Qantas has confirmed the resumption of flights between Sydney and Sapporo effective December 15th, following an almost six-year suspension. The Australian airline will operate three weekly services by Airbus A330-200 aircraft during Northern Winter 2025/26.

Sapporo will become Qantas’ second destination in Japan, joining Tokyo (Haneda and Narita). In early 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, operations to Sapporo from Kingsford Smith International Airport were suspended.

The company will reach 100 destinations in its network with the start of New Chitose Airport (Sapporo).

Monday, Wednesday and Saturday

• QF 107  Sydney SYD 09:05 · 17:55 CTS Sapporo
• QF 108  Sapporo CTS 19:40 · 08:35+1 SYD Sydney

Scheduled until March 28th, 2026, as they will be seasonal.

Sydney – Sapporo will be Qantas’ fourth route in the Australia – Japan market after Sydney – Tokyo Haneda, Melbourne – Tokyo Narita and Brisbane – Tokyo Narita. Qantas is the only airline to connect Australia’s three major cities with the Japanese capital.

Cam Wallace, Qantas International CEO, commented: “We know Sapporo is an extremely popular winter destination for Aussies who love the snow and we’re excited to make it even easier for them to reach Hokkaido’s world-class ski resorts with a direct fight from Sydney. These new flights will save passengers hours of travel time compared to connecting in Tokyo or other cities and give them more time to enjoy on the slopes”.

“Australians’ love affair with Japan is stronger-than-ever so it is fitting that Sapporo will also mark the 100th destination in the Qantas network, following the great new destinations we added last year like Paris, Palau and Port Vila. We last flew to Sapporo in early-2020 and had extremely positive feedback from customers, so we’re looking forward to operating this route again”, he said. 

As for Jetstar, which has a codeshare agreement with Qantas, it has five routes between Australia and Japan.

Brisbane

• Osaka (KIX): 4 weekly · Boeing 787-8 · Jetstar
• Tokyo Narita (NRT): 7 weekly · Boeing 787-8 · Jetstar
• Tokyo Narita (NRT): 7 weekly · A332/A333 · Qantas

Cairns

• Osaka (KIX): 4 weekly · Boeing 787-8 · Jetstar
• Tokyo Narita (NRT): 7 weekly · Boeing 787-8 · Jetstar

Melbourne

• Tokyo Narita (NRT): 7 weekly · A332/A333 · Qantas

Sydney

• Osaka (KIX): 4 weekly · Boeing 787-8 · Jetstar
• Sapporo (CTS): 3 weekly · Airbus A330-200 · Qantas
• Tokyo Haneda (HND): 14 weekly · Airbus A330-300 · Qantas

Air Serbia launches flights to Shanghai

On January 11th at 18:45 local time, Air Serbia’s inaugural flight from Belgrade landed at Shanghai Pudong airport. The carrier adds its second connection in China after Guangzhou, which also operates to/from the Serbian capital.

Air Serbia will fly two times per week between Belgrade and Shanghai with Airbus A330-200 planes, the same schedule it offers to Guangzhou.

Tuesday and Saturday

• JU 986  Belgrade BEG 00:40 · 18:55 PVG Shanghai

Wednesday and Sunday

• JU 987  Shanghai PVG 22:25 · 04:45+1 BEG Belgrade

“We are very pleased to establish a new direct service between Belgrade and the People’s Republic of China. Shanghai is one of the most dynamic cities in the world and an important business and cultural centre. Direct Air Serbia flights to this city will provide passengers from Serbia and the Western Balkans region with a faster and more comfortable journey to China while making it easier for Chinese tourists and businesspeople to come to Serbia and other European cities we fly to,” said Jiri Marek, CEO of Air Serbia.

Then, he stated: “I would like to thank all our associates and partners for their support, as well as the employees of Air Serbia who, with their commitment, made it possible for us to start 2025 successfully. The launch of direct flights to Shanghai is an important step in achieving our strategic goals and further strengthens Air Serbia’s position as a leader in regional air traffic.”

Fiji Airways incorporates two new ATR 72-600

The Fijian carrier announced the addition of two new ATRs, which arrived in Nadi following a long ferry flight on December 29th and January 5th. Both aircraft, configured for 68 passengers in single class, will strengthen Fiji Airways’ (Fiji Link) extensive network of destinations across the country and the South Pacific.

In accordance with our database, Toulouse (TLS) – Alexandria (HBE) – Al Ain (AAN) – Hyderabad (HYD) – Rayong (UTP) – Davao City (DVO) – Jayapura (DJJ) – Honiara (HIR) – Nadi (NAN) was the ferry flight of the ATR registered DQ-FLB.

