The latest airline route news, featuring network changes, schedule alterations, codeshares and interline agreements.
April 17
Philippine Airlines will open service between Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport (MNL) and Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD) from Nov. 9. The route will be flown 3X-weekly with an Airbus A350-900 aircraft. The carrier already operates to North American destinations Honolulu, Los Angeles, New York John F. Kennedy, San Francisco, Seattle, Toronto Pearson and Vancouver. The MNL-ORD route will be exclusive to Philippine Airlines.
Norse Atlantic Airways is dropping Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) from its network for the summer season, cutting three routes from LAX to Europe, citing high fuel costs. Norse said it is removing flights from LAX to London Gatwick, Paris Charles de Gaulle and Rome Fiumicino airports from its summer schedule. Noting the LAX routes are the longest on its schedule, Norse said the cost risk of flying from the California airport to Europe is too high given elevated fuel prices.
FlyOne Armenia will launch flights between Yerevan, the Armenian capital, and Milan Bergamo Airport (BGY). Service between Yerevan's Zvartnots International Airport (EVN) and BGY will commence May 1 and be operated 2X-weekly. EVN will bring to 152 the number of airports served from BGY. FlyOne will become the 23rd airline operating at the Italian airport.
Wizz Air will open an aircraft base at Turin Airport (TRN) in September, to be followed by the launch of seven new routes from the Italian airport. The all-Airbus A320-family operator will base one aircraft at TRN from Sept. 14, with a second aircraft to be based at the airport from Oct. 25. On the day the base opens, Wizz will commence flights to three new destinations from TRN: Rome Fiumicino (up to 11X-weekly service), Barcelona (daily flights) and Bilbao, Spain (3X-weekly). The following day, Sept. 15, the carrier will open 4X-weekly service between TRN and Valencia, Spain. When the second aircraft arrives on Oct. 25, Wizz will start 4X-weekly flights between TRN and Madrid. The following day, the carrier will commence 3X-weekly service between TRN and Malaga, Spain. On Dec. 1, Wizz will kick off daily domestic service between TRN and Naples. Wizz operated more than 2,100 flights from TRN in 2025.
April 16
EasyJet opened a base at Marrakesh Menara Airport (RAK) and unveiled three new routes it will launch from the Moroccan city in October and November. The UK airline now has a year-round, permanent base at RAK, with three aircraft based at the airport. The all-Airbus A320-family operator will kick off 2X-weekly service between RAK and Prague from Oct. 25. EasyJet will open service between RAK and Zurich from Oct. 28, flying the route 2X-weekly. Flights between RAK and Newcastle, England, will commence on Nov. 3 and also be operated 2X-weekly. The carrier had already announced three 2X-weekly routes from RAK to be launched in early May: Hamburg and Strasbourg, in Germany, and Lille, France. The airline will operate 30 routes from RAK once all six new services kick off. “The base launch is part of the long-term partnership between easyJet and the Moroccan National Tourist Office signed in autumn 2025 and will allow the airline to offer a record 4 million seats in the first year of the base’s opening,” easyJet said. The carrier has been operating from RAK for 20 years. RAK becomes easyJet’s first aircraft base in Africa. The carrier also serves Moroccan cities Agadir, Rabat, Essaouira and Tangier.
SAS Scandinavian Airlines will increase flight frequencies between Copenhagen Airport (CPH) and Vilnius International Airport (VNO), Lithuania, for the 2026-27 winter season, flying the route 4X-daily instead of 3X-daily Monday-Friday. The carrier will continue to operate 3X-daily service on the CPH-VNO route on Saturdays and Sundays. SAS also operates to Palanga, Lithuania, from CPH.
Qantas said it will reduce fourth-quarter domestic capacity by 1% compared to the 2025 fourth quarter, citing “continued volatility in fuel prices” and uncertain global economic conditions. The Australian carrier had planned to increase domestic capacity by 4% year over year in the fourth quarter. Qantas also said it “continues to see strong demand for international travel to Europe as customers seek alternative routes [bypassing the Middle East]. In response, the [Qantas Group] has redeployed capacity from the U.S. and its domestic network to increase flights to Paris and Rome.”
April 15
Virgin Atlantic opened service between London Heathrow Airport (LHR) and Seoul Incheon International Airport (ICN). The route will be flown daily with a Boeing 787 configured with 31 seats in business class, 35 seats in premium economy and 192 seats in economy. Virgin will compete with Asiana Airlines and Korean Air on the LHR-ICN route. According to OAG Schedules Analyser data, Asiana operates 4,354 two-way weekly seats on the route, while Korean Air offers 3,962 two-way weekly seats. Virgin will operate 3,696 two-way weekly seats between LHR and ICN.
