Route networks have been bouncing back fiercely in the past year, with flight statistics across the board approaching pre-Covid levels. Here we look at some of the new routes launching in 2024.
Air Canada: Stockholm
Air Canada will launch two seasonal routes to Stockholm in June 2024, with three weekly flights from Montreal and a twice-weekly service from Toronto. Both routes will be served by three-class Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft.
There are currently no other airlines flying between Montreal and Stockholm, while the Toronto-Stockholm route is also served by SAS.
Qantas: Paris
Oneworld member Qantas is adding another direct service between Australia and Europe with the launch of a new route between Perth and Paris ahead of the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
From 12 July, 2024, the 17-hour Perth-Paris flights will initially operate four days per week on the airline’s Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft, before reducing to three services a week from mid-August 2024. The carrier’s 787-9 Dreamliner seats 42 passengers in business class across a 1-2-1 configuration, plus 28 in 2-3-2 premium economy, and 166 in standard economy class across a 3-3-3 configuration.
United Airlines: Faro
The US carrier will become the first and only airline to offer nonstop flights between the US and Faro in Portugal, with a four-times-weekly service from New York’s Newark airport starting on 24 May, 2024.
The Boeing 757-200 route will add to United’s existing Portuguese services between Newark and Lisbon, Washington Dulles and Lisbon, Newark and Porto, and Newark and Ponta Delgada in the Azores.
JetBlue: Dublin, Edinburgh and Paris
The low-cost carrier will further expand its transatlantic network with seasonal services to Dublin and Edinburgh in 2024. It will operate daily flights from New York JFK and Boston Logan International to Dublin between 13 March and 30 September, 2024, and a daily service from JFK to Edinburgh from 22 May to 30 September, 2024.
JetBlue’s newest transatlantic routes will be served by the carrier’s A321 neo aircraft, configured with 16 Mint Suites and 144 seats in economy.
Flights between Boston and Paris will also launch on 3 April, 2024, bringing JetBlue’s European network to five destinations.
Gulf Air: Guangzhou and Shanghai
Bahrain’s national carrier Gulf Air will launch flights to China from January 2024. The carrier will fly to Guangzhou and Shanghai from its hub at Bahrain International airport. The flights will be operated using its Boeing 787 Dreamliner in a two-class configuration of 26 seats in business and 256 in economy.
Delta: Munich and Naples
Delta has announced new routes to Munich and Naples for summer 2024.
The US carrier will offer daily nonstop flights between New York JFK and Naples from 23 May, 2024, adding to Delta’s existing Italian routes to Milan, Rome and Venice.
The airline will also launch a thrice-weekly service between JFK and Munich beginning on 9 April, 2024. The carrier will additionally resume flights between JFK and Shannon on 23 May, 2024 – the first time the route has operated since 2019.
LEVEL: Miami
LEVEL is set to launch its fifth US destination, with flights to Miami starting in 2024.
The low-cost subsidiary of the International Airlines Group (IAG) will operate three flights per week between Barcelona and Miami International starting on 31 March, 2024.
The carrier will lease a sixth A330-200 aircraft to accommodate the new service, configured with 314 seats. The new route will join LEVEL’s existing US flights to Boston, Los Angeles, New York JFK and San Francisco (seasonal).
Lufthansa: Seattle, Minneapolis-St Paul and Raleigh-Durham
Lufthansa is set to launch three new transatlantic routes from its Frankfurt and Munich hubs in 2024.
First up will be a daily A350 service between Munich and Seattle-Tacoma International, starting on 30 May, 2024. The route will complement Lufthansa’s existing flights between Frankfurt and Seattle. The service will reduce to three flights per week for the winter season.
Lufthansa will also launch its first route to Minneapolis-St Paul next summer, with a daily year-round service from Frankfurt. Flights will start on 4 June, 2024, and will be operated by the carrier’s Boeing 787-9 aircraft.
The airline has also confirmed plans to fly between Frankfurt and Raleigh-Durham for the first time, with a five-times-weekly service launching on 6 June, 2024.
Norse Atlantic: Los Angeles
Norse Atlantic Airways will launch a new direct route between Paris and LA on 1 May, 2024, with the six-times-weekly service operated by Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft.
The low-cost carrier already operates year-round services from Paris CDG to JFK, and launches a four-times-weekly Paris CDG-Miami service on 11 December.
Virgin Atlantic: Bengaluru
Virgin Atlantic will launch a new route to India, with a daily flight from London Heathrow to Bengaluru starting on 31 March, 2024.
Flights will be operated by Boeing 787-9 aircraft, configured with 31 seats in Upper Class, 35 in Premium and 192 in economy.
Virgin was also due to launch a new route to Sao Paulo on 13 May, 2024, but this has now been delayed to 2025. This is the second time the carrier has delayed this route launch, having first announced the service in 2019.
Aer Lingus: Denver
Aer Lingus has announced plans to serve Denver International airport from 2024. The new Dublin-Denver service will operate four-times-weekly from 17 May, 2024.
In addition the carrier is set to relaunch its Dublin-Minneapolis-St Paul service from 29 April, 2024. The reinstated route will initially operate four-times-weekly before increasing to daily from October 2024, and will be served by the airline’s A321 XLR aircraft from next winter.
Etihad: Boston
Etihad Airways plans to operate a four-times-weekly service from Abu Dhabi to Boston from 31 March, 2024. This marks the carrier’s fourth destination in the US, joining Chicago, New York and Washington, along with services to Toronto in Canada.
The new service will be operated by its Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, which is configured with 22 seats in business and 271 seats in economy.
British Airways: Abu Dhabi
British Airways will be returning to Abu Dhabi for the first time since 2020, with daily year-round flights restarting on 20 April, 2024 operated by Boeing 787-9 aircraft. This will complement the carrier’s service to Dubai which operates up to three-times-daily.
BA also launched a new thrice-weekly service from London Gatwick to Accra in Ghana, as well as from London Heathrow to Latvian capital Riga, in October.
