Welcome to my 65th routes newsletter! I've covered a selection of new routes that took off in the past week. Why not sign up and receive my newsletter in your email inbox every week?
Fiji Airways starts 1st Canada route
In an exciting route development, Fiji Airways introduced Nadi, Fiji, to Vancouver. It’s the latest ‘different’ new route, joining the recently launched Air Tahiti to Seattle and Eurowings Discover from Germany to Kruger National Park.
Vancouver is Fiji Airways’ fourth North America route this winter, alongside Honolulu, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. The carrier has 2 weekly Vancouver flights using 273-seat A330-200.
While the local Vancouver-Fiji market is small, three times as many people flew from Vancouver to Fiji as from Seattle in 2019, including tourists and a good amount of Fijian diaspora (around 80,000 in Canada). The route is also timed for transit passengers: Vancouver to/from Australia and New Zealand and particular South Pacific destinations.
Click here for Vancouver-Fiji flights.
Lift off: Durban to Cape Town
The 795-mile (1,279km) Durban-Cape Town airport pair has welcomed a new airline: Lift. With 2 daily flights, it leaves Cape Town at 06:00 (arriving at 08:05) and 15:00 (17:05). It then departs Durban at 09:00 (arriving at 11:15) and 18:05 (20:15).
In winter 2019, Durban-Cape Town had 330,000 departing seats (double for both ways) involving kulula, ComAir, Mango, and Safair, with only SafAir still operating. There were up to 15 daily departures. This winter, there are 245,000 seats and up to 12 daily flights with three carriers: Lift, Cemair, and Safair. Lift's entry has coincided with the big market gap.
Click here for Durban-Cape Town flights.
Bengaluru-Pune gets 6th airline
Indian carrier Akasa Air has commenced its next domestic route, the 448 miles (720km) between Bengaluru and Pune. It currently has 2 daily flights, leaving Bengaluru – its main airport – at 05:00 and 15:15. Returning, they depart Pune at 07:15 and 17:30.
It'll rise to 3 daily from December 10th. The additional frequency will depart Bengaluru at 21:35 and arrive in Pune at 23:05. It'll then take off from Pune at 23:40 and return at 01:10 (+1).
Bengaluru-Pune has 427,000 departing seats this winter (double for both ways), about the same as it had in winter 2019. From December, there will be 17 daily flights with six airlines: IndiGo, AirAsia India, Akasa Air, Go First, SpiceJet and Vistara.
Click here for Bengaluru-Pune flights.
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Bangladesh's new airline
The world has a new airline. On November 24th, Bangladeshi carrier Air Astra took off on its first commercial service between Dhaka and Cox’s Bazaar. The regional carrier has two 70-seat ATR-72s, averaging six years old. The first flight was reported as having 70 passengers, although it is unclear how many were fare-paying.
For now, Air Astra has three routes from Dhaka: Chittagong (4 daily), Cox’s Bazaar (4 daily), and Sylhet (2 daily). It is the fourth airline on all three routes.
Its two ATRs are so productive because of very short distances: the average of its three routes is just 152 miles (242km). A fourth route, Dhaka to Syedpur, is listed on its website but isn’t bookable yet. When it starts, Air Astra will be the fourth carrier on that airport pair too.
Click here for Dhaka-Chittagong flights.
Flyadeal begins Istanbul
Saudi Arabian budget carrier Flyadeal has launched two Istanbul Airport (IST) routes, marking the first time it has served Turkey. On November 23rd, it started a daily service from both Jeddah and Riyadh. They arrive in Istanbul at 19:25 (from Riyadh) and at 20:25 (Jeddah), and leave at 20:25 (Riyadh) and 21:25 (Jeddah).
The two Saudi cities are important international markets from Istanbul, including for point-to-point demand, especially Jeddah.
In the current week, there are 7 daily Jeddah flights from Istanbul Airport: 3 daily by Turkish Airlines (A330-300, A330-200, A321) and Saudia (A330-300 and A320), plus Flyadeal (A320neo). And 4 daily to Riyadh: 2 daily by Turkish (A321), 1 daily by Saudia (A330-300 and A320), and 1 by Flyadeal (A320neo).
Click here for Jeddah-Istanbul flights.
That's it for the 65th edition of my routes newsletter. Sign up to get something like this in your inbox each week.