Hong Kong Air Cargo’s inaugural flight from Hong Kong arrived in Budapest at 17:40 local time on September 7th. The airline, which becomes the third operator on this route after Cargolux and Ethiopian, will offer these services with Airbus A330-200(F) aircraft.

According to our database, Hong Kong Air Cargo will fly twice-weekly between Hong Kong and Budapest, with a stopover in Almatý on the HKG-BUD leg, being non-stop on the Budapest – Hong Kong sector.

Monday and Saturday

• RH 392  Hong Kong HKG 07:40 · 10:40 ALA Almatý
• RH 392  Almatý ALA 12:40 · 17:40 BUD Budapest

Tentative schedule

• RH 393  Budapest BUD 21:30 · 14:00+1 HKG Hong Kong

Mr. Gary Zhan, Chairman of Hong Kong Air Cargo, said: “We are delighted to launch this new route, which represents a significant milestone in the development of our company. This will facilitate trade between Hong Kong and Budapest and we hope to continue to provide excellent service to our customers.”

Aircalin to fly between New Caledonia and Europe

The carrier began marketing its new flights between New Caledonia and France. As of December 11th, Aircalin is scheduled to operate to Paris Charles de Gaulle from Noumea via Bangkok Suvarnabhumi each way.

Wednesday and Saturday

• SB 500  Noumea NOU 01:45 · 07:55 BKK Bangkok
• SB 500  Bangkok BKK 09:55 · 17:25 CDG Paris

• SB 501  Paris CDG 20:30 · 14:40+1 BKK Bangkok
• SB 501  Bangkok BKK 16:40+1 · 06:30+2 NOU Noumea

At publication time, there are no flights on sale from/to Bangkok.

Australia, Fiji, French Polynesia, Singapore and Wallis and Futuna are the current markets offered by Aircalin.

Air India launches operations to Malaysia

At 13:14 local time on September 15th, Air India’s inaugural service to Kuala Lumpur departed Delhi. The company will provide a daily frequency between the two cities with Airbus A320-200 and Airbus A320neo jets, configured for 152/180/186 passengers.

Kuala Lumpur becomes Air India’s first destination in the country.

Daily

• AI 384  Delhi DEL 13:00 · 21:00 KUL Kuala Lumpur
• AI 385  Kuala Lumpur KUL 08:30 · 11:25 DEL Delhi

AirAsia X, Batik Air Malaysia and Malaysia Airlines operate this route.

With respect to markets served by Air India from Delhi, in addition to domestic flights within India, the company operates to Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Malaysia, Myanmar (Burma), Nepal, Netherlands, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States and Vietnam.

Qantas arrives in Vanuatu

The Australian airline expands its operations in Oceania, with the start of flights to Port Vila, Vanuatu. Services will be conducted from Brisbane on 174-seat Boeing 737-800 aircraft, three times a week.

Tuesday/Friday and Sunday (first flight Sep 10th)

• QF 159  Brisbane BNE 11:20/10:50 · 15:05/14:35 VLI Port Vila
• QF 160  Port Vila VLI 16:10/15:40 · 18:15/17:45 BNE Brisbane

Jetstar will inaugurate flights between Sydney and Port Vila on December 12th.

Other highlights of the Asia and Oceania market:

AirAsia

The carrier will boost flights to China by adding two new routes from Malaysia.

Both will be performed with 186-seat Airbus A320-200s.

• Penang (PEN) – Shenzhen (SZX): 4 weekly · October 28th
• Kota Kinabalu (BKI) – Jieyang (SWA): 3 weekly · November 16th

AirAsia Cambodia

Starting November 9th, AirAsia Cambodia will introduce a new service to Singapore, which will operate daily on Airbus A320s:

Daily

• KT 320  Siem Reap SAI 08:45 · 12:00 SIN Singapore
• KT 321  Singapore SIN 12:40 · 13:55 SAI Siem Reap

Air Astana

Astana – Phuket, from October 26th, the airline’s new route to Vietnam.

Air Astana will offer three weekly flights between the two cities by Airbus A321neo aircraft seating 166 passengers.

Monday, Wednesday and Saturday

• KC 163  Astana NQZ 21:40 · 07:45+1 HKT Phuket

Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday

• KC 164  Phuket HKT 09:30 · 16:10 NQZ Astana

Currently, the company has one service per day to Phuket from Almatý.

Air Calédonie

The carrier will begin operations between Noumea and Port Vila as of October 3rd. Services will be on 72-seat ATR 72-600s, twice-weekly.

Monday and Thursday

• TY 915  Noumea NOU 15:00 · 16:30 VLI Port Vila
• TY 916  Port Vila VLI 17:30 · 19:00 NOU Noumea

In addition to domestic flights within Vanuatu, Port Vila has connections to Australia, Fiji, New Zealand and the Solomon Islands.

