SAS Scandinavian Airlines’ new long-haul service to New York John F Kennedy (JFK) is among the eye-catching new services being launched by carriers around the world this month.

Service from the Danish capital Copenhagen (CPH) to JFK will launch on Feb. 9, operating 5X-weekly. For the 2023 summer season, the route will rise to daily.

SAS already serves New York from CPH with flights to Newark (EWR) in New Jersey, so the new route ramps up the airline’s capacity to the largest US market. The carrier’s return to JFK comes after an absence of three decades.

In total, SAS will offer 41 weekly flights and 19,400 two-way seats to New York during the summer 2023 season. Its schedule will also include the launch of new routes from Aalborg (AAL) and Gothenburg (GOT), starting in late April.

Routes Asia 2023 host Chiang Mai (CNX) will receive two new international services this month, with Thai VietJet opening a route to Osaka Kansai (KIX) and Thai AirAsia beginning flights to Singapore (SIN).

The Osaka route will commence on Feb. 17, operating three times per week using Airbus A321 aircraft, becoming the first nonstop service to link the city in northern Thailand with Japan.

O&D traffic between Chiang Mai and Osaka totaled 22,365 two-way passengers in 2019, all of whom traveled indirect, Sabre data shows. The wider Chiang Mai-Japan market amounted to some 94,052 passengers, with Chiang Mai-Tokyo the largest city pair.

Thai AirAsia’s new connection from Chiang Mai to Singapore starts on Feb. 1, operating 4X-weekly using A320s. The LCC previously served the market until May 2012 when it exited in favor of launching a route from the Thai city to Macau.

Also in Thailand, Bangkok-based Nok Air is returning to the Indian market with its first flights to Hyderabad (HYD). The airline launched an inaugural Indian route in April 2019, offering a limited service between Bangkok Don Mueang (DMK) and Vishakhapatnam (VTZ). A second route to Guwahati (GAU) then operated from October through January 2020. However, Nok has been absent from India ever since.

The carrier plans to restart Indian operations from Bangkok Don Mueang to Hyderabad on Feb. 19, operating four times per week using Boeing 737-800s. The nonstop flights on the 2,401-km (1,297-nm) sector will offer some 1,512 weekly seats between the cities.

Elsewhere, Canadian ULCC startup Lynx Air is further expanding its US transborder network from Calgary (YYC) with routes to Las Vegas (LAS), Los Angeles (LAX) and Phoenix Sky Harbor (PHX), while Frontier Airlines is adding a trio of routes to Montego Bay (MBJ) in Jamaica.

Other new routes starting in February include Jazeera Airways’ entry to the Russia market with operations between Kuwait City (KWI) and Moscow Domodedovo (DME), and Indian carrier Vistara’s first flights from New Goa Airport (GOX) to Bengaluru (BLR) and Mumbai (BOM).

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