Between late March and early April, many European airlines launched several new routes, a number of which will be operated during the summer 2024, while others will remain year-round.

Additionally, some carriers have released their schedules for the winter 2024/25, also featuring the start of new connections.

In terms of aircraft additions, Wizz Air, easyJet and ITA Airways have been the leaders according to the number of jets taken out of the factory during the last month.

Twenty airplanes were incorporated between different European companies, including 17 Airbus, 2 Boeing and 1 ATR 72-600, but we will see this in more detail at the end of the report.

We review the highlights of the European market in March/April.

• Air France adds flights to Fortaleza.

• BA CityFlyer will operate between London Gatwick and Edinburgh.

• British Airways will change its services to Islamabad.

• Brussels confirms the seasonal flights between Belgium and Kenya.

• Delta inaugurated its third route to Munich.

• Hebridean Air Services starts operations between Stornoway and Benbecula.

• Iberia will two routes in Europe during the winter, and the launch to Albania.

• ITA Airways began services between Rome and Chicago.

• jetBlue and the start of the Boston – Paris route.

• LEVEL commenced flights to Miami (reported in the USA/Canada post).

• Norse Atlantic Airways takes a gamble on Las Vegas.

• Norwegian launches two connections between Munich and Spain.

• Vistara inaugurated services from Mumbai to Paris Charles de Gaulle.

• Comiso will have new operations from Vueling and Wizz Air.

Air France

The airline confirmed it will increase its flights between Paris and Fortaleza. Currently, Air France offers three weekly services with 324-seat Airbus A350-941 aircraft.

According to its reservation system, starting October 26th, the company will expand to five per week, and will also switch to Boeing 777-200(ER) planes seating 328 passengers.

This schedule will be available during the European winter (Latin American summer).

Daily except Monday and Saturday

• AF 404  Paris CDG 12:15 · 17:25 FOR Fortaleza
• AF 403  Fortaleza FOR 19:30 · 08:15+1 CDG Paris

It currently operates on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays.

Air France in Brazil

• Fortaleza (FOR): 3 weekly · Airbus A350 (currently)
• Rio de Janeiro (GIG): 7 weekly · Boeing 777-300(ER)
• Sao Paulo (GRU): 14 weekly · 772/77W

Animawings

For the summer 2024, the carrier will add two new seasonal routes from/to Bucharest. Flights will be operated with a weekly frequency on 174-seat Airbus A320-200s.

• Faro (FAO): June 4th
• Palma de Mallorca (PMI): July 14th

BA CityFlyer

The British Airways subsidiary will begin services between Edinburgh and London Gatwick effective May 26th. In accordance with its website, the airline will offer this route until early October, as it will be seasonal.

Sunday

• BA 3294  Edinburgh EDI 07:10 · 08:40 LGW London
• BA 3295  London LGW 09:25 · 10:40 EDI Edinburgh

Routes between Edinburgh and London (LCY, LGW, LHR, LTN and STN)

Gatwick

• easyJet: 34 weekly

Heathrow

• British Airways: 80 weekly

London City Airport

• BA CityFlyer: 52 weekly

Luton

• easyJet: 21 weekly

Stansted

• easyJet: 20 weekly
• Ryanair UK: 20 weekly

British Airways

As of October 27th, British will be modifying its operations to Islamabad, Pakistan.

British Airways will start flights between London Gatwick and Islamabad, replacing the current offered to/from Heathrow.

Tuesday, Friday and Sunday

• BA 2161  London LGW 17:00 · 05:55+1 ISB Islamabad

Monday, Wednesday and Saturday

• BA 2160  Islamabad ISB 07:55 · 12:15 LGW London

Brussels Airlines

The carrier will commence services between Brussels and Nairobi, Kenya, on June 3rd. These flights, which will perform during the summer season 2024, will be offered four times a week non-stop, and two with a stopover in Kigali.

Monday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday

• SN 481  Brussels BRU 10:20 · 19:35 NBO Nairobi
• SN 482  Nairobi NBO 22:30 · 06:45+1 BRU Brussels

Wednesday and Sunday

• SN 491  Brussels BRU 10:20 · 22:30 NBO Nairobi (via KGL)
• SN 491  Nairobi NBO 23:40 · 07:55+1 BRU Brussels

Delta

On April 10th at 07:51 local time, the first Delta Air Lines flight arrived in Munich from New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport.

