The Most Notable New Airline Routes This Week

I've covered a selection of new routes that took off in the last week or so, with more from the start of the aviation summer season coming next week. Why not sign up and receive my newsletter in your email inbox every week?

United begins Berlin's only US route

Sometimes a launch and celebration go beyond the norm, as illustrated by United Airlines' Berlin Brandenburg to Newark service which took off on March 28th. Not only is the route new for Brandenburg (the previous service used Tegel), but it is the first and for now only route from the Berlin airport to the US (or Canada).

United is no stranger to the German capital. Continuing in Continental's footsteps, it served Tegel in March 2012 and then ended it, for an obvious reason, eight years later in March 2020. In its earliest days, United's service was often by the B757-200ER, before switching to the B767-300ER and B767-400ER.

The 1x daily service is now fully by 214-seat B767-300ERs. UA962 departs Newark at 17:40 and arrives at 07:50 the next day. Returning, UA963 leaves at 09:50 and arrives home at 13:05 local time.

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Back in Berlin, just a different airport. Photo: via Berlin Brandenburg Airport.

Dallas welcomes its 9th European city

This summer, Dallas Fort Worth has non-stop service to nine European cities. The latest to begin was Finnair from Helsinki, which took to the sky on March 27th.

It will, of course, revolve around fellow Atlantic Joint Business partner American Airlines' enormous Dallas hub, along with passengers transiting over Finnair's own Helsinki hub. After all, Helsinki-Dallas point-to-point demand is very low, at barely 7,000 round-trip passengers in 2019.

Finnair serves Dallas 4x weekly using A350-900s. AY19 departs Helsinki at 12:35 and arrives in Texas at 15:05 local time. Returning, AY20 leaves at 16:55 and arrives back at 11:10 the next day.

Finnair serves the Texas hub 4x weekly. Photo: via Dallas Fort Worth International Airport.

Wizz Air UK at Gatwick: more aircraft

The aviation summer season is upon us. For Wizz Air UK, this means three more A321neos have joined its pretty new Gatwick base. On March 26th, the three (G-WUKM, G-WUKR, and G-WUKN) were positioned from Luton ahead of service from Gatwick.

This summer, the Wizz Air Group has 25 routes from Gatwick, with Milan Malpensa, Vienna, Malaga, Larnaca, Budapest, Rome, Bucharest, Sofia, Athens, and Faro its top-10 by flights. Unlike other UK bases, over eight in ten (85%) flights are to Western Europe. Wizz Air is now Gatwick's fifth-largest airline by flights.

Emerald Airlines opens Belfast City base

Emerald Airlines, operating for Aer Lingus Regional, opened its Belfast City base on March 24th, less than a month after it was announced. It started off with a link to Birmingham, with Edinburgh, Leeds Bradford, and Manchester also now served.

Its network from the airport will rise to six over the coming weeks, with Exeter and Glasgow joining the four already served. It'll compete head-to-head with the new Flybe to all but Exeter.

Emerald replaced defunct Stobart Air as Aer Lingus Regional's former franchise partner. Stobart launched in Belfast following the end of the original Flybe, which had a profound impact on the downtown airport.

Emerald's entry is, therefore, a natural follow-on. However, Emerald will now inhabit a much more competitive world than might have been hoped.

Emerald already has six routes bookable from Belfast City, including flights to Leeds-Bradford. Photo: Belfast City Airport.

Multiple routes from new Mexico airport

It is not often a brand-new airport opens, but that is what happened in Mexico on March 21st following the inauguration of Felipe Ángeles International Airport, also known as Santa Lucia. A special mention must go to this.

It does, of course, necessarily mean multiple new routes have launched, some with celebratory photos. On the first day, these all took off: Volaris to Tijuana and Cancún, VivaAerobús to Guadalajara and Monterrey, and Aeromexico to Mérida and Villahermosa.

Venezuela's Conviasa also launched a began Santa Lucia. It launched Caracas, operated by the carrier's newly delivered (ex-Virgin Atlantic) A340-600. The route will run 2x weekly.

