China Eastern Airlines has announced that it will operate regular flights to Latin America for the first time starting in December, with services from/to Shanghai.  

On December 4th at 02:00 local time, China Eastern’s inaugural flight will depart from Pudong International Airport bound for Buenos Aires, where it will arrive the same day at 16:55 local time after a 29-hour flight. The entire route, Shanghai-Auckland-Buenos Aires, around 19,700 kilometers, will be operated twice a week with Boeing 777-300(ER) aircraft configured for 316 passengers in three classes (6 seats in First, 52 seats in Business, and 258 seats in Economy).

As per our database, China Eastern Airlines already operates flights from Auckland to Hangzhou, Shanghai, and Sydney. With the addition of Buenos Aires, the airline will have more than 13 weekly services across all its routes effective December.

Shanghai – Auckland – Buenos Aires

Monday

• MU 745  Shanghai PVG 02:00 · 18:30 AKL Auckland
• MU 745  Auckland AKL 20:30 · 16:30 EZE Buenos Aires

Thursday

• MU 745  Shanghai PVG 02:00 · 18:30 AKL Auckland
• MU 745  Auckland AKL 20:55 · 16:55 EZE Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires – Auckland – Shanghai

Tuesday and Friday

• MU 746  Buenos Aires EZE 02:00 · 08:40+1 AKL Auckland
• MU 746  Auckland AKL 10:40+1 · 18:00+1 PVG Shanghai

Argentina will regain connectivity with Oceania following almost six years, as the last flights were operated by Air New Zealand between Auckland and Buenos Aires in March 2020.

Furthermore, after the launch of China Eastern, Buenos Aires will once again be the only Latin American city linked to all five continents.

Cathay Pacific

As of March 30th, 2026, Cathay Pacific will begin services to Seattle from Hong Kong, offering five weekly frequencies on Airbus A350-900 aircraft configured for 280 passengers in three classes (38 seats in Business, 28 seats in Premium Economy, and 214 seats in Economy).

Seattle will become Cathay Pacific’s seventh destination in the United States, all of which are served from/to Chek Lap Kok International Airport (HKG/VHHH).

Daily except Friday and Sunday

• CX 852  Hong Kong HKG 13:30 · 10:10 SEA Seattle
• CX 853  Seattle SEA 11:50 · 16:45+1 HKG Hong Kong

Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco are its destinations in the United States, also providing cargo flights to Anchorage, Atlanta, Houston, Miami, Portland, among others.

Delta

Delta Air Lines has confirmed the addition of many new routes between the United States and Europe in 2026, starting first with Boston, which will be conducted by Airbus A330-300 aircraft configured for 282 passengers in three classes.

Both services, already available for purchase on Delta’s website, will operate during Summer 2026.

Boston – Madrid · May 16th, 2026

Daily

• DL 62  Boston BOS 18:40 · 07:40+1 MAD Madrid
• DL 63  Madrid MAD 15:10 · 17:05 BOS Boston

Boston – Nice · May 16th, 2026

Daily

• DL 276  Boston BOS 20:00 · 09:35+1 NCE Nice
• DL 277  Nice NCE 11:45 · 14:25 BOS Boston

In addition to Boston, Delta will launch other three routes in the US-Europe market, flying to/from New York with Boeing 767-300(ER) aircraft.

Olbia · May 20th, 2026

Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday

• DL 216  New York JFK 18:25 · 09:00+1 OLB Olbia
• DL 217  Olbia OLB 11:00 · 14:35 JFK New York (Mon/Tue/Thu/Sat)

Porto · May 21st, 2026

Daily

• DL 114  New York JFK 22:25 · 10:30+1 OPO Porto
• DL 115  Porto OPO 12:25 · 15:15 JFK New York

Malta · June 7th, 2026

Wednesday, Friday and Sunday

• DL 148  New York JFK 18:25 · 09:00+1 MLA Malta
• DL 149  Malta MLA 10:20 · 14:50 JFK New York (Mon/Thu/Sat)

Air Canada

Air Canada will initiate three new services between Canada and the United States. 

Two of them will be offered from/to Montreal Trudeau International Airport, and the other to/from Toronto Pearson International Airport, using Embraer 175 and Airbus A220 aircraft.

