After finishing with the Americas, we move on to Europe and its respective market update. We leave the links of the previous posts:
In this edition of the European market, we focus only on routes. A lot of news regarding new starts for the summer season, as well as routes that have already began during November and December.
Low cost carriers such as easyJet, Ryanair, Volotea and Wizz announced new routes starting in March 2024 onwards, connecting different European airports in the summer.
There are so many new developments that we will leave some of them for the next article, as they are related to the Asian market…
AeroItalia
The carrier confirmed the launch of a new connection from Milan Bergamo beginning March 25th, 2024. A tentative schedule is already available on AeroItalia’s website, which is as follows:
Daily except Saturday
- XZ 4423 Milan BGY 19:10 · 20:00 PEG Perugia
Daily except Sunday
- XZ 4424 Perugia PEG 07:15 · 08:05 BGY Milan
Saturday
- XZ 4423 Milan BGY 20:30 · 21:20 PEG Perugia
Sunday
- XZ 4424 Perugia PEG 08:30 · 09:20 BGY Milan
Current routes offered from Perugia
- Cagliari (CAG): 2 weekly · Ryanair
- Catania (CTA): 3 weekly · Ryanair
- London Stansted (STN): 4 weekly · Ryanair
- Palermo (PMO): 2 weekly · Ryanair
- Tirana (TIA): 2 weekly · Albawings
- Tirana (TIA): 3 weekly · Wizz Air Malta
airBaltic
Latvia’s flag carrier launched services between Vilnius and Dubai last November 1st. Flights will be operated twice a week with 149-seat Airbus A220-300 aircraft.
Wednesday and Saturday
- BT 997 Vilnius VNO 23:55 · 08:30+1 DXB Dubai
Thursday and Sunday
- BT 998 Dubai DXB 09:30 · 14:35 VNO Vilnius
airBaltic is the only carrier serving this route.
Air Europa
The airline will increase its flights to New York during the peak of the high season.
Air Europa will boost from four to five weekly services starting December 21st, scheduled to last until early January 2024.
After the peak season, the company will resume its current operating schedule.
Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday
- UX 091 Madrid MAD 15:35 · 17:50 JFK New York
Tuesday
- UX 091 Madrid MAD 16:40 · 18:55 JFK New York
Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday
- UX 092 New York JFK 22:05 · 11:10+1 MAD Madrid
Air Europa will add a new flight on Thursdays (December 21st and 28th, and January 4th).
In addition to New York, in terms of U.S. destinations, the carrier operates seven services a week between Miami and Madrid with the Dreamliners.
Austrian
Effective January 27th, 2024, Austrian Airlines plans to inaugurate seasonal operations between Innsbruck and Amsterdam. The flights will be performed with 180-seat Airbus A320-200 jets.
Saturday
- OS 369 Amsterdam AMS 12:25 · 14:05 INN Innsbruck
- OS 370 Innsbruck INN 15:05 · 16:55 AMS Amsterdam
Services between Innsbruck and the Netherlands – currently
- Amsterdam (AMS): 7 weekly · Transavia
- Eindhoven (EIN): 6 weekly · Transavia
- Rotterdam (RTM): 4 weekly · Transavia
BA CityFlyer
British Airways, through its subsidiary BA CityFlyer, will start flights between Edinburgh and San Sebastián, Spain, from May 25th, 2024. Operations will be seasonal, using 98-seat Embraer 190s.
Flights are already on sale.
Tuesday
- BA 2919 Edinburgh EDI 10:40 · 14:05 EAS San Sebastián
- BA 2920 San Sebastián EAS 14:50 · 16:20 EDI Edinburgh
Saturday
- BA 2919 Edinburgh EDI 17:00 · 20:25 EAS San Sebastián
- BA 2920 San Sebastián EAS 21:10 · 22:40 EDI Edinburgh
Apart from San Sebastián, also beginning May 25th, 2024, the airline will inaugurate seasonal services between Edinburgh and Olbia.