The second ATR, with registration DQ-FLC, that landed in Nadi on January 5th, performed the Toulouse (TLS) – Cairo (CAI) – Al Ain (AAN) – Hyderabad (HYD) – Rayong (UTP) – Davao City (DVO) – Jayapura (DJJ) – Honiara (HIR) – Nadi (NAN) route.

Fiji Airways fleet

• Airbus A330-200: 3
• Airbus A330-300: 1
• Airbus A350-900: 4
• ATR 42-600: 1
• ATR 72-600: 4
• Boeing 737-800: 1
• Boeing 737 MAX 8: 5
• Twin Otter: 8

Fiji Airways CEO and Managing Director Andre Viljoen said, “These two new ATR aircraft are a significant investment in Fiji’s domestic connectivity. They are an important part of our commitment to providing comfortable and efficient travel options for our passengers and offering greater connectivity between our islands. This fleet expansion will also help us continue to meet the growing demand for domestic travel, ensuring that we can provide increased capacity where it’s needed most.”

“We’re excited to introduce our new Fiji Link uniforms, which bring us closer to our goal of a unified brand. The standardization of our uniforms across Fiji Airways and Fiji Link reflects our ongoing commitment to excellence and professionalism, ensuring that our crew represents the highest standards of service, and our passengers enjoy a seamless, consistent experience”, concluded.

Fiji Airways ATR’s operates the following routes: Nadi – Tongatapu, Nadi – Vava’u, Suva – Funafuti, Nadi – Funafuti, Nadi – Port Vila, Nadi – Suva, Nadi – Labasa and Suva – Labasa.

Firefly expands its international schedule

In late March, Firefly will begin four new international routes from Malaysia, to be conducted with Boeing 737-800 aircraft configured for 189 passengers in single class. Kuala Lumpur Subang and Penang will have these additions:

Kuala Lumpur – Jakarta · March 30th

Daily

• FY 3570  Kuala Lumpur SZB 12:30 · 13:40 CGK Jakarta
• FY 3571  Jakarta CGK 14:20 · 17:35 SZB Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur – Kuching · March 30th

Daily

• FY 2802  Kuala Lumpur SZB 06:00 · 07:55 KCH Kuching
• FY 2803  Kuching KCH 08:45 · 10:40 SZB Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur – Singapore · March 30th

Daily

• FY 3672  Kuala Lumpur SZB 18:30 · 19:45 SIN Singapore
• FY 3673  Singapore SIN 20:35 · 21:50 SZB Kuala Lumpur

Penang – Jakarta · March 31st

Monday, Wednesday and Friday

• FY 3846  Penang PEN 21:35 · 02:00+1 CGK Jakarta

Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday

• FY 3847  Jakarta CGK 03:00 · 07:15 PEN Penang

Alor Setar, Banda, Bangkok, Haikou, Johor Bahru, Kota Bharu, Kota Kinabalu, Kuala Lumpur International, Kuala Lumpur Subang, Kuala Terengganu, Kuching, Langkawi, Macau, Miri, Nanjing, Penang, Phuket, Sandakan, Singapore and Tawau are part of Firefly’s schedule.

Air New Zealand adds a new ATR 72-600

In addition to Fiji Airways and Air Tahiti, the latter as you will see below in the table of new aircraft, Air New Zealand incorporates another ATR 72 to its fleet.

The aircraft, registered ZK-MZG, departed Toulouse on December 21st and arrived in Christchurch on December 29th, after an eight-day ferry flight.

Toulouse (TLS) – Heraklion (HER) – Riyadh (RUH) – Muscat (MCT) – Hyderabad (HYD) – Kuala Lumpur (SZB) – Denpasar (DPS) – Darwin (DRW) – Brisbane (BNE) – Christchurch (CHC) was the entire route, about a 40-hour flight not including stops and nearly 20,000 kilometers.

As per our database, the ATR entered service on January 16th with flight NZ 5503 between Christchurch and Invercargil (IVC).

Air New Zealand’s fleet is comprised of 112 aircraft, averaging 10 years old.

• ATR 72-600: 30
• Airbus A320-200: 17
• Airbus A320neo: 6
• Airbus A321neo: 12
• Boeing 777-300(ER): 10
• Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner: 14
• DHC-8-300 (Dash 8): 23

We review other highlights of the Asia and Oceania market

Aeroflot

The Russian airline will expand its domestic schedule starting in January, with two new routes from/to Krasnoyarsk and another to/from Kaliningrad.