• Montreal (YUL) – Cleveland (CLE): 7 weekly · May 1st, 2026 · Embraer 175
• Montreal (YUL) – Columbus (CMH): 7 weekly · May 1st, 2026 · Embraer 175
• Toronto (YYZ) – San Antonio (SAT): 3 weekly · May 1st, 2026 · Airbus A220-300

Aer Lingus

Raleigh-Durham, Aer Lingus’ new destination in the US.

Starting April 13th, 2026, the Irish airline will commence flights from Dublin with Airbus A321XLR aircraft, which are configured for 184 passengers (16 seats in Business and 168 seats in Economy). These services, which will take approximately eight and a half hours westbound and over seven hours eastbound, will operate five times a week with the following schedule:

Daily except Wednesday and Saturday

• EI 85  Dublin DUB 15:25 · 18:55 RDU Raleigh-Durham
• EI 84  Raleigh-Durham RDU 20:25 · 08:45+1 DUB Dublin

Furthermore, Aer Lingus will increase its weekly flights to Boston, Indianapolis, Nashville, New York, and Orlando beginning in April 2026.

Aerolíneas Argentinas

For the first time in its history, Aerolíneas Argentinas will fly to Aruba, as of January 2026, during the 2025/2026 South American summer. The airline will have a significant operation between Argentina and Aruba, with three seasonal routes to be performed by Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft.

Córdoba – Oranjestad · January 1st, 2026

Thursday

• AR 1394  Córdoba COR 14:30 · 20:40 AUA Oranjestad
• AR 1395  Oranjestad AUA 22:15 · 06:40+1 COR Córdoba

Mendoza – Oranjestad · January 2nd, 2026

Friday

• AR 1398  Mendoza MDZ 13:00 · 19:35 AUA Oranjestad
• AR 1399  Oranjestad AUA 22:30 · 07:20+1 MDZ Mendoza

Buenos Aires – Oranjestad · January 3rd, 2026

Monday, Saturday and Sunday

• AR 1374  Buenos Aires EZE 23:55 · 07:00+1 AUA Oranjestad
• AR 1375  Oranjestad AUA 08:30 · 16:55 COR Córdoba (Mon/Tue/Sun)
• AR 1375  Córdoba COR 17:25 · 18:45 EZE Buenos Aires (Mon/Tue/Sun)

The Oranjestad-Buenos Aires leg will include a stopover in Córdoba, as Argentine aircraft are not allowed to fly over Venezuelan territory, imposed by the Venezuelan government, meaning that the 737 MAX cannot operate AUA-EZE non-stop.

airBaltic

airBaltic expands its operations in Europe and Asia.

The airline has announced the launch of three new routes, as well as three restarts, which will take place in 2026, all from Vilnius International Airport. At the time of publication, airBaltic operates Airbus A220-300 aircraft configured for 145 or 149 passengers, having 50 in its fleet.

• Kaunas (KUN): 5 weekly · March 29th, 2026
• Oulu (OUL): 5 weekly · March 29th, 2026
• Belgrade (BEL): 2 weekly · May 1st, 2026
• Antalya (AYT): 2 weekly · May 2nd, 2026
• Yerevan (EVN): 3 weekly · May 2nd, 2026
• Aberdeen (ABZ): 2 weekly · June 2nd, 2026

HiSky

HiSky arrives in Chicago.

The Romanian carrier will initiate a new route to the US effective June 4th, 2026, Bucharest-Chicago O’Hare, to be operated twice-weekly on Airbus A330-200 aircraft.

Chicago will become HiSky’s second destination in the United States after New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, served four times weekly with the same aircraft.

Thursday and Sunday

• H4 103  Bucharest OTP 09:00 · 11:50 ORD Chicago
• H4 104  Chicago ORD 13:20 · 07:10+1 OTP Bucharest

Hainan

Starting November 22nd, Hainan Airlines will inaugurate the Chongqing-Brussels route, which will be flown three times per week with 292-seat Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft.

Chongqing will become the Belgian capital’s fourth connection with China, after Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen, all of which are operated by Hainan. Juneyao Air is Hainan Airlines’ only competitor in this market, on the Shanghai Pudong-Brussels route.

Monday, Thursday and Saturday

• HU 469  Chongqing CKG 02:50 · 07:35 BRU Brussels
• HU 470  Brussels BRU 11:20 · 05:10+1 CKG Chongqing

IndiGo

The Indian airline will commence flying between Delhi and Copenhagen on November 15th, marking its first-ever entry into Denmark. In accordance with its website, IndiGo will serve three times weekly with Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft configured for 338 passengers, belonging to Norse Atlantic Airways.