Services will be three weekly with the following schedule:

Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday

• DL 238  New York JFK 18:15 · 08:25+1 MUC Munich

Wednesday, Friday and Sunday

• DL 239  Munich MUC 11:45 · 15:00 JFK New York

Delta in Munich

• Atlanta (ATL): 7 weekly · Boeing 767-300(ER)
• Detroit (DTW): 4 weekly · Boeing 767-300(ER)
• New York (JFK): 3 weekly · Boeing 767-300(ER)

Discover Airlines

During May, Discover Airlines plans to operate routes between Frankfurt and Spain with Airbus A330-200 aircraft.

Flights to Ibiza, Palma de Mallorca and Tenerife South will be carried out as follows:

• Ibiza (IBZ): 1 weekly · May 2nd
• Mallorca (PMI): 4/6 weekly · May 2nd
• Tenerife (TFS): 1 weekly · May 7th

Hebridean Air Services

The Scottish carrier inaugurated regular services between Stornoway and Benbecula on April 12th. Operations, in line with its website, will be conducted six times per week (3 days with 2 flights) with Britten Norman Islanders configured for 8 passengers.

Monday, Tuesday and Friday

• Stornoway SYY 08:15 · 08:50 BEB Benbecula
• Benbecula BEB 09:05 · 09:35 SYY Stornoway

Monday, Tuesday and Friday

• Stornoway SYY 15:25 · 16:00 BEB Benbecula
• Benbecula BEB 16:15 · 16:50 SYY Stornoway

Iberia

Salzburg and Tromsø, new Iberia destinations.

The Spanish company will start operations to these cities in Austria and Norway as of November and December, respectively. Both routes, according to the press release, will have a frequency of two weekly flights.

Salzburg · November 30th

Wednesday and Saturday

• IB 805  Madrid MAD 12:25 · 15:15 SZG Salzburg
• IB 806  Salzburg SZG 15:55 · 18:45 MAD Madrid

Tromsø · December 1st

Thursday

• IB 961  Madrid MAD 13:00 · 18:20 TOS Tromsø
• IB 962  Tromsø TOS 19:20 · 00:40+1 MAD Madrid

Sunday

• IB 961  Madrid MAD 08:15 · 13:35 TOS Tromsø
• IB 962  Tromsø TOS 14:35 · 19:55 MAD Madrid

In addition, last March 28th, Iberia began services between Madrid and Tirana, Albania:

Tuesday and Sunday

• IB 3386  Madrid MAD 08:00 · 11:05 TIA Tirana
• IB 3387  Tirana TIA 11:45 · 15:10 MAD Madrid

On Thursdays it will depart from Madrid at 08:40 and 12:25 from Tirana.

Iberia will be competing on this route with Wizz Air Malta, which commenced operations on April 2nd, and will fly three times a week on Airbus A321 planes (flight W4 5152/5153).

ITA

At 12:31 local time on Sunday, April 7th, ITA Airways’ inaugural flight from Rome arrived in Chicago. The Italian airline will offer five weekly services with Airbus A330-200 and Airbus A330-900neo aircraft.

Chicago becomes ITA’s seventh connection in the United States.

Daily except Monday and Wednesday

• AZ 628  Rome FCO 09:20 · 13:10 ORD Chicago
• AZ 629  Chicago ORD 15:00 · 07:20+1 FCO Rome

ITA Airways routes between Italy and the USA

Rome

• Boston (BOS): 5 weekly · Airbus A330
• Chicago (ORD): 5 weekly · Airbus A330
• Los Angeles (LAX): 6 weekly · A339/A359
• Miami (MIA): 7 weekly · Airbus A330-900
• New York (JFK): 21 weekly · A332/A339
• San Francisco (SFO): 5 weekly · Airbus A330-900
• Washington (IAD): 5 weekly · Airbus A330-200

jetBlue

The airline commenced its second route between the United States and Paris.

Operations to the French capital from Boston began on April 4th. In accordance with our database, jetBlue will offer a daily frequency with Airbus A321neo jets configured for 138 passengers.