Saturday
- BA 2331 Edinburgh EDI 07:00 · 11:00 OLB Olbia
- BA 2332 Olbia OLB 11:45 · 13:50 EDI Edinburgh
Brussels
On December 12th, Brussels Airlines made its first regular flight of its Airbus A320neo. As announced, the carrier took delivery of the first NEO in November after arriving new from the factory in Toulouse.
Current fleet
- Airbus A319-100: 14
- Airbus A320-200: 18
- Airbus A320neo: 1
- Airbus A330-300: 7
Brussels has two Airbus A320neo in order, which will arrive shortly (with registrations OO-SBB and OO-SBC).
Cyprus Airways
At 10:04 local time on Tuesday, December 12th, Cyprus Airways’ inaugural flight from Larnaca landed in Nice. The services, which were initially scheduled from early November, will be operated twice a week on Airbus A220s.
Tuesday
- CY 386 Larnaca LCA 07:00 · 10:00 NCE Nice
- CY 387 Nice NCE 11:00 · 16:40 LCA Larnaca
Thursday
- CY 386 Larnaca LCA 15:20 · 18:20 NCE Nice
- CY 387 Nice NCE 19:20 · 23:59 LCA Larnaca
Current Cyprus Airways route schedule (to and from Larnaca)
Armenia
- Yerevan (EVN): 2 weekly · Airbus A320
Croatia
- Dubrovnik (DBV): 1 weekly · Airbus A320
France
Greece
- Athens (ATH): 7 weekly · A220/A320
Italy
- Milan (MXP): 3 weekly · Airbus A220
Lebanon
- Beirut (BEY): 5 weekly · Airbus A320
Switzerland
- Zurich (ZRH): 2 weekly · Airbus A220
United Arab Emirates
- Dubai (DXB): 4 weekly · Airbus A220
easyJet
The airline will have 16 new routes from Birmingham between March and May 2024. This is the tentative schedule:
- Birmingham (BHX) – Alicante (ALC): 2 weekly · March 19th, 2024
- Birmingham (BHX) – Antalya (AYT): 2 weekly · March 18th, 2024
- Birmingham (BHX) – Barcelona (BCN): 3 weekly · March 18th, 2024
- Birmingham (BHX) – Berlin (BER): 3 weekly · April 1st, 2024
- Birmingham (BHX) – Corfu (CFU): 2 weekly · May 1st, 2024
- Birmingham (BHX) – Dalaman (DLM): 1 weekly · April 4th, 2024
- Birmingham (BHX) – Enfidha (NBE): 2 weekly · March 21st, 2024
- Birmingham (BHX) – Fuerteventura (FUE): 1 weekly · April 4th, 2024
- Birmingham (BHX) – Heraklion (HER): 1 weekly · April 3rd, 2024
- Birmingham (BHX) – Jersey (JER): 2 weekly · April 2nd, 2024
- Birmingham (BHX) – Kos (KGS): 1 weekly · May 3rd, 2024
- Birmingham (BHX) – Larnaca (LCA): 1 weekly · March 20th, 2024
- Birmingham (BHX) – Málaga (AGP): 2 weekly · March 21st, 2024
- Birmingham (BHX) – Rhodes (RHO): 1 weekly · April 23rd, 2024
- Birmingham (BHX) – Sharm el Sheikh (SSH): 2 weekly · April 2nd, 2024
- Birmingham (BHX) – Tenerife (TFS): 2 weekly · March 23rd, 2024
Edelweiss Air
The carrier plans to launch seasonal flights to Evenes Harstad Narvik, Norway, as of June 10th, 2024. Operations will be performed during the summer season with Airbus A320 aircraft.
