Welcome to my 112th weekly routes article! It’s the primary edition of the 2024. I’ve analyzed just a few subjectively exciting examples of routes that took off recently. I wish all readers a Blissful Latest Yr. Here’s to hundreds of recent services this yr!
Istanbul welcomes Air China
Fast-growing Istanbul Airport has gained its latest carrier: Air China. It follows the arrival of China Eastern in September. The beginning of Air China got here on the identical day the newly created Air Samarkand launched charter flights to the airport, with scheduled services starting later in 2024.
Launched on December twenty ninth, Air China runs three weekly from Beijing Capital, its primary hub, using the 237-seat A330-200. CA859 leaves Beijing at 02:00 and arrives at 08:00 local time; the primary flight took 11 hours and 18 minutes. Returning, CA850 leaves at 14:55 and gets back at 05:30+1. The primary roundtrip used 15.9-year-old B-6115.
The arrival of Air China marks the second time Turkish Airlines, which serves the 4,398-mile (7,078 km) airport pair day by day with the 777-300ER, has had direct competition. The primary was by China Southern between 2018 and 2020, nevertheless it has since switched to serving Istanbul from Beijing Daxing. It’s the primary time three carriers have operated at town level.
Air Cairo to West Africa
Air Cairo – no have to guess where that carrier is from – takes the cake for essentially the most unusual recent route. Part owned by EgyptAir, the carrier has began Cairo-Ouagadougou-Dakar with a twice-weekly A320neo service. As is so commonplace in Africa, the Ouag-Dakar leg has freedom traffic rights.
It appears to be the primary time the Burkina Faso and Senegal capitals have had passenger flights from Egypt, at the least up to now 20 years. This isn’t surprising. Combined, the 2 cities had barely 11,000 Cairo passengers up to now yr. Based on Air Cairo’s website, it is going to be almost entirely reliant on P2P demand.
The route is 3,494 miles (5,623 km) to Dakar. For context, a return covers more ground than a one-way flight from London to Singapore. 3M733 departs from Cairo at 23:40 and arrives in Dakar at 07:30 local. 3M734 leaves at 14:00 and arrives home at 00:30+1.
Take off: Brno to Phuket
Brno is the Czech Republic’s second most populous city. Situated within the east of the country, it’s closer to Vienna than Prague. It is usually around 103 miles (165 km) from Ostrava, the Czech Republic’s third most populous city.
While Brno obviously revolves around short-haul leisure flights, mainly by Smartwings, a seasonal charter service to Phuket has began. Operated by 359-seat 787-9s from Italian carrier Neos, the weekly non-stop flight covers 5,420 miles (8,722 km).
The operating aircraft arrives in Brno from Milan Malpensa at 22:30, leaves at 00:00, and arrives in Thailand at 16:15. The aircraft departs two hours later and returns to Brno at 23:45 before continuing to Milan. Yes, passengers can book Milan-Phuket tickets via Brno.
Tirana-Prague gets 2nd ULCC
Wizz Air has inaugurated Prague service from the Albanian capital. Operated thrice weekly, it uses A320ceos from its Malta AOC (W4 IATA code). The market has long been served seasonally by Smartwings, amongst others.
Photo: Prague Airport
The entry of Wizz Air comes – not coincidentally – soon after fellow ULCC Ryanair began the 655-mile (1,054 km) route. It has twice-weekly flights, with Wizz gaining the winter frequency advantage. Nonetheless, Ryanair rises to 4 weekly next summer. Who will blink first?
Ryanair’s first Albania flight anywhere was on October thirty first, 2023. Two months on and subject to alter, it plans 21 routes this coming summer (mainly to Italy due to the diaspora). In all, 13 routes will compete directly with Wizz Air, with indirect competition to other places.
Photo: Ryanair
Santiago-Florianópolis gets third airline
The 1,380-mile (2,222 km) market between Santiago de Chile and Brazil’s tourist-focused Florianópolis has welcomed JetSMART Chile, which runs 10 weekly. When Sky Airline (13 weekly) and LATAM (9 weekly) are included, there are 32 weekly departures within the January high season.
In August 2024, in the midst of winter, there will probably be 15 services every week: Sky (8), LATAM (4), and JetSMART (3). The brand new route comes soon after JetSMART Argentina began Buenos Aires-Florianópolis.
Image: JetSMART
JetSMART now serves 4 Brazilian airports from Santiago: São Paulo Guarulhos, Rio Galeão, Foz do Iguacu, and Florianópolis. In the primary three months of 2024, the carrier has 17% of the Santiago-Brazil market – up from just 7% year-on-year.
Etihad back to 10 Indian cities
Etihad has reintroduced two Indian routes from its Abu Dhabi hub: Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram. Each began on January 1st, making them the primary routes I actually have written about that began – or restarted – in 2024. It again has passenger flights to 10 Indian airports.
Each cities are served day by day. Etihad uses the A320 to Kozhikode (previously served between 2008-2020) and the A320ceo and A321ceo to Thiruvananthapuram (2007-2022). They’re easy resumptions.
Each market has direct competition from Air India Express and – more intriguingly – Etihad’s co-owned LCC, Air Arabia Abu Dhabi. In January, its airline-within-an-airline serves Kozhikode 15 weekly, with 19 weekly departures to the more southern city.
That is all for now, folks. Have an awesome 2024!