Daily

• B6 33  Boston BOS 20:00 · 09:15+1 CDG Paris
• B6 34  Paris CDG 11:15 · 13:02 BOS Boston

Apart from jetBlue, Air France and Delta Air Lines operate between Paris Charles de Gaulle and Boston:

Daily · A359

• AF 334  Paris CDG 13:25 · 15:05 BOS Boston
• AF 333  Boston BOS 17:15 · 05:55+1 CDG Paris

Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday · A359

• AF 322  Paris CDG 18:45 · 20:35 BOS Boston
• AF 321  Boston BOS 22:35 · 11:10+1 CDG Paris

Daily · A339

• DL 224  Boston BOS 18:50 · 07:55+1 CDG Paris
• DL 225  Paris CDG 11:45 · 13:45 BOS Boston

Lufthansa Cargo

On April 2nd, Lufthansa Cargo inaugurated flights between Brussels and Chicago. The company will operate twice-weekly services with Boeing 777(F) aircraft, carrying mainly pharmaceuticals and life sciences.

Monday

• LH 8188  Frankfurt FRA 18:40 · 19:40 BRU Brussels
• LH 8188  Brussels BRU 21:10 · 23:15 ORD Chicago
• LH 8189  Chicago ORD 01:45 · 17:05 FRA Frankfurt (Tuesday)

Wednesday

• LH 8188  Frankfurt FRA 17:00 · 18:00 BRU Brussels
• LH 8188  Brussels BRU 19:30 · 21:35 ORD Chicago
• LH 8189  Chicago ORD 00:05 · 15:25 FRA Frankfurt (Thursday)

Until March 27th, Lufthansa’s cargo subsidiary served Frankfurt-Chicago non-stop.

Norwegian

The carrier resumed two additional connections between Munich and Spain, which had been suspended since 2020 due to the COVID pandemic.

Málaga, which will be operated with Boeing 737-800s and Boeing 737 MAX 8s, was launched on March 31st, while Alicante started on April 1st with SunExpress’ Airbus A320-200.

Málaga

Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday

• D8 5140  Málaga AGP 07:10 · 10:00 MUC Munich
• D8 5141  Munich MUC 10:40 · 13:40 AGP Málaga

Alicante

Monday

• D8 5430  Alicante ALC 06:55 · 09:25 MUC Munich
• D8 5431  Munich MUC 10:05 · 12:40 ALC Alicante

Friday

• D8 5430  Alicante ALC 09:05 · 11:35 MUC Munich
• D8 5431  Munich MUC 12:15 · 14:45 ALC Alicante

Norwegian’s routes from/to Munich

• Alicante (ALC): 2 weekly
• Copenhagen (CPH): 3 weekly
• Málaga (AGP): 3 weekly
• Oslo (OSL): 5 weekly

Plus Ultra

Charter services of the Spanish company between Madrid and Havana will begin next June 29th.

As can be seen on its website, Plus Ultra will have flights to Cuba once a week until September 7th with Airbus A330-200 jets.

Saturday

• PU 943  Madrid MAD 14:55 · 18:55 HAV Havana
• PU 944  Havana HAV 21:15 · 12:35+1 MAD Madrid

At present, this route is operated by Air Europa, Iberia, World2Fly and Cubana de Aviación, and with the latter there is an interesting detail.

Cubana offers flights on the Madrid – Santiago de Cuba – Havana – Santiago de Cuba – Madrid route on Plus Ultra’s Airbus A330-200 and Airbus A340-300.

The Cuban state airline operates to Argentina and Spain with Plus Ultra aircraft, as its Ilyushin Il-96-300 is not in service. This plane, registered CU-T1250, remains in Havana since December 2023 after months of maintenance work in Russia.

Plus Ultra routes in the Americas

Colombia

• Madrid (MAD) – Bogotá (BOG) – Cartagena (CTG) – Madrid (MAD): 3 weekly

Perú

• Madrid (MAD) – Lima (LIM) – Madrid (MAD): 4 weekly

Venezuela

• Madrid (MAD) – Caracas (CCS) – Madrid (MAD): 4 weekly
• Caracas (CCS) – Tenerife (TFN) – Caracas (CCS): 1 weekly

SAS

Scandinavian Airlines System will inaugurate flights between Copenhagen and Oslo Sandefjord beginning April 28th. These operations will be offered six weekly with ATR 72-600s.