Aeromexico launched flights between Monterey International Airport (MTY) and Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG). The route will be flown 3X-weekly with a Boeing 787-9 aircraft. It is the first time CDG has been served nonstop from MTY. Paris becomes the second European city served by Aeromexico from MTY. The carrier already operates between MTY and Madrid.
Oman Air said it will restart flights on the temporarily suspended Muscat-Dubai route on April 18. The service will be flown daily.
Malaysia Airlines will boost flight frequencies between Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KUL) and Brisbane Airport (BNE). The carrier has been operating the route 5X-weekly since Nov. 30, 2025. From Aug. 16, the service will rise to 6X-weekly. From Oct. 25, Malaysia Airlines will fly the KUL-BNE route daily. The carrier, which currently operates an Airbus A330-300 between KUL and BNE, “will progressively [switch to] its latest-generation A330neo aircraft on the Brisbane route,” according to BNE.
April 14
Saudi LCC flyadeal will open service between Jeddah and Dubai International Airport (DXB) on April 15. The route will be operated 3X-weekly with an Airbus A320neo aircraft. The carrier also on April 15 will reinstate flights between Riyadh and DXB, which had been temporarily suspended. Flyadeal’s service between the Saudi capital and DXB will resume with one daily frequency, “gradually building up” to 4X-daily flights, according to the airline.
Malaysia Airlines said it will operate “additional ad-hoc” flights on the Kuala Lumpur (KUL)-London Heathrow (LHR) route on April 18 and April 22. The carrier normally operates 2X-daily between KUL and LHR. On both April 18 and April 22, Malaysia Airlines will operate a third daily flight on the route. The airline said the added flights will “support increased demand.”
American Airlines and Philippine Airlines (PAL) have submitted a joint application to the U.S. Transportation Department for permission to codeshare on a number of routes. American seeks to place its code on PAL’s flights from Manila to Los Angeles (LAX), San Francisco (SFO), Seattle (SEA) and New York John F. Kennedy (JFK). PAL seeks to place its code on American’s flights from SFO to both Miami (MIA) and JFK; between SEA and MIA; and from LAX to Honolulu, Las Vegas, SFO and SEA.
UK regional carrier Loganair will open seasonal service between Jersey Airport (JER) in the Channel Islands and Bordeaux–Mérignac Airport (BOD) in France. The carrier will begin flying between JER and BOD on June 19 and operate the service through Oct. 5. Flights will operate 2X-weekly. BOD will be a new addition to Loganair’s network.
April 13
Air Astana opened service between Almaty International Airport (ALA) and Shanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG). The route will be flown 3X-weekly with an Airbus A321LR aircraft. With flights to PVG, the Kazakhstan carrier now operates to six destinations in China. It already served Beijing, Guangzhou, Sanya, Urumqui and Yining. Air Astana will compete against China Eastern on the ALA-PVG route. According to OAG Schedules Analyzer data, Air Astana is offering 1,014 two-way weekly seats on the route, just behind China Eastern’s 1,056 two-way weekly seats. “We see strong and accelerating demand [to China] across both business and leisure segments, supported by visa-free travel,” Air Astana CEO Ibrahim Canliel said.
IATA said 6,500 airline routes operated in 2024 were discontinued in 2025. Routes offering fewer than 20,000 annual seats are the most vulnerable to being cut, the organization said. “Routes offering less than 20,000 seats constituted 41.8% of the global network, but 91.8% of all cancellations,” IATA said. “Of the total number of canceled routes, 76.4% offered fewer than 10,000 seats per year, despite only accounting for 27.3% of the entire route network. This highlights the vulnerability of the low-volume routes—and the passengers who rely on them—to changing circumstances. In contrast, very high-volume routes with above 250,000 seats per year accounted for 9.2% of the network, but just 0.1% of all route cancellations.” IATA said low-volume routes “feature low and fragile demand and lower flight frequency. Lacking economies of scale, it is more challenging for airlines to sustain such connections profitably.”
American Airlines started operating an Airbus A319 on flights between Provo Airport (PVU), Utah, and its Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) hub, upgrading service on the route from regional jets. According to PVU, this is the first time American has operated the route with a mainline aircraft. The airline flies between PVU and DFW 2X-weekly.
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