THE MOST NOTABLE NEW AIRLINE ROUTES THIS WEEK
Welcome to my 87th weekly routes newsletter! I've covered a few subjectively exciting routes that took off recently. Why not sign up and receive my newsletter in your email inbox every week?
Take off: Gatwick to Washington Dulles
Norse Atlantic inaugurated London Gatwick – its biggest base – to Washington Dulles on June 1st. Some 3,695 miles (5,947 km) apart, it runs five weekly this summer using the 787-9 (no surprise!), down from the originally planned six weekly. It reduces to three weekly in winter, helping the capacity-yield-load factor balance in the off-season.
Gatwick has not had Dulles flights for at least 35+ years, if ever. And it is the only Gatwick-US route that its predecessor Norwegian didn't operate.
The London-Dulles market also has three airlines from Heathrow: United (triple daily), British Airways (double daily), and Virgin (daily). Previously, London-Dulles had MAXjet (2006-2007) and Primera (2008), both from Stansted.
Click here for London-Dulles flights.
Stockholm gets Royal Jordanian
Some 2,102 miles (3,383 km) apart, Amman and Stockholm Arlanda are linked again. It is thanks to Royal Jordanian, which inaugurated a twice-weekly service on May 29th. It was last served by now-defunct Royal Falcon, mainly using 737-400s.
Variously using the A319, A320, and A321, it leaves Amman at 11:00 and returns at 22:00. It focuses on point-to-point demand, which totaled approximately 26,000 in pre-pandemic 2019, which it should easily grow, but also connecting traffic.
Click here for Stockholm-Amman flights.
As expected, its Stockholm schedule is very similar to its other European routes. Around 15 destinations connect on a two-way basis, of which Lebanon and Iraq will be among the most important.
Air Serbia commences Varna
As the photo shows, Serbia's flag carrier commenced the 390-mile (628 km) route between Belgrade and Varna on June 5th. Served by the 72-seat ATR 72-600, it runs three times weekly and four weekly from July. The carrier last operated it between May 2014 and June 2016.
To drive two-way connectivity, it leaves Belgrade at 00:35 and arrives in Bulgaria at the fun time (!) of 03:25 local time. Returning, it departs from the Black Sea resort airport at 04:30 and arrives back at 05:20. Such overnight flights are common for its ATRs.
Click here for Belgrade-Varna flights.
Sabiha Gökçen welcomes Heathrow flights
London Heathrow is the third UK airport (for now) to have flights to Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen, on the Asian side of the enormous city. It is because of British Airways, which started a four-weekly summer-only A320 service on June 1st. It joins the carrier's other launches in the past few days.
Sabiha Gökçen supplements BA's triple daily Heathrow-Istanbul Airport operation, based on August. In the same mid-August week, all carriers combined – AnadoluJet, BA, Pegasus, Turkish Airlines, and Wizz Air – collectively have 152 London-Istanbul flights, up from 115 in the same week in 2019. There are now services from four London airports.
Click here for London-Istanbul flights.
Ryanair begins next Münster route
Münster Osnabrück has welcomed Ryanair's latest route: the Croatian seaside inbound tourism destination of Zadar, 657 miles (1,058 km) away. Served twice-weekly, it uses Lauda's A320s. Mathias Richter, the airport's Manager of Aviation Marketing, is seen on the left.
Ryanair has three Münster routes this summer, with Zadar joining Palma Mallorca (nine to 10 weekly) and Corfu (twice-weekly). Münster is the ULCC's 169th airport out of the 230 it serves this summer. It has previously had flights to Bari, Girona, and Malaga from the airport.
Click here for Münster-Zadar flights.
That's it for the 87th edition of my routes newsletter. Sign up to get something like this in your inbox each week.