• Krasnoyarsk (KJA) – Samara (KUF): 2 weekly · January 28th · A319
• Krasnoyarsk (KJA) – Polyarny (PYJ): 2 weekly · January 28th · Sukhoi
• Kaliningrad (KGD) – Apatity (KVK): 2 weekly · January 31st · A319

Air Astana

Beginning in late March, Air Astana will add two new services to Nha Trang from Kazakhstan, which it will operate on Airbus A321neo aircraft. Almatý and Astana will be part of the schedule:

Almatý · March 30th

Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday

• KC 193  Almatý ALA 23:25 · 09:20+1 CXR Nha Trang

Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday

• KC 194  Nha Trang CXR 10:50 · 16:45 ALA Almatý

Astana · March 31st

Monday, Thursday and Saturday

• KC 157  Astana NQZ 23:00 · 09:20+1 CXR Nha Trang

Tuesday, Friday and Sunday

• KC 158  Nha Trang CXR 10:50 · 17:50 NQZ Astana

Air China

The company will increase its frequencies between Hangzhou and Tokyo Narita, currently offered four times a week with Airbus A321-200s and Airbus A330-300s.

Daily (from January 21st)

• CA 145/563  Hangzhou HGH 15:20 · 19:30 NRT Tokyo
• CA 146/564  Tokyo NRT 20:40 · 23:50 HGH Hangzhou

New flight CA 563/564 (Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays).

Air India

As of January 1st, Air India commenced services between Delhi and Hyderabad using Airbus A350-900 jets. According to our database, the airline will provide a daily frequency on this route with the A350s, configured for 316 passengers.

Daily

• AI 544  Delhi DEL 16:15 · 18:35 HYD Hyderabad
• AI 840  Hyderabad HYD 19:50 · 22:10 DEL Delhi

Air India operates 12 flights per day between the two cities, 11 of which are performed by Vistara’s Airbus A320neo.

AZAL

Azerbaijan Airlines will boost operations between Baku and Beijing Capital starting February 28th, from two to three weekly frequencies. The company serves Boeing 767-300(ER) planes.

Tuesday and Sunday

• J2 67  Baku GYD 12:45 · 00:10+1 PEK Beijing

New flight on Fridays.

Monday and Wednesday

• J2 68  Beijing PEK 02:15 · 06:45 GYD Baku

New flight on Saturdays.

AZAL has 2 Boeing 767-300ERs in its fleet (4K-AZ81 and 4K-AZ82).

Centrum Air

Centrum confirms its first schedule with Airbus A330-300 aircraft, which will join the Uzbek airline’s fleet as of March.

At the time of publication, based on its website, Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen, Jeddah, Medina and Seoul Incheon will be its routes, all from/to Tashkent.

• Istanbul (SAW): 4 weekly · March 31st
• Seoul (ICN): 2 weekly · April 1st
• Jeddah (JED): 3 weekly · July 3rd
• Medina (MED): 1 weekly · July 6th

China Eastern

The Chinese airline inaugurated services between Beijing Daxing and Phu Quoc on January 14th. Operations will have a daily frequency by 158-seat Airbus A320-200s.

Daily

• MU 7269  Beijing PKX 14:45 · 19:30 PQC Phu Quoc
• MU 7270  Phu Quoc PQC 21:00 · 03:30+1 PKX Beijing

China Southern

At 17:34 local time on January 2nd, China Southern Airlines’ first flight to Jeju took off from Changchun. In line with our database, the carrier will offer two operations a week on Airbus A320s.

Thursday and Sunday

• CZ 8333  Changchun CGQ 17:15 · 20:45 CJU Jeju
• CZ 8334  Jeju CJU 21:45 · 23:45 CGQ Changchun

China Southern Airlines is the only company serving this route.

CUA

China United Airlines began operations between Beijing Daxing and Vientiane on December 10th. The first service departed from the Chinese capital at 09:58 local time to Laos’ main city and capital.

Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday

• KN 895  Beijing PKX 09:45 · 13:20 VTE Vientiane
• KN 896  Vientiane VTE 14:10 · 19:05 PKX Beijing

EVA Air

The airline will expand from three weekly flights to daily on the Taipei – Matsuyama route, which it operates with 184-passenger Airbus A321-200s.

Daily (from March 17th)

• BR 110  Taipei TPE 06:50 · 10:15 MYJ Matsuyama
• BR 109  Matsuyama MYJ 11:25 · 13:15 TPE Taipei

According to our database, it currently serves on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays.

Firefly

In addition to the four new routes previously announced, effective January 24th, the Malaysian carrier will launch operations between Langkawi and Chengdu by Boeing 737-800s.