Monday
- WK 316 Zurich ZRH 11:45 · 15:20 EVE Evenes Harstad Narvik
- WK 317 Evenes Harstad Narvik EVE 16:15 · 19:15 ZRH Zurich
Evenes Harstad Narvik airport (EVE) current routes
- Andenes (ANX): 19 weekly · Widerøe
- Bodø (BOO): 19 weekly · Widerøe
- Brekstad (OLA): 2 weekly · DAT
- Oslo (OSL): 25 weekly · Norwegian
- Oslo (OSL): 13 weekly · SAS
- Trondheim (TRD): 6 weekly · Widerøe
Finnair
Effective June 4th, 2024, the Finnish airline will start seasonal flights between Helsinki and Burgas. These services will be available until mid-August, in line with Finnair’s website.
Tuesday (Airbus A319)
- AY 2055 Helsinki HEL 16:30 · 19:35 BOJ Burgas
- AY 2056 Burgas BOJ 20:15 · 23:15 HEL Helsinki
Current routes to/from Burgas, Bulgaria
- Amsterdam (AMS): 7 weekly · Transavia
- Dubai (DXB): 7 weekly · Transavia
- London Luton (LTN): 3 weekly · Wizz Air UK
Iberia
On December 11th, Iberia inaugurated its regular flights between Madrid and Doha. The Spanish company will offer a daily service on Airbus A330-200s, with capacity for 288 passengers.
The inaugural flight was operated using the Airbus A350-941, registration EC-OAY.
Daily
- IB 6701 Madrid MAD 08:30 · 17:35 DOH Doha
- IB 6700 Doha DOH 00:55 · 07:10 MAD Madrid
Qatar Airways has two services per day between the two cities with a mix of Airbus A350-900, Boeing 777-200(LR) and Boeing 777-300(ER).
ITA Airways
The Italian airline will launch operations between Rome and London City from March 31st, 2024. These flights, which are already on sale, will be carried out with Airbus A220-100 aircraft, 12 weekly.
Daily except Saturday and Sunday
- AZ 212 Rome FCO 08:50 · 10:25 LCY London City
- AZ 211 London City LCY 08:30 · 12:00 FCO Rome
Daily except Saturday
- AZ 213 Rome FCO 15:15 · 16:50 LCY London City
- AZ 214 London City LCY 16:40 · 20:10 FCO Rome
Saturday
- AZ 212 Rome FCO 09:25 · 11:00 LCY London City
- AZ 211 London City LCY 11:35 · 15:05 FCO Rome
Loganair
In late October, Loganair boosted its services between the Isle of Man and Manchester. Operations, which are flown with ATR 72s, increased from 11 to 12 per week.
Check schedules, as there is a different one for each day.
Flight frequency
- LM 691/692: Saturday and Sunday
- 693/694: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday
- 697/698: Daily except Thursday
LOT
Beginning March 14th, 2024, LOT Polish Airlines is set to inaugurate operations between Warsaw and Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The carrier will fly twice-weekly with its Boeing 737 MAX 8 jets.
Wednesday and Friday
- LO 189 Warsaw WAW 23:00 · 09:05+1 TAS Tashkent
Thursday and Saturday
- LO 188 Tashkent TAS 10:15 · 13:00 WAW Warsaw
Lufthansa
At 12:56 local time on Saturday (16) the first Lufthansa flight from Munich arrived in Oulu, Finland. The airline will operate two times a week during the winter season.
Wednesday
- LH 2490 Munich MUC 12:00 · 16:15 OUL Oulu
- LH 2491 Oulu OUL 17:05 · 19:20 MUC Munich
Saturday
- LH 2490 Munich MUC 08:40 · 12:55 OUL Oulu
- LH 2491 Oulu OUL 13:45 · 16:00 MUC Munich
Currently, Oulu airport has two regular routes:
There may also be charter flights, such as Jettime performing a special service between Gran Canaria and Oulu on December 16th.
Luxair
The company will start seasonal flights to Brač, Croatia, effective May 4th, 2024. Luxair will operate with De Havilland Q400s configured for 76 passengers.