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JetBlue commences 6 routes

As the aviation calendar shifted to summer, JetBlue inaugurated six routes. These are New York LaGuardia to Nashville and New Orleans; Boston to Kansas City and Milwaukee; and New York JFK to Kansas City and Milwaukee.

The celebration at Milwaukee (whose brilliant cake is pictured) comes as JetBlue begins 2x daily flights to the Wisconsin airport. There is a 1x daily offering to both JFK and Boston, each utilizing 140-seat A220-300s.

JetBlue provides the only non-stop link to JFK, a market last served by Delta until August 2013. In the current week, it competes indirectly with about a 3x daily Delta link to LaGuardia and a near-2x daily Newark service with United.

This brilliant cake was made to celebrate the launch of JetBlue at Milwaukee. Photo: via Milwaukee General Mitchell International Airport.

Eurowings Discover grows long-haul

The relatively new leisure airline of the Lufthansa Group is Eurowings Discover, which has introduced a dozen routes from both Frankfurt and Munich. Most significant are the long-haul additions, including Munich to Cancun, Las Vegas, and Punta Cana, and Frankfurt to Fort Myers, Las Vegas, Panama City, and Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe) via Windhoek.

Eurowings Discover commenced the long, 5,652-mile (9,096km) link from Frankfurt to Panama City on March 27th. The route operates 2x weekly and uses both the A330-200 and larger A330-300. It was served by Lufthansa itself between March 2016 and March 2020.

Eurowings Discover launched in 2021 and has introduced large numbers of new routes and also replaced its parent, Lufthansa, in various lower-yielding markets. Photo: via Tocumen International Airport.

Viva launches Cali to Cancún

Since the pandemic struck, many more leisure markets have opened. Colombia is no different. Cali, the nation's third-largest city, was unserved from Cancún until Wingo launched it in June 2021.

Now the 1,395-mile (2,244km) airport-pair has a second carrier, with Viva beginning it on March 22nd. It runs 4x weekly, joining a 3x weekly service by Wingo. The pair mainly operate on the same days.

It comes very soon after Viva inaugurated Medellín to Punta Cana, another market that had no non-stops pre-pandemic. Now it has three airlines, with Viva's 4x weekly joining Avianca (up to 1x daily) and Wingo (4x weekly).

While the vast majority of Viva's operation is domestic, it has a growing internationally. Photo: via Viva.

GullivAir commences Sofia to Skopje

Bulgarian carrier GullivAir has begun a new route from Sofia, the nation's capital, to Skopje, the capital of neighboring North Macedonia.

The new link took off on March 26th and operates on Mondays and Saturdays using 70-seat ATR-72-600s. It reconnects the two cities regularly after an absence of well over a decade.

As the crow flies, it's a very short route of just 104 miles (168km) and has a block time of 40 minutes. Despite the shortness, GullivAir leaves Sofia on Mondays at 05:40 and arrives at 05:20 (Skopje is one hour behind). On Saturdays, it departs at 05:25 and arrives at 05:05.

After a very long absence, Sofia-Skopje are again connected. Despite the very early hour, it was celebrated in style, including with this great water salute. Photo: via TAV.

Avianca resumes Bogotá to London

After a 24-month absence, Avianca, Colombia's flag carrier, has reintroduced London Heathrow. It departed from Bogotá on March 26th, the penultimate day in the aviation winter season, and arrived mid-afternoon on the 27th.

Avianca returned to Heathrow in July 2014, with the 5,265-mile (8,473km) link running until March 2020. It followed British Airways serving Bogotá via Caracas until 2005.

The airport-pair now has a 1x daily service utilizing 250-seat B787-8s. AV120 leaves Bogotá at 23:15 and arrives at Heathrow at 15:35 the next day. Returning, AV121 leaves at 22:40 and arrives back at the ungodly time of 03:29. It is Heathrow's last scheduled departure of the day.

In 2019, Avianca carried over 80,000 transit passengers from Heathrow over its Colombia hub. Wider Colombia was by far the biggest country market, but Quito (Ecuador) was the largest origin and destination.