Wednesday, Friday and Sunday

• 6E 43  Delhi DEL 04:05 · 09:55 CPH Copenhagen
• 6E 44  Copenhagen CPH 12:40 · 02:10+1 DEL Delhi

Denmark’s capital will join Amsterdam, Istanbul, and Manchester, its current destinations in Europe.

Qantas

At 11:07 local time on September 25th, Qantas’ first scheduled flight with an Airbus A321XLR took off from Sydney Kingsford Smith International Airport. The aircraft, registered as VH-OGB, operated flight QF645 to Perth, arriving at 13:39 local time following a four-hour flight.

Perth will be one of the regular destinations for Qantas’ A321XLRs, which are configured for 197 passengers in single class. Brisbane and Melbourne will also be part of the schedule, with flights to/from Sydney.

At present, Qantas has two Airbus A321XLR in its fleet (VH-OGA and VH-OGB).

Sky Mali

On October 1st at 09:00 local time, Sky Mali’s inaugural flight will depart from Bamako (Mali) bound for Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire). With Boeing 737-400s and Boeing 737-500s, the airline will operate three weekly frequencies on this route, which will be its first and only service in this market.

BKO – ABJ

• ML 301  Bamako BKO 09:00 · 10:40 ABJ Abidjan (Wednesday)
• ML 301  Bamako BKO 13:00 · 14:40 ABJ Abidjan (Friday and Sunday)

ABJ – BKO

• ML 302  Abidjan ABJ 11:40 · 13:20 BKO Bamako (Wednesday)
• ML 302  Abidjan ABJ 15:40 · 17:20 BKO Bamako (Friday and Sunday)

CVsky (Linhas Aéreas de Cabo Verde)

Two new domestic routes in Cape Verde.

CVsky (Linhas Aéreas de Cabo Verde), operated by Cabo Verde Airlines aircraft, has announced the launch of two new connections between the islands of Cape Verde, using ATR 72-600s with a capacity for 72 passengers. As per its website, these will be the new services.

• Boa Vista (BVC) – Maio Island (MMO): 1 weekly · October 27th · ATR 72
• Espargos (SID) – São Filipe (SFL): 2 weekly · October 29th · ATR 72

Etihad

From May 30th, 2026, Etihad Airways will commence the Abu Dhabi – Palma de Mallorca route, to be carried out by 194-seat Airbus A321neo LR aircraft, three times a week.

So far, flights to Palma de Mallorca will be seasonal during Summer 2026, with operations scheduled to end on September 24th, 2026. It will join Barcelona, Madrid, and Málaga, its current routes from Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates-Spain market.

Tuesday, Friday and Sunday

• EY 115  Abu Dhabi AUH 02:55 · 08:15 PMI Palma de Mallorca
• EY 116  Palma de Mallorca PMI 10:30 · 19:00 AUH Abu Dhabi

Fly Cham

On September 6th at 23:34 local time, Fly Cham’s inaugural flight departed from Damascus airport to Mersin, a route it will provide two times weekly with Airbus A320-200 aircraft configured for 180 passengers in single class.

DAM – COV

• XH 481  Damascus DAM 10:30 · 11:30 COV Mersin (Wednesday)
• XH 483  Damascus DAM 23:00 · 23:55 COV Mersin (Saturday)

COV – DAM

• XH 482  Mersin COV 12:30 · 13:30 DAM Damascus (Wednesday)
• XH 484  Mersin COV 01:00 · 02:00 DAM Damascus (Sunday)

Fly Cham, Syria’s newest airline, began operations on June 5th, 2025, and currently has five Airbus A320-200 in its fleet.

New aircraft during September

PLAY

The Icelandic low-cost carrier PLAY Airlines, based at Keflavik International Airport, has announced the cessation of operations on Monday, September 29th. PLAY commenced services on June 24th, 2021, with flight OG802 between Reykjavik and London Stansted, operated by the Airbus A321neo with registration TF-AEW.

This closure follows a restructuring process that was unable to mitigate the financial difficulties that the low-cost airline had been experiencing since last year. Recently, it had withdrawn its Airbus A321neo aircraft from service, as well as flights to Canada, and continued to reduce its presence in the United States and other European markets.

At the time of cessation, PLAY had six Airbus A320neo aircraft in its fleet (