Welcome to my 144th weekly routes article! I have analyzed subjectively exciting services that began or resumed in the past week or so. As I will be in Bahrain next week for Routes World—come and say hello if you are also attending—the next article will be on October 15. As usual, multiple other example launches are listed at the bottom.
Two new airports join Breeze’s map
On September 27, Washington Dulles and Ogdensburg (near the Canadian border) joined the fast-growing Breeze Airways’ network. There are currently two routes, although more are coming.
First, Dulles-Ogdensburg began, becoming the New York State airport’s sole route. It is EAS-funded, served daily, and was only announced two weeks before the first flight. The aircraft for the first service was positioned empty from Charleston to Dulles before operating to/from Ogdensburg.
Photo: Ogdensburg International Airport
United Express served the airport pair between 2019 and 2022. Unsurprisingly, Ogdensburg has never had Reagan/Baltimore service.
Second, flights from Provo (near Salt Lake City) to Dulles started on October 1, the first time the airport pair has had non-stop flights. Breeze runs three times weekly.
Two more Dulles routes begin this year: South Bend—another new airport in Breeze’s network—on November 8 (twice-weekly; never served before) and Vero Beach on November 21 (twice-weekly; never served before). The aircraft will route Vero Beach-Dulles-South Bend and vice versa.
Belgrade-Guangzhou: 2 airlines in 1 week
First one airline, quickly followed by a second. Who would have thought Belgrade to Guangzhou—that most obvious of long-haul markets—would be so attractive?
China Southern touched down in Serbia on September 25 and operates a twice-weekly Boeing 787-9 service. Air Serbia left Belgrade for Guangzhou on September 30 and runs twice-weekly on the A330-200.
The local market had only ~11,000 passengers in the past year, which is next to nothing, particularly for such a long service, although it rose to ~25,000 when nearby Chinese cities are combined.
Both carriers expect point-to-point traffic to grow strongly due to Serbia not imposing a visa requirement on Chinese citizens, together with demand from Chinese labor, students, and investment. Freight traffic will probably be huge.
Both airlines will also target connecting passengers through their respective hubs. However, in Air Serbia’s case, very few other European airports connect conveniently and competitively in both directions via Belgrade. It will be more reliant on point-to-point traffic. The airline now serves Tianjin and Guangzhou, although it has pulled its Shanghai plans, at least for now.
Take off: Uganda Airlines’ next route
I particularly like African launches, partly because they are usually awash with celebratory photos and a riot color. It makes a nice change from some often-staid launches elsewhere.
Uganda Airlines’ latest triangular route, served four times weekly on the CRJ900, does not disappoint. It routes Entebbe-Lusaka-Harare-Entebbe on Mondays and Thursdays, while Entebbe-Harare-Lusaka-Entebbe is on Thursdays and Saturdays.
It has fifth freedom traffic rights between the Zimbabwean and Zambian capitals. That market has about 25,000 roundtrip passengers, a modest volume, served by Air Botswana, Air Tanzania, Emirates, Ethiopian, Kenya Airways, LAM, Qatar Airways, RwandAir, and now Uganda Airlines. Welcome to Africa.
In contrast, Entebbe traffic to Harare and Lusaka was only about 10,500 passengers. Uganda Airlines will also target passengers traveling to/from Harare and Lusaka from various other cities over its Entebbe hub. Dubai, Mumbai, and Nairobi will be important, each with 35,000-40,000 passengers.
Venice gets 1st China flights
As well as being among the world’s most visited tourist cities, Venice has ~2.6 million people living in its metro area, and those from China are among its biggest diaspora groups.
On September 26, Venice welcomed its first-ever Shanghai service and its first scheduled operation from China. It is operated by China Eastern Airlines, which means the SkyTeam carrier’s passenger jets now serve 13 European airports, including three in Italy.
Like China Eastern’s other European services, the 4,829 nautical mile (8,944 km) Venice route operates through Russian airspace, saving valuable time, money, and emissions. It runs three times weekly year-round, mainly on the 232-seat A330-200.
With just 23,000 roundtrip passengers, Shanghai-Venice is not a big market, although it is still the Italian city’s largest Chinese market. Tour groups will probably be important. More than 50,000 passengers flew to/from Shanghai before the pandemic in 2019.
Malaysia Airlines’ 3rd Vietnamese city
The Malaysian flag carrier has inaugurated flights from Kuala Lumpur to Da Nang, one of Vietnam’s most populous cities and home to well-known beaches. Da Nang became the Malaysia Airlines third Vietnamese city, alongside (you guessed it!) Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. The carrier has never served three airports in the country before.
Malaysia Airlines serves the 882 nautical mile (1,634 km) route daily on the 737-800. It has a split schedule to help with connecting traffic. Depending on the day, flights leave Kuala Lumpur at 08:35/08:55 or 12:00 and get back at 15:20 or 18:35.
It does not have Kuala Lumpur-Da Nang to itself. Also serving it are AirAsia (currently double daily but triple daily this northern winter) and Batik Air Malaysia (four weekly). Vietnam Airlines served the market 2022/2023.
United at Greenville-Spartanburg
United Airlines and its regional partner, United Express, now have five routes from Greensville-Spartanburg in upstate South Carolina. It’s because of the September 26 relaunch of Washington Dulles service, with the 334 nautical mile (619 km) market last served in March 2020.
United Express runs triple daily every day. Most flights are on CommutAir’s 50-seat ERJ145s. However, GoJet’s 50-seat three-class CRJ550s will operate once daily between October 27 and December 2.
In the current week, United’s flights leave Dulles at 08:15, 12:48, and 17:20. Returning, they leave South Carolina at 10:20, 14:54, and 19:40.
In 2019, when it usually used slightly larger RJs, it carried 98,000 roundtrip passengers and filled 79% of seats. Over six in 10 passengers transferred to another flight, with Hartford being the top market.
Greenville–Spartanburg also has up to double daily Baltimore flights with Southwest and up to triple daily Reagan service with American Eagle.
Then there’s…
Many other route launches have occurred in the past week or so. They include LOT Polish from Warsaw to Lyon, a market previously served by the carrier until 2008 and then by Wizz Air between 2017 and 2020. China Eastern inaugurated the first-ever flights from Shanghai Pudong to Kazan and Xian to Milan Malpensa.
Utah’s St George has Los Angeles flights again following United Express’ reintroduction, the first time since 2020 that the market has been served. Qantas has introduced the first A380 flights from Sydney to Johannesburg, while Wizz Air has started the first-ever Tirana-Leipzig flights.
Singapore Airlines has celebrated 100 days since its London Gatwick route returned, and Norse Atlantic has now carried two million passengers. Jet2 has been in Belfast International for 20 years, Eurowings in Newcastle for 10, and Corendon has celebrated the fifth anniversary of its Nuremberg base.
Source: Simple Flying