Saturday
- LG 471 Luxembourg LUX 11:25 · 14:05 BWK Brač
- LG 472 Brač BWK 14:55 · 17:45 LUX Luxembourg
The last service of the season will be on October 5th.
Norwegian
As of April 14th, 2024, Norwegian plans to start operations between Oslo and Istanbul. According to its website, the airline will run twice-weekly services on 189-seat Boeing 737-800 aircraft.
Wednesday
- DY 1278 Oslo OSL 14:45 · 19:20 IST Istanbul
- DY 1279 Istanbul IST 20:05 · 22:40 OSL Oslo
Sunday
- DY 1278 Oslo OSL 16:00 · 20:35 IST Istanbul
- DY 1279 Istanbul IST 21:20 · 23:55 OSL Oslo
The final flight is scheduled for October 23rd.
PLAY
The Reykjavik-based carrier inaugurated services to Frankfurt on December 14th. PLAY will offer a daily flight with Airbus A320neo jets for 186 passengers.
Daily
- OG 710 Reykjavik KEF 06:00 · 10:40 FRA Frankfurt
- OG 711 Frankfurt FRA 11:40 · 14:30 KEF Reykjavik
PLAY’s destinations in Europe (all from KEF)
- Alicante (ALC): 2 weekly
- Amsterdam (AMS): 7 weekly
- Athens (ATH): 2 weekly
- Barcelona (BCN): 2 weekly
- Berlin (BER): 4 weekly
- Copenhagen (CPH): 8 weekly
- Dublin (DUB): 6 weekly
- Frankfurt (FRA): 7 weekly
- Glasgow (GLA): 2 weekly
- Gran Canaria (LPA): 1 weekly
- Lisbon (LIS): 2 weekly
- Liverpool (LPL): 2 weekly
- London (STN): 8 weekly
- Madrid (MAD): 2 weekly
- Paris (CDG): 7 weekly
- Tenerife (TFS): 6 weekly
The airline also operates to Baltimore, Boston, New York Stewart and Washington, in the United States.
Ryanair
As for Ryanair, the company will launch 16 routes in April 2024 from Ruđer Bošković Airport, Dubrovnik.
Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Poland, Sweden and the UK will be the markets with new connections of the low cost carrier.
Operations will be carried out with Boeing 737 MAX 8s.
Schedule
- Dubrovnik (DBV) – Berlin (BER): 2 weekly · April 3rd, 2024
- Dubrovnik (DBV) – Brussels (CRL): 2 weekly · April 4th, 2024
- Dubrovnik (DBV) – Helsinki (HEL): 2 weekly · April 5th, 2024
- Dubrovnik (DBV) – Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden (FKB): 2 weekly · April 5th, 2024
- Dubrovnik (DBV) – Krakow (KRK): 2 weekly · April 2nd, 2024
- Dubrovnik (DBV) – London (STN): 7 weekly · April 2nd, 2024
- Dubrovnik (DBV) – Manchester (MAN): 2 weekly · April 4th, 2024
- Dubrovnik (DBV) – Memmingen (FMM): 2 weekly · April 2nd, 2024
- Dubrovnik (DBV) – Milan (BGY): 2 weekly · April 2nd, 2024
- Dubrovnik (DBV) – Paris (BVA): 2 weekly · April 5th, 2024
- Dubrovnik (DBV) – Poznan (POZ): 2 weekly · April 4th, 2024
- Dubrovnik (DBV) – Rome (FCO): 5 weekly · April 3rd, 2024
- Dubrovnik (DBV) – Oslo Torp Sandefjord (TRF): 2 weekly · April 3rd, 2024
- Dubrovnik (DBV) – Stockholm (ARN): 2 weekly · April 3rd, 2024
- Dubrovnik (DBV) – Weeze (NRN): 2 weekly · April 2nd, 2024
- Dubrovnik (DBV) – Wroclaw (WRO): 2 weekly · April 3rd, 2024
SWISS
The airline resumed services between Zurich and Beirut after a two-month suspension on Saturday, December 16th.
