The Most Notable New Airline Routes This Week

I've covered a selection of new routes and resuming that took off in the last week. Why not sign up and receive my newsletter in your email inbox every week?

Norse Atlantic begins its first two routes

There's a new transatlantic operator. On June 14th, Norse Atlantic inaugurated Oslo to New York JFK, following in Norwegian's footsteps. Presently served 3x weekly but rising to 1x daily, the flight – appropriately N01 – utilized the B787-9, Norse's lifeblood variant. Norwegian last operated the route between May 2013-March 2020.

Four days after JFK took off, it was the turn of Oslo-Fort Lauderdale, with 2x but later 3x weekly services. Oslo-Orlando will join it on July 5th and Oslo-Los Angeles on August 9th.

Later, Norse Atlantic will start Oslo to London Gatwick (August 12th) to operate London Gatwick to JFK (August 12th). Then it'll be Berlin-JFK (August 17th) and Berlin-Los Angeles (August 19th). And now the carrier has applied for winter slots at Dublin and Dubai, although it remains to be seen if they begin.

Norse Atlantic now has two operational routes. Photo: via Norse Atlantic.

New Europe-Canada route takes off

It is very rare for a passenger aircraft to operate between Europe and North America and return on the same day. Joining the exclusive club is Azores Airlines, which now serves Terceira (Azores) to Montréal non-stop. It'll run until September 14th.

With a Wednesday-only service using the A321LR, flight S4339 departs Terceira at 08:00 and arrives in Montréal at 09:55 local (5h 55m block time). Returning, S4338 leaves at 11:10 and arrives back at 20:10 (5h). It returns 12h 10m later, helped by the airport pair being just 2,407 miles (3,873km).

The route, which hasn't been served before, is principally driven by Azorean diaspora. According to the Consulate General of Portugal in Montréal, more Portuguese in Greater Montréal were born in the Azores than anywhere else Portugal.

Photo: Azores Airlines

Alaska is back in Miami

After a 10-year absence, Alaska Airlines is back in Miami. Having last served the airport in July 2012, service shifted to nearby Fort Lauderdale. Now it has returned, with the same route it had before: from Seattle.

It means Alaska now serves five Florida airports: Orlando; Fort Lauderdale; Tampa; Miami; and Fort Myers. The resumed route comes as the carrier inaugurated brand-new Seattle-Cleveland.

Alaska serves Seattle-Miami 1x daily variously using the B737 MAX 9, B737-900ER, and B737-800. The 2,724-mile (4,384km) route will rise to 2x daily from December 15th in the run-up to the all-important Christmas period before returning to 1x daily from January 5th. It competes head-to-head with 1x daily service by fellow oneworld carrier American.

Alaska now serves Seattle from both Miami and Fort Lauderdale. There's up to 4x daily flights. Photo: via Miami International Airport.

Kuwait Airways adds Madrid

The Spanish capital of Madrid is connected to Kuwait thanks to the Middle East country's flag carrier. Kuwait Airways serves Madrid 3x weekly but doesn't operate non-stop in both directions. Instead, it runs triangularly, routing Kuwait-Malaga-Madrid-Kuwait. Malaga-Madrid is domestic, so it doesn't have traffic rights on the airport pair.

On Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, KU121 leaves for Malaga at 08:00 and arrives at 14:00 local time. An hour later, KU122 departs for Madrid, arriving at 16:25. After 80 minutes on the ground, it leaves for Kuwait and arrives back at 01:25. It uses the A330-200.

Malaga ends for the season on September 15th. After that, Madrid is served on a standalone and termination basis on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays, routing Kuwait-Madrid-Kuwait using A320neos. It's bookable until the end of the summer season, although it is meant to be year-round.

There are 3x weekly flights between Kuwait and Madrid. Photo: via Kuwait International Airport.

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Brussels Airlines restarts 2 African cities

West Africa is an essential market for Brussels Airlines, with the relaunch of Brussels to both Conakry (Guinea) and Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) an important development. After a 27-month absence, each city returned on the same day. Both have a 3x weekly service and each uses the A330-300.

One-stops are important for Brussels Airlines' African network, and Conakry and Ouagadougou are no exception. On Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, it routes Brussels-Dakar-Conakry-Dakar-Brussels. On Mondays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, it runs Brussels-Ouagadougou-Abidjan-Ouagadougou-Brussels.

The one-stop to Abidjan supplements 4x extra weekly flights to the Côte d'Ivoire capital. It means Brussels-Abidjan again rises to 1x daily.

Photo: Ahmed Sékou Touré International Airport (Conakry).

Swoop launches 4 airports

More airports have joined Canadian carrier Swoop's network. This time it's the turn of Regina, Saskatoon, St John's, and New York JFK. They join other recent starts, including Chicago O'Hare, Deer Lake, Moncton, and Saint John.

Swoop serves Regina from Edmonton (2x weekly), Toronto Pearson (2x), and Winnipeg (2x). The same three cities are served from Saskatoon at the same weekly frequencies. St John's, meanwhile, is linked to Hamilton (up to 1x daily), while JFK is linked from Pearson (4x weekly).

All routes have head-to-head competition except St John's-Hamilton. Indeed, the route, some 1,350 miles (2,173km) apart, hasn't had any non-stop service for at least two decades. In contrast, Saskatoon-Toronto has four airlines, with Swoop joining WestJet (its parent), Air Canada, and Flair.

Saskatoon has joined Swoop's network. Photo: via Saskatoon John G. Diefenbaker International Airport.

Amman joins flyadeal's network

The Saudi carrier flyadeal, which gets little attention internationally despite being owned by Saudia, has a growing network of cities outside of Saudi Arabia. Amman started on June 16th, served non-stop (despite what the sign in the photo suggests) from both Riyadh and Jeddah, each up to 1x daily using the A320ceo/neo.

This summer on Riyadh-Amman, it competes directly with Royal Jordanian (up to 5x daily, variously using its whole fleet of A320/E195/A319/A321/B787/E175), flynas (up to 3x daily, A320), and Saudia (2x daily, A330/A320). On Jeddah-Amman: Royal Jordanian (up to 4x daily, E195/A320/A319/B787-8/E75/A321), Saudia (2x daily, A320/A330/A321), and flynas (1x daily, A320)

Other flyadeal international routes that have, or will, start in June include Dammam to Baku, Cairo, and Tbilisi; Jeddah to Amman, Baku, Batumi, Khartoum, Sharm El Sheikh, and Tbilisi; and Riyadh to Baku, Khartoum, and Tbilisi. Coming in July is Riyadh-Sharm El Sheikh, while Riyadh-Kuwait will return.