Asiana Airlines

Effective December 25th, Asiana will have one daily service between Seoul Incheon and Siem Reap. The airline will operate using Airbus A321neo jets, according to its website.

Daily

• OZ 7271  Seoul ICN 20:00 · 23:50 SAI Siem Reap
• OZ 7281  Siem Reap SAI 01:00 · 08:10 ICN Seoul

These Asiana aircraft are configured with 188 seats.

Beijing Capital Airlines

Two new routes between Huangshan Tunxi and South Korea.

Beijing Capital launched flights to Daegu and Muan in mid-September. Both connections will be carried out by 174/180-seat Airbus A320-200s.

• Muan (MWX): 2 weekly · September 13th
• Daegu (TAE): 2 weekly · September 14th

Biman Bangladesh Airlines

More flights to Toronto.

As of October 31st, for high season, Biman will boost from two to three flights a week on the Dhaka – Istanbul – Toronto route, which is offered on Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner planes.

Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday

• BG 305  Dhaka DAC 03:55 · 09:05 IST Istanbul
• BG 305  Istanbul IST 10:20 · 13:40 YYZ Toronto

New service on Thursdays

• BG 306  Toronto YYZ 19:30 · 12:00+1 IST Istanbul
• BG 306  Istanbul IST 13:15+1 · 23:25 DAC Dhaka

Istanbul is a technical stop.

Cambodia Angkor Air

The company adds a new destination in Thailand, with the beginning of the Phnom Penh – Bangkok BKK route effective December 1st. These services will have a daily frequency with Airbus A321s featuring 184 seats.

Daily

• K6 720  Phnom Penh PNH 21:40 · 22:50 BKK Bangkok
• K6 721  Bangkok BKK 23:40 · 00:55+1 PNH Phnom Penh

Cebu Pacific

From the end of October, Cebu Pacific will expand its route network to/from Iloilo, to be operated on 186-passenger Airbus A320-200s.

• Tacloban (TAC): 4 weekly · October 27th
• Zamboanga (ZAM): 3 weekly · October 28th

Centrum Air

Two new routes from Tashkent.

The Uzbek airline will commence these international connections between late October and early November. Centrum Air will run services using Airbus A321neo aircraft:

• Tel Aviv (TLV): 2 weekly · October 29th
• Langkawi (LGK): 1 weekly · November 1st

China Eastern

Effective September 28th, China Eastern Airlines will resume operations to the Maldives, with the Kunming – Colombo – Male route. Flights will be carried three weekly times.

Monday, Wednesday and Saturday

• MU 9659  Kunming KMG 15:05 · 17:50 CMB Colombo
• MU 9659  Colombo CMB 18:50 · 19:55 MLE Male

• MU 9660  Male MLE 21:10 · 23:05 CMB Colombo
• MU 9660  Colombo CMB 00:15+1 · 07:35+1 KMG Kunming

China Southern

Adelaide will return to China Southern Airlines’ regular schedule.

The first service on this route will be on December 11th, which will operate from Guangzhou by Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner planes, as follows:

Wednesday, Friday and Sunday

• CZ 663  Guangzhou CAN 22:10 · 09:55+1 ADL Adelaide

Monday, Thursday and Saturday

• CZ 664  Adelaide ADL 11:30 · 18:05 CAN Guangzhou

At the time of publication, Adelaide has no regular services to China.

Eastar Jet

The South Korean low cost carrier will restart flights between Busan and Taipei from October 27th. Eastar Jet will provide one service per day on Boeing 737-800s seating 189 passengers in single class.

Daily

• ZE 983  Busan PUS 22:20 · 00:15+1 TPE Taipei
• ZE 984  Taipei TPE 02:50 · 06:10 PUS Busan

Garuda Indonesia

Beginning November 17th, Garuda Indonesia will increase from five to seven weekly operations on the Jakarta – Seoul Incheon route. The company serves Airbus A330-300 and Airbus A330-900neo aircraft.

Daily

• GA 878  Jakarta CGK 22:40/23:15 · 07:55/08:30+1 ICN Seoul
• GA 879  Seoul ICN 10:35/11:05 · 15:40/16:10 CGK Jakarta

Garuda has no flights on Wednesdays and Sundays on the CGK-ICN leg, and on Mondays and Thursdays on the ICN-CGK segment.

Greater Bay

Two new routes from Hong Kong will be inaugurated by the carrier between mid-November and early-December:

• Tokushima (TKS): 3 weekly · November 16th
• Sendai (SDJ): 4 weekly · December 7th

Hainan Airlines

More flights between Chongqing and Paris Charles de Gaulle.

Hainan plans to expand from one to two operations a week on this route, which runs with Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner jets.