For now, SWISS will operate twice a week with Airbus A320-200 and Airbus A320neo aircraft.
Wednesday
- LX 222 Zurich ZRH 12:10 · 17:00 BEY Beirut
- LX 223 Beirut BEY 17:50 · 21:05 ZRH Zurich
Saturday
- LX 222 Zurich ZRH 07:15 · 12:05 BEY Beirut
- LX 223 Beirut BEY 12:55 · 16:05 ZRH Zurich
In addition, via X (Twitter), SWISS International Air Lines confirmed it plans to resume flights to Tel Aviv from Zurich beginning January 8th, 2024, offering five weekly services. Tickets are already on sale.
Volotea
During April 2024, Volotea will add eight connections from Brest, France. According to its website, this will be the schedule of the new routes:
- Brest (BES) – Athens (ATH): 2 weekly · April 20th, 2024
- Brest (BES) – Barcelona (BCN): 2 weekly · April 19th, 2024
- Brest (BES) – Faro (FAO): 2 weekly · April 18th, 2024
- Brest (BES) – Málaga (AGP): 2 weekly · April 20th, 2024
- Brest (BES) – Menorca (MAH): 2 weekly · April 18th, 2024
- Brest (BES) – Olbia (OLB): 2 weekly · April 19th, 2024
- Brest (BES) – Palermo (PMO): 2 weekly · April 19th, 2024
- Brest (BES) – Rome (FCO): 2 weekly · April 18th, 2024
Widerøe
The Norwegian airline will resume two routes from Tromsø effective March/April 2024. Widerøe will operate with De Havilland Canada Dash 8-100 and 200 jets.
- Evenes Harstad Narvik (EVE): 12 weekly · March 31st, 2024
- Lakselv Banak (LKL): 19 weekly · April 1st, 2024
Current Widerøe connections from/to Tromsø
- Alta (ALF): 16 weekly
- Andenes (ANX): 12 weekly
- Bergen (BGO): 22 weekly
- Bodø (BOO): 17 weekly
- Hammerfest (HFT): 41 weekly
- Hasvik (HAA): 6 weekly
- Kirkenes (KKN): 6 weekly
- Sørkjosen (SOJ): 13 weekly
- Stokmarknes (SKN): 12 weekly
- Trondheim (TRD): 7 weekly
- Vadsø (VDS): 12 weekly
Wizz Air
The carrier will add new routes from Italy between March and July 2024. Wizz Air will serve with Airbus A320 and Airbus A321 aircraft seating 180 and 230 passengers respectively.
Catania
- London Gatwick (LGW): 3 weekly · April 2nd, 2024
Milan Malpensa
- Comiso (CIY): 3 weekly · April 2nd, 2024
- Paris (BVA): 7 weekly · March 31st, 2024
- Tenerife (TFS): 3 weekly · April 2nd, 2024
Rome Ciampino
- Kutaisi (KUT): 4 weekly · April 1st, 2024
- Skopje (SKP): 4 weekly · April 1st, 2024
- Vilnius (VNO): 4 weekly · April 2nd, 2024
Rome Fiumicino
- Alicante (ALC): 3 weekly · June 1st, 2024
- Berlin (BER): 7 weekly · March 31st, 2024
- Cluj-Napoca (CLJ): 5 weekly · March 31st, 2024
- Copenhagen (CPH): 4 weekly · July 2nd, 2024
- Gdansk (GDN): 3 weekly · July 1st, 2024
- Hamburg (HAM): 4 weekly · March 31st, 2024
- Sofia (SOF): 4 weekly · March 31st, 2024
Cover photo: Daniel Nicholson – JetPhotos (London City Airport).
