Welcome to my 63rd routes newsletter! I've covered a selection of new routes that took off in the past week or so. Why not sign up and receive my newsletter in your email inbox every week?
Flybe arrives in Newcastle
Newcastle has a new airline – of sorts. On November 7th, Flybe launched Belfast City (1x daily) and London Heathrow (5x weekly). Both use Belfast City-based aircraft and crew, routing Belfast-Newcastle-Heathrow-Newcastle-Belfast. Curiously, they were put on sale less than a week before they started.
The launch of Belfast City means the airport pair is served for the first time since the original Flybe ended it in June 2018. It competes indirectly with easyJet's up to 16x weekly flights from Belfast International.
Things are different to Heathrow. It's against BA's 5x daily A319/A320/A321 service, which has its massive onward route network to draw on for passenger traffic. In contrast, Flybe has a 5x weekly Q400 late afternoon/early evening service and is fully reliant on point-to-point demand.
There's some controversy. Shortly before Newcastle began, Flybe cut plans for Isle of Man-Belfast City and Heathrow, citing a lack of aircraft. Instead, it launched Newcastle – with the same Heathrow slots as it would have used for IOM. Clearly, IOM must simply have had insufficient forward bookings.
Click here for Newcastle-Heathrow flights.
Avelo starts Wilmington-Fort Lauderdale
The North Carolina airport of Wilmington has welcomed the start of Avelo's next route: Fort Lauderdale. It launched on November 11th and runs 2x weekly.
Avelo has served Wilmington since June 30th, when its New Tweed service began, followed a day later by Baltimore and Orlando International. While New Tweed and Orlando remain, at 2x weekly apiece, Baltimore ended on September 5th.
Avelo is the first airline to offer nonstop flights from Wilmington to Fort Lauderdale and Orlando International (and, obviously, New Tweed). However, Allegiant served Wilmington from Orlando Sanford from 2008 to 2013.
Click here for Wilmington-Fort Lauderdale flights.
flynas adds Jeddah-Marseille
Located in southern France, Marseille has welcomed its first Saudi Arabia flight. Assisted by Saudi Arabia's air connectivity program funding, flynas launched Jeddah-Marseille. It has 2x weekly flights using A320neos, leaving Jeddah at 18:10, arriving in France at 22:25, departing at 23:15, and returning at 06:35.
Booking data shows that the Marseille-Jeddah point-to-point market is small. In 2019, barely 5,000 roundtrip passengers flew between the two. ACP funding will help, likewise flynas targeting passengers connecting elsewhere. flynas' website lists only Riyadh and Dammam as options; when added, the target market is around 15,000 before demand is stimulated.
Click here for Marseille-Jeddah flights.
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Frontier starts four Atlanta routes
ULCC Frontier has served Atlanta since 1998. It wasn't until 2021 that its first international route took off from the world's busiest airport – and now a further four have.
As the carrier switched to winter schedules, it introduced Atlanta to Nassau (November 5th, 1x weekly), San Salvador (November 6th, 2x weekly), Kingston (November 7th, 2x weekly), and San Jose (Costa Rica, November 15th, 3x weekly). And on December 17th, it'll start Liberia (December 17th, 1x weekly). Naturally, all have head-to-head competition with Delta. For example, it has up to 3x daily Nassau flights.
Frontier's five routes join Atlanta to Cancun (which started in November 2021; now 1x daily), Montego Bay (November 2021; 3x/4x weekly), and Punta Cana (December 2021; 3x weekly).
Click here for Atlanta-San Salvador flights.
Monterrey welcomes American from JFK
The 1,826 miles (2,938km) between Mexico's Monterrey and New York JFK has welcomed a new operator: American Airlines. Benefiting from the absence of Aeromexico, which served the route nonstop for years until March 2020, American runs 1x daily using 128-seat A319s.
The only nonstop Monterrey has to NYC, AA2883 departs JFK at 17:55 and arrives in Mexico at 22:05. Returning, AA2917 leaves Monterrey at 07:17 and arrives in JFK at 12:30. This schedule enables more connection options to/from Europe.
Monterrey is one of four Mexican airports served by American from JFK this winter, joining Cancun, Mexico City, and Los Cabos. And it is one of 27 Mexican airports American serves network-wide.
Click here for JFK-Monterrey flights.
Dakar gets three new Europe routes
The Senegalese capital of Dakar has seen an uplift of new Europe routes in the past year, with many sticking around to benefit from the West African nation's warm winter.
TUI fly Deutschland introduced a 2x weekly 737 MAX 8 operation, routing Düsseldorf-Sal-Dakar-Düsseldorf. It joins Frankfurt as the only two German airports to see regular Dakar passenger flights, although Frankfurt lost service 15 years ago. Düsseldorf was followed shortly after by the launch of TUI Airways' 1x weekly London Gatwick-Dakar, also by the MAX 8.
Completing the trio is Transavia France's started Lyon-Dakar. It is the only route of the three to have head-to-head competition. It competes against Air Senegal.
Click here for Düsseldorf-Dakar flights.
That's it for the 63rd edition of my routes newsletter. Sign up to get something like this in your inbox each week.