes from Dubai (DXB) were suspended in February following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.


Ryanair has announced four new routes from Portugal this summer, bringing the total number of routes offered from the country to 147. The ULCC is adding two connections from Faro to Madrid (MAD) and Valencia (VLC), plus flights from Porto (OPO) to Bergerac (EGC) and Ponta Delgada (PDL) to Nuremburg (NUE).


French all-business class airline La Compagnie has confirmed its first flights between Milan Malpensa (MXP) and New York Newark (EWR) will take off on April 15. Five services per week will be offered using Airbus A321neos. The airline previously only served Newark from Nice (NCE) and Paris Orly (ORY). “Our clientele is consistently looking for a smart, upscale, and thoughtful experience on-board La Compagnie and we are eager to attract both business and leisure travelers with this new route,” president Christian Vernet said.


March 15

Emirates has confirmed that it will be commencing daily services to Tel Aviv (TLV) from June 23. The airline will operate its three-class Boeing 777-300ER on the route. Flights were originally slated to start last December but the launch was pushed back because of the omicron outbreak.


Qatar Airways will resume its service to the Namibian capital Windhoek (WDH) from June 25. The airline will offer three flights per week from Doha (DOH) using Boeing 787-8s. “Reinstating flights from Windhoek to Doha will not only ensure Qatar Airways is best-placed to meet the increasing demand for travel in Southern Africa,” Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker said. Flights will depart Doha at 1.45 a.m., arriving in Windhoek at 9.50 a.m. The return service leaves at 1.20 p.m. and returns to Qatar’s capital at 11 p.m.


US carrier Delta Air Lines said it plans to offer 74 daily flights to 21 European destinations from 10 US gateways this summer. From New York John F Kennedy (JFK), the airline will operate up to 27 daily flights to 20 European destinations, including resuming service to Brussels (BRU), Copenhagen (CPH), Edinburgh (EDI), Prague (PRG) and Zurich (ZRH). In Boston (BOS), Delta will operate up to nine daily flights to nine transatlantic destinations, offering nearly 5,000 more seats each week compared with summer 2019. New routes launching include New York JFK-Stockholm Arlanda (ARN) starting June 1 and Salt Lake City (SLC)-London Heathrow (LHR) beginning May 14.


AirAsia is planning to resume more routes between Malaysia and Thailand. The LCC said Penang (PEN)-Bangkok Don Mueang (DMK) and Kuala Lumpur (KUL)-Hat Yai (HDY) will restart on April 13, while Johor Bahru (JHB)-Bangkok Don Mueang will return on May 3. In addition, the frequency of Kuala Lumpur-Bangkok Don Mueang service will increase from daily to reach 4X-daily by early May. “With Thailand reopening and travel restrictions being lifted, AirAsia will continue to re-introduce international service,” AirAsia Thailand CEO Santisuk Klongchaiya said.


March 14

Qantas has said it intends to operate flights between Sydney (SYD) and London Heathrow (LHR) via Singapore (SIN) using A380s from June. According to data provided by OAG Schedules Analyser, the airline will resume a daily SYD-SIN-LHR route from June 19. The carrier is currently operating its Sydney-London route via Darwin (DWR), but the schedule is only in place until mid-June. In addition, Qantas has also filed plans to resume flying between Melbourne (MEL) and London Heathrow via Perth (PER) from June 19. This route is also operating via Darwin for the time being.


UK regional carrier Loganair will launch services from the Isle of Man (IOM) to London City (LCY) and London Heathrow (LHR). The route to LCY will start on April 19, initially operating daily except Saturdays. From May 3, frequencies will increase to 2X-daily. Loganair will also begin the LHR route on May 3, flying daily. Both new routes will be onboard 72-seat ATR 72-600 aircraft and flown under Loganair’s codeshare agreement with British Airways. “Our conveniently timed flights to London City will offer excellent connectivity to the heart of London for both business and leisure travellers, whilst our London Heathrow services will complement that access to London itself with the broadest possible range of onward connecting flights with our partner airlines to over 100 destinations worldwide,” Loganair CEO Jonathan Hinkles said.


Air Astana resumed its 2X-weekly service to London Heathrow from Kazakhstan’s capital Nur-Sultan (NQZ). Flights on Saturdays and Wednesdays are operated using Airbus A321LRs. The carrier has also confirmed that all flights to Russia have been suspended due to the withdrawal of insurance coverage for commercial flights to, from and over Russia. “Air Astana is working with government on a solution to this problem in order to be able to restore flights as soon as possible,” the carrier said in a statement.


Irish ULCC Ryanair has confirmed the launch of more additions to its summer 2022 schedule. The airline said it is opening eight new routes in Germany, connecting Cologne Bonn (CGN) with Stockholm Arlanda (ARN) and Biarritz (BIQ); Memmingen (FMM) with Pisa (PSA) and Abruzzo (PSR); Nuremberg (NUE) with Lamezia Terme (SUF) and Ponta Delgada (PDL); Berlin (BER) with Kraków (KRK); and Baden-Baden (FKB) with Palermo (PMO). Five routes have also been added to its Spanish network: Madrid (MAD)-Faro (FAO); Barcelona (BCN)-Poitiers (PIS); Valencia (VLC)-Perpignan (PGF); Castellon (CDT)-Brussels Charleroi (CRL); and Girona (GRO)-Rome Fiumicino (FCO).


BA CityFlyer has added a new route to its Southampton (SOU) network this summer. Flights to Dublin (DUB) will run seasonally starting May 15 until October, operating once a week. The airline launched service from Southampton last May, connecting the airport to 10 European destinations during the summer 2021 season. “BA’s commitment to deliver connectivity for Southampton and the wider region to some of the most popular destinations in Portugal, Spain, Italy, Greece and France was very much welcomed by our passengers last year,” said Matt Hazelwood, CCO of AGS Airports Ltd, which owns and operates SOU.