Welcome to my 113th weekly routes article! I’ve analyzed a number of subjectively exciting examples of routes that took off recently.
Take off: JetBlue’s two latest routes
Each latest services began on the identical day: January 4th. Firstly, JetBlue launched Fort Lauderdale to Tallahassee. Served every day using the A320, it’s the primary time JetBlue has served the Florida state capital, certainly one of 10 Florida airports that see the carrier’s equipment.
It competes directly with Silver Airways’ ATR 72s on the 393-mile (642 km) airport pair, an airline David versus Goliath competitive situation. There are few examples of such extreme differences in equipment within the US.
That very same day, JetBlue inaugurated Worcester, MA (an airport it has served since 2013) to Fort Myers, the primary time the market has had non-stop flights.
Running twice-weekly (every day through the Red Sox’s spring training in Lee County, where Fort Myers is positioned), it’s the airline’s third route from Worcester, joining Orlando and Fort Lauderdale. Based at JFK, the operating A320 routes JFK-Fort Myers-Worcester-Fort Myers-JFK, an example of a so-called ‘W’ routing.
$49 One-Way: JetBlue Launches Recent Florida Route From Fort Lauderdale
JetBlue launches latest service to Tallahassee with a $49 discounted a technique fare.
Three Sky routes from Montevideo
Uruguay is amongst South America’s smallest countries by geographic area and doesn’t get much attention for aviation. Yet Sky Airline has began three routes: Montevideo-Salvador; Lima-Montevideo; and Montevideo-Florianópolis.
All are three weekly using the A320, with Salvador and Florianópolis being great for tourism. While it faces LATAM from Lima, Gol last served Salvador in early 2023, and Azur ends Florianópolis service in February.
Sky has served Montevideo from Santiago de Chile since 2016. Because it doesn’t have a Uruguayan AOC, it routes Santiago-Montevideo-Salvador using its Chilean AOC and Lima-Montevideo-Florianópolis with its Peruvian AOC. They operate on a fifth-freedom basis.
Sky Airline Proclaims Recent Routes Across South America
The Chilean ultra-low-cost carrier will reach its fifth Brazilian destination next 12 months.
FlyArystan’s 2nd Indian route
Kazakhstan’s LCC FlyArystan, owned by Air Astana, commenced its second Indian route on January 4th. It’s from Almaty – the country’s most populous city but not the capital – to Mumbai.
It appears to be the primary time the 1,690-mile (2,719 km) airport pair has ever been served. That just isn’t surprising: it barely had 4,000 passengers previously 12 months, rising to ~7,000 for the entire of Kazakhstan. FlyArystan will easily stimulate demand from non-stop flights and low fares.
Flown twice-weekly by the A320neo, KC7857 leaves Almaty at 09:15 and arrives in India at 13:35 local. Returning, KC7858 departs at 14:50 and arrives home at 19:50 local.
FlyArystan was created and previously run by Tim Jordan, the founder and CEO of Australian LCC Bonza. An airline-within-an-airline, FlyArystan now has 19 A320ceos/neos. Its first Indian route – Almaty to Delhi – began on September twenty fourth, 2023 (three weekly).
Air Cairo’s debut in Morocco
It’s unusual for one airline to make two appearances in my latest routes article two weeks running, especially whether it is small. But that’s what has happened to leisure carrier Air Cairo, partly owned by EgyptAir.
Having covered the launch of Cairo-Ouagadougou-Dakar last week, the airline has now introduced Cairo to Tangier. Served twice-weekly by the A320neo until March and again from October, it’s the primary time the two,190-mile market has had regular flights. Royal Air Maroc seems to have had three roundtrip services in 2022.
It marks Air Cairo’s first Moroccan operation. SM263 leaves the Egyptian capital at 17:30/17:40 and arrives in Tangier at 22:00 local. Returning, SM264 departs at 23:00 and gets back at 04:45+1.
The Most Notable Recent Airline Routes This Week
Routes go to the guts of airlines and airports, and I have a good time them in my weekly newsletter.
flynas HAS begun its next route
flynas is Saudi Arabia’s second-largest and fastest-growing operator. On January 4th, it began Dammam to Ha’il, positioned in northwest Saudi, with Ha’il Province known for its agriculture, mainly dates, fruits, and grains. Ha’il’s IATA code is HAS, hence my silly title.
Photo: Dammam International Airport
The 505-mile (812 km) airport pair was first served by Saudia in 2006, followed by defunct Sama, Saudi Arabia’s first budget carrier, in 2007 using 737-300s. flynas operated it between 2016 and 2019 – so it is just returning – while Saudia gave up the non-core path to lower-cost unit flyadeal flyadeal in 2022.
flynas’ four-weekly A320 service competes directly with flyadeal’s three-weekly A320 option. Wow, that aircraft type has been mentioned extensively on this week’s article. You’d think it’s the world’s most-used equipment (it’s).
That is all for now, folks. See you next time.