Three times per week

• FY 3890  Langkawi LGK 21:10 · 01:40+1 TFU Chengdu
• FY 3891  Chengdu TFU 02:45 · 07:05 LGK Langkawi

IndiGo

On December 11th, the Indian low-cost carrier resumed flights between Hyderabad and Dhaka after almost a year of suspension. IndiGo will serve on Airbus A320neo aircraft, twice-weekly.

Monday and Wednesday

• 6E 1117  Hyderabad HYD 10:15 · 13:00 DAC Dhaka
• 6E 1118  Dhaka DAC 14:00 · 16:15 HYD Hyderabad

Jeju Air

The South Korean airline modifies part of its operating schedule following the accident at Muan airport on December 29th, temporarily reducing frequencies and routes.

Schedule

• Busan (PUS) – Angeles City (CRK): January 22nd to March 29th · cancelled
• Busan (PUS) – Hong Kong (HKG): January 25th to February 2nd · cancelled
• Busan (BUS) – Tokyo (NRT): January 25th to March 29th · cancelled
• Busan (PUS) – Kaohsiung (KHH): January 26th to March 29th · cancelled
• Seoul (ICN) – Bangkok (BKK): February 3rd · from 14 to 7 weekly
• Seoul (ICN) – Guam (GUM): February 3rd · from 14 to 7 weekly
• Seoul (ICN) – Sapporo (CTS): February 3rd · from 14 to 7 weekly
• Seoul (ICN) – Tokyo (NRT): February 3rd · from 32 to 25 weekly
• Jeju (CJU) – Hong Kong (HKG): February 6th to March 29th · cancelled
• Busan (PUS) – Saipan (SPN): February 17th to February 28th · cancelled
• Seoul (ICN) – Da Nang (DAD): February 17th · from 14 to 7 weekly
• Seoul (ICN) – Osaka (KIX): February 17th · from 21 to 14 weekly
• Seoul (ICN) – Panglao (TAG): February 24th · from 14 to 7 weekly

Jetstar

Jetstar Asia will initiate a new route between Singapore and Indonesia starting March 20th.

The company will offer two services a week to Labuan Bajo with 186-seat Airbus A320-200 aircraft.

Thursday and Sunday

• 3K 263  Singapore SIN 14:10 · 17:20 LBJ Labuan Bajo
• 3K 264  Labuan Bajo LBJ 18:00 · 21:10 SIN Singapore

Jetstar will be the only operator on this route.

Mandarin Airlines

The company plans to resume flights to Matzu Nangan from Kaohsiung following a two-month hiatus. From February 8th, Mandarin is scheduled to perform two weekly charter flights on ATR 72-500 aircraft.

Wednesday and Saturday

• AE 7925  Matzu Nangan LZN 10:30 · 12:10 KHH Kaohsiung
• AE 7926  Kaohsiung KHH 13:00 · 14:50 LZN Matzu Nangan

Nok Air

Phuket – Zhengzhou, Nok Air’s new service.

The airline will operate three to four times per week by Boeing 737-800s seating 189 passengers, with a non-fixed schedule.

First flight schedule · January 13th

• DD 3126  Phuket HKT 18:47 · 23:52 CGO Zhengzhou
• DD 3127  Zhengzhou CGO 01:15 · 05:29 HKT Phuket (January 14th)

Nok Air has 14 Boeing 737-800 in its fleet.

SCAT

On January 14th at 11:19 local time, SCAT Airlines’ first flight to Turkistan took off Aktobe. The Kazakh airline will serve three weekly times using 189-seat Boeing 737-800 airplanes.

Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday

• DV 749  Aktobe AKX 11:00 · 13:00 HSA Turkistan
• DV 750  Turkistan HSA 14:00 · 15:45 AKX Aktobe

Scoot

As well as the new route to Vienna, which we will report on soon in another article, Scoot has announced that it will expand its operations in the Philippines with a new route from Singapore effective April 14th.

The airline will serve to Iloilo with Embraer E190-E2 for 112 passengers:

Monday, Wednesday and Friday

• TR 374  Singapore SIN 02:00 · 05:35 ILO Iloilo
• TR 375  Iloilo ILO 06:10 · 09:45 SIN Singapore

From late June onwards, a new service will be added on Sundays.

Shenzhen Airlines

At 18:59 local time on January 15th, Shenzhen Airlines’ inaugural flight from Nanjing landed in Hong Kong. Operations will be carried out three times a week with the following schedule.

Wednesday, Friday and Sunday

• ZH 8047  Nanjing NKG 16:20 · 19:05 HKG Hong Kong
• ZH 8048  Hong Kong HKG 20:05 · 22:30 NKG Nanjing

Shenzhen will fly Boeing 737-800.

