We've covered a selection of new routes and relaunches that took off in the last week. Why not sign up and receive our newsletter in your email inbox every week?
Scoot rekindles Gold Coast love affair
Singapore low-cost carrier Scoot is back in the Gold Coast. The first flight arrived in the early morning of February 14th, the first service from Singapore since March 20th, 2020.
Primarily using 335-seat B787-8s, the 3,859-mile (6,211km) link runs three-weekly. It leaves Singapore at 20:25 and arrives Gold Coast at 06:05 the next day. Returning, it departs at the early time of 07:25 and arrives back at 13:15 local.
The Gold Coast has been connected non-stop to Singapore since June 2012, nearly five years after AirAsia X’s Kuala Lumpur-Gold Coast service began. Scoot initially used B777-200ERs, which served until April 2015. They were replaced by the B787, both the smaller -8 and larger -9 variants.
Newark to Wilmington takes off
The North Carolina city of Wilmington is now connected to Newark thanks to United Express and operating carrier GoJet. The first flight was on February 11th and operates twice-daily using three-class CRJ-550s with 50 seats. Southbound, UA4611 leaves Newark at 1400 and UA4511 at 21:15. Northbound, UA4423 departs Wilmington at 06:00 and UA4462 at 16:18.
It isn't the first time that United has served Wilmington. It was linked to Washington Dulles between April 2018 and December 2021 using single-class, 50-seat RJs. Its end was part of 14 CRJ routes from Dulles ceasing, with a handful – including Wilmington – shifting to Newark.
While no airline has operated Wilmington-Newark previously, LaGuardia has been served for many years by US Airways Express, American Eagle, and Delta Connection. LaGuardia has 20 weekly flights (nearly three-daily) by American Eagle in the current week. Delta Connection will return on March 7th with a 13-weekly (nearly twice-daily) offering.
Two new routes for Wizz Air Abu Dhabi
The UAE capital now has non-stops to Krasnodar (Russia) and Yerevan (Armenia). They're both served twice-weekly by Wizz Air Abu Dhabi using its 239-seat A321neos. The ULCC is the only operator on them, although Yerevan was previously operated by Etihad between 2014 and 2015.
Yerevan leaves the UAE at 06:00 and arrives back at 13:20, while Krasnodar operates overnight. It departs Abu Dhabi at 20:35 and arrives home at 05:25 the next day.
While Wizz Air has no head-to-head competition from Abu Dhabi, it has indirect competition (of sorts) from other UAE airports. flydubai and Azur Air both operate Krasnodar-Dubai, with up to three weekly flights. Yerevan, meanwhile, has up to a once-daily service to Dubai with flydubai, and up to once-daily to Sharjah with Air Arabia.
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BoA connects Santa Cruz with Lima
The Bolivian flag carrier, Boliviana de Aviación or BoA, has introduced a new link between Santa Cruz – the country’s largest city and commercial center – and Lima. The first flight was on February 8th, with the 1,011-mile (1,627km) link served four-weekly. It competes head-to-head with a four-weekly LATAM service.
BoA leaves Santa Cruz at 18:30 and arrives in Peru at 20:00 local time. Returning, it departs at 01:15 and arrives back at 04:45. The schedule to Bolivia is similar to LATAM’s offering. However, BoA has it so that it connects Lima with other South American cities, including within Bolivia and to Sao Paulo and Buenos Aires.
Texarkana-Houston relinked after 13 years
It has been over 13 years since Texarkana, on the Texas-Arkansas border, had non-stop flights to Houston Intercontinental. Continental Express operated it between October 2003 and October 2008 using Saab 340s and, before that, Embraer 120s and Embraer 135s.
Fast-forward to February 13th, 2022, and the 252-mile (405km) route is back, this time with United Express and single-class, 50-seat Embraer 145s. With one daily flight, it leaves Houston at 18:05 and arrives in Texarkana at 19:35, where it remains overnight (RON). The next morning, it departs at 07:15, arriving at 08:50. It's well-timed for Houston business day trips and for transit passengers.
The new route comes as United cuts other small cities with single-class RJs due to the pilot shortage and communities not being able to support three-class CRJ-550s consistently. Texarkana bucked the trend due to almost $900,000 from the DOT's Small Community Air Service Development fund.
Emirates grows Gatwick to 2x daily
Emirates now serves Gatwick twice-daily, with one flight by the A380 and one (the second) by the B777-300ER. For context, it was often three-daily pre-pandemic and rose to four-daily on seven occasions in 2017 and 12 during 2019.
The Gulf carrier restarted Gatwick on December 10th after last serving it on March 24th, 2020. The A380 operates EK15/EK16 once-daily, arriving Gatwick at 11:40 and leaving at 13:35.
On February 8th, Emirates reintroduced a second-daily service to the London airport (EK9/EK10), arriving at 18:25 and departing at 20:25. While it currently uses the B777-300ER, the A380 is again bookable from March 27th, the first day of the aviation summer season.
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