Daily except Saturday and Sunday

• SK 1396  Copenhagen CPH 10:35 · 12:05 TRF Sandefjord
• SK 1397  Sandefjord TRF 12:35 · 13:55 CPH Copenhagen

Sunday

• SK 1396  Copenhagen CPH 14:20 · 15:50 TRF Sandefjord
• SK 1397  Sandefjord TRF 16:20 · 17:40 CPH Copenhagen

Swiss

On April 2nd, Swiss International Air Lines launched its Zurich – London Gatwick route, which will be operated once a day with Airbus A220, Embraer 190 and Embraer E-2 aircraft.

With this new addition, the carrier will offer 112 weekly services to the English capital from Zurich and Geneva.

Daily

• LX 432  Zurich ZRH 16:55/17:05/17:15 · 17:35/17:50/17:55 LGW London
• LX 433  London LGW 18:45 · 21:25/21:30 ZRH Zurich

Furthermore, Swiss began regular flights between Zurich and Washington last March 28th, its eighth connection in the United States.

Daily

• LX 72  Zurich ZRH 12:55 · 16:15 IAD Washington
• LX 73  Washington IAD 20:45 · 10:50+1 ZRH Zurich

Vistara

At 18:27 local time on March 28th, Vistara’s inaugural flight from Mumbai landed at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris. The company will offer six operations per week with Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner airplanes.

Daily except Friday

• UK 23  Mumbai BOM 13:20 · 19:30 CDG Paris
• UK 24  Paris CDG 21:30 · 09:50+1 BOM Mumbai

Air France also serves this route:

Daily

• AF 218  Paris CDG 10:45/11:05 · 23:30 BOM Mumbai
• AF 217  Mumbai BOM 01:30 · 07:30/07:45 CDG Paris

Vistara routes in Europe

Mumbai

• Frankfurt (FRA): 6 weekly
• Paris (CDG): 5 weekly

New Delhi

• Frankfurt (FRA): 6 weekly
• London (LHR): 7 weekly
• Paris (CDG): 5 weekly

Vueling

Effective June 13th, the Spanish low cost airline, part of the IAG group, will commence seasonal operations between Barcelona and Comiso. Vueling will perform these flights until September 8th, according to its reservation system.

Thursday

• VY 2008  Barcelona BCN 17:55 · 20:00 CIY Comiso
• VY 2009  Comiso CIY 20:35 · 22:45 BCN Barcelona

Sunday

• VY 2008  Barcelona BCN 07:40 · 09:45 CIY Comiso
• VY 2009  Comiso CIY 10:25 · 12:35 BCN Barcelona 

Current routes to/from Comiso

• Bologna (BLQ): 2 weekly · AeroItalia
• Milan (BGY): 3 weekly · AeroItalia
• Milan (LIN): 2 weekly · AeroItalia
• Milan (MXP): 3 weekly · easyJet
• Paris (ORY): 1 weekly · Transavia France
• Pisa (PSA): 2 weekly · AeroItalia
• Rome (FCO): 7 weekly · AeroItalia
• Turin (TRN): 2 weekly · Volotea
• Verona (VRN): 2 weekly · Volotea

Wizz Air

The company confirmed the addition of two new connections from/to Tirana. These routes are available for sale on Wizz Air’s website.

Comiso · August 2nd

Monday and Friday

• W4 5065  Tirana TIA 14:20 · 15:50 CIY Comiso
• W4 5066  Comiso CIY 16:25 · 17:55 TIA Tirana

Stuttgart · October 28th

Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday

• W4 5119  Tirana TIA 16:00 · 18:10 STR Stuttgart
• W4 5120  Stuttgart STR 18:45 · 20:50 TIA Tirana

Which European airlines have added new aircraft during March/April?

• Air France

• Condor

• easyJet (x3)

• ITA (x3)

• Jet2 (x2)

• Ryanair (x2)

• SKY express

• Sunclass

• Swiss

• Transavia

• Wizz Air Malta (x3)

• Wizz Air UK

To read the reports we have published in April.

• United States and Canada
• Latin America

Cover photo: Andre M. – JetPhotos (Innsbruck, Austria).