Solomon Airlines

New route between Australia and New Zealand.

The airline will begin serving to Brisbane from Auckland with Airbus A320-200 aircraft as of February 21st. In accordance with its website, Solomon Airlines will operate once-weekly:

Friday

• IE 725  Auckland AKL 06:30 · 07:15 BNE Brisbane
• IE 726  Brisbane BNE 18:50 · 00:55+1 AKL Auckland

Honiara (Solomon Islands), Luganville (Vanuatu), Munda (Solomon Islands) and Port Vila (Vanuatu) are its destinations from Brisbane. It also has two flights per week between Port Vila and Auckland.

Spring Airlines

Spring increases frequencies on three routes in the China-Japan market, which it operates by Airbus A320-200s and Boeing 737-800s seating 174/180/186 and 189 passengers, respectively.

• Shanghai (PVG) – Tokyo (NRT): from 7 to 21 weekly · January 1st
• Shanghai (PVG) – Okinawa (OKA): from 4 to 7 weekly · January 14th
• Shanghai (PVG) – Osaka (KIX): from 7 to 8 weekly · January 14th

STARLUX

The airline has confirmed it will launch two new routes between Taiwan and Kobe.

Starting April 18th, STARLUX Airlines will provide 10 weekly flights to Kobe International Airport, using Airbus A321neo aircraft with 188 seats in single class.

Taichung

Daily

• JX 306  Taichung RMQ 08:45 · 12:30 UKB Kobe
• JX 307  Kobe UKB 13:30 · 15:35 RMQ Taichung

Taipei

Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday

• JX 834  Taipei TPE 06:20 · 10:00 UKB Kobe
• JX 835  Kobe UKB 11:00 · 13:00 TPE Taipei

US-Bangla Airlines

More flights between Dhaka and Kuala Lumpur.

US-Bangla Airlines expands from seven to nine weekly operations on this route, conducted by Airbus A330-300 aircraft. This schedule began on January 12th.

DAC – KUL

• BS 315  Dhaka DAC 08:05 · 14:00 KUL Kuala Lumpur (Thursday and Sunday)
• BS 315  Dhaka DAC 08:25 · 14:20 KUL Kuala Lumpur (daily ex Thu/Sun)
• BS 317  Dhaka DAC 19:05 · 01:00+1 KUL Kuala Lumpur (Thursday and Sunday)

KUL – DAC

• BS 318  Kuala Lumpur KUL 02:40 · 04:35 DAC Dhaka (Monday and Friday)
• BS 316  Kuala Lumpur KUL 15:30 · 17:25 DAC Dhaka (Thursday and Sunday)
• BS 316  Kuala Lumpur KUL 15:50 · 17:45 DAC Dhaka (daily ex Thu/Sun)

New services on Thursdays and Sundays (BS 317) and Mondays and Fridays (BS 318).

UTAIR

The Russian airline commenced two new routes from Tyumen in early January, which it will offer with 70-seat ATR 72-500s.

• Tyumen (TJM) – Kogalym (KGP): 2 weekly · January 2nd
• Tyumen (TJM) – Sovetsky (OVS): 2 weekly · January 3rd

Xiamen Air

Xiamen Airlines’ first service to Laos’ capital, Vientiane, departed from Beijing Daxing at 10:02 local time on December 15th. The company, to perform one daily frequency, started this route five days after China United Airlines.

Daily

• MF 8721  Beijing PKX 07:45 · 11:10 VTE Vientiane
• MF 8722  Vientiane VTE 12:10 · 16:55 PKX Beijing

Both airlines will be the only operators between the two capitals.

Aircraft added by airlines from Asia and Oceania

• Air China

• Air India Express (x2)

• Air New Zealand

• Air Tahiti

• Asiana Airlines

• Cathay Pacific

• Cebu Pacific

• China Eastern Airlines (x4)

• China Southern Airlines (x4)

• Fiji Airways (x2)

• FlyArystan

• Hainan Airlines (x3)

• IndiGo (x6)

• Jetstar

• Korean Air (x4)

• Malaysia Airlines

• Pegasus

• Shanghai Airlines

• Sichuan Airlines (x2)

• VietJet Air (x3)

• Vietnam Airlines

• West Air

*It is not new from the factory.

Other reports we have published

• Africa and Middle East
• United States and Canada
• Latin America
• Europe

Cover photo: Tomasz Habaj – JetPhotos (Sydney Kingsford Smith Int’l Airport – YSSY – Australia)