Tuesday and Saturday (new flight on Tuesdays – from October 29th)

• HU 717  Chongqing CKG 02:30 · 07:55 CDG Paris
• HU 718  Paris CDG 11:55 · 04:35+1 CKG Chongqing

In accordance with our database, Hainan Airlines serves two weekly times the Shenzhen – Paris CDG connection.

HK express

As of January 17th, 2025, HK express intends to launch operations between Hong Kong and Sendai. The carrier schedules four flights per week by 180-seat Airbus A320s.

Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday

• UO 890  Hong Kong HKG 08:15 · 13:30 SDJ Sendai
• UO 891  Sendai SDJ 14:25 · 19:00 HKG Hong Kong

Sendai currently has services to China, Japan and South Korea.

Himalaya Airlines

At 07:13 local time on September 21st, the first Himalaya Airlines flight departed Kathmandu for Shanghai Pudong. Following a four-month suspension, the company resumed services on this route, to be conducted with Airbus A320-200 jets.

Saturday

• H9 780  Kathmandu KTM 07:05 · 13:30 PVG Shanghai
• H9 781  Shanghai PVG 15:45 · 19:20 KTM Kathmandu

Himalaya Airlines has 4 aircraft in its fleet (1 Airbus A319 and 3 Airbus A320).

IndiGo

The airline will increase its international operations from India.

• Chennai (MAA) – Bangkok (BKK): from 4 to 7 weekly · October 29th
• Hyderabad (HYD) – Kuwait City (KWI): from 4 to 7 weekly · October 29th
• Mumbai (BOM) – Colombo (CMB): from 3 to 6 weekly · November 2nd

JAL

Japan Airlines will maintain services to Qatar through winter 2024/25.

The flights will be performed on a daily frequency with Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft configured for 239 passengers.

Daily

• JL 59  Tokyo HND 22:50 · 04:40+1 DOH Doha
• JL 50  Doha DOH 07:15 · 23:55 HND Tokyo

Doha is JAL’s only destination in the Middle East.

Jeju Air

During October, the low cost company will open two new routes to Indonesia from Seoul Incheon, which will operate on Boeing 737-800 and Boeing 737 MAX 8 airplanes.

• Batam (BTH): 3 weekly · October 16th
• Denpasar (DPS): 7 weekly · October 27th

Jetstar

The Australian airline will expand its flights between Australia and New Zealand from June 2025, with three new routes to be carried out by 186-seat, single-class Airbus A320s.

• Sydney (SYD) – Hamilton (HLZ): 4 weekly · June 16th, 2025
• Gold Coast (OOL) – Hamilton (HLZ): 3 weekly · June 18th, 2025
• Gold Coast (OOL) – Dunedin (DUD): 3 weekly · June 24th, 2025

Juneyao Airlines

Three new international services will be launched by Juneyao Airlines in November, and another two during December.

• Lanzhou (LHW) – Vientiane (VTE): 4 weekly · November 19th
• Xi’An (XIY) – Vientiane (VTE): 3 weekly · November 19th
• Lanzhou (LHW) – Bangkok (DMK): 1 weekly · November 20th
• Shanghai (PVG) – Hanoi (HAN): 7 weekly · December 6th
• Shanghai (PVG) – Ho Chi Minh City (SGN): 4 weekly · December 9th

Juneyao will operate Airbus A320-200 planes configured for 164 passengers.

Korean Air

The carrier will resume flights between Seoul Incheon and Mudanjiang from October 22nd. Based on its website, Korean will serve with Boeing 737-900ER aircraft featuring 173 seats.

Daily except Monday and Wednesday

• KE 119  Seoul ICN 10:05 · 11:50 MDG Mudanjiang
• KE 120  Mudanjiang MDG 12:50 · 16:30 ICN Seoul

China Southern is the only airline currently operating this route (five weekly on A320s).

Malaysia Airlines

On February 24th, 2025, Malaysia will begin services between Kota Kinabalu and Tokyo Haneda, a route it will offer two times a week under the following schedule:

Monday and Thursday

• MH 82  Kota Kinabalu BKI 16:05 · 22:30 HND Tokyo

Tuesday and Friday

• MH 83  Tokyo HND 00:05 · 05:45 BKI Kota Kinabalu

Philippine Airlines

After a 5-year hiatus, the airline will once again have operations to Siargao from Clark. At publication time, Philippine will provide these services on Dash 8s.

Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday (December 3rd)

• PR 2876  Clark CRK 11:00 · 13:05 IAO Siargao
• PR 2877  Siargao IAO 13:35 · 15:40 CRK Clark

Philippine Airlines Dash 8s have 86 seats in single class.

Royal Brunei

Chennai will enter Royal Brunei’s route network.

The first flight on the Bandar – MAA route will be on November 5th. Royal Brunei will have a frequency of three weekly operations by 180-seat Airbus A320neo.

Saturday and Tuesday/Thursday

• BI 121  Bandar BWN 00:30/20:30 · 03:20/22:50 MAA Chennai
• BI 122  Chennai MAA 04:20/23:50 · 12:25/07:55+1 BWN Bandar

Chennai will be Royal Brunei Airlines’ first destination in India. Australia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and Vietnam are its current markets.

Spring Airlines

The airline will expand its scheduled services with five new routes, which will start between October and December:

• Bangkok (BKK) – Guangzhou (CAN): 7 weekly · October 27th
• Fuzhou (FOC) – Bangkok (BKK): 7 weekly · October 27th
• Xi’An (XIY) – Bangkok (DMK): 14 weekly · October 27th
• Shanghai (PVG) – Busan (PUS): 3 weekly · October 29th
• Bangkok (DMK) – Yangzhou (YTY): 3 weekly · December 2nd

T’Way

On September 18th at 18:52 local time, T’Way airlines’ inaugural flight from Seoul Incheon landed in Barcelona. The company continues to expand its operations in Europe, reaching its fourth regular destination on the continent after Paris Charles de Gaulle, Rome and Zagreb.

Monday, Wednesday and Friday

• TW 407  Seoul ICN 11:25 · 19:00 BCN Barcelona
• TW 408  Barcelona BCN 21:00 · 16:25+1 ICN Seoul

T’Way’s A330-200s have 246 seats in two classes.

Thai Lion Air

New Thai Lion Air service.

As of January 21st, 2025, the carrier will fly the Bangkok Don Mueang – Kaohsiung – Okinawa route with Boeing 737-800s. Thai Lion Air will offer four services per week.

Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday

• SL 390  Bangkok DMK 02:45 · 07:15 KHH Kaohsiung
• SL 390  Kaohsiung KHH 08:15 · 10:55 OKA Okinawa

• SL 391  Okinawa OKA 11:50 · 12:40 KHH Kaohsiung
• SL 391  Kaohsiung KHH 13:40 · 16:00 DMK Bangkok

Tigerair Taiwan

The airline will commence operations to Miyazaki from Taipei beginning November 26th.

Flights will have a weekly frequency using 180-seat Airbus A320-200 jets.

Tuesday

• IT 742  Taipei TPE 06:30 · 09:20 KMI Miyazaki
• IT 743  Miyazaki KMI 10:10 · 12:00 TPE Taipei

Tigerair Taiwan has a significant route network in the Taiwan – Japan market, serving currently 19.

United Airlines

Starting in December, United will modify part of its Asian services, with changes to three of its routes from Guam. The airline provides these flights on Boeing 737-800s:

• Guam (GUM) – Chuuk (TKK) – Pohnpei (PNI) – Kosrae (KSA) – Kwajalein (KWA) – Majuro (MAJ) – Honolulu (HNL) and vice versa: December 5th · will be operated on Mondays/Tuesdays and Thursdays/Fridays, instead of Mon/Tue and Fri/Sat.

• Guam (GUM) – Chuuk (TKK) – Pohnpei (PNI) – Majuro (MAJ) – Honolulu (HNL) and vice versa: December 7th · will be operated on Saturdays/Sundays, instead of Sun/Mon.

• Guam (GUM) – Pohnpei (PNI) – Chuuk (TKK) – Guam (GUM): December 8th · will be operated on Sundays/Mondays, instead of Sat/Sun.

VietJet Air

After almost two years, as of October 23rd, the company will restart services between Da Nang and Ahmedabad. VietJet will have two weekly flights.

Wednesday and Saturday

• VJ 1971  Da Nang DAD 19:10 · 23:25 AMD Ahmedabad

Thursday and Sunday

• VJ 1972  Ahmedabad AMD 00:25 · 06:55 DAD Da Nang

The airline’s Airbus A320-200s are configured with 180 seats.

Aircraft added by airlines from Asia and Oceania during August and September

• Air India Express (x3)

• Akasa Air

• Cathay Pacific (x2)

• Centrum Air

• China Southern (x3)

• HK express

• IndiGo (x7)

• Jin Air

• Korean Air

• Kunming Airlines

• QantasLink

• Shandong Airlines

• Shenzhen Airlines

• Singapore Airlines

• Starlux

• Virgin Australia

• Xiamen Air (x2)

*It’s not new from the factory.

Other reports we have published

• Africa and Middle East
• United States and Canada
• Latin America
• Play makes a play for Portugal
• American Airlines focuses on Europe for summer 2025
• Reconnecting capitals: Air Canada to restart Ottawa-London flights

Cover photo: Hong Kong Air Cargo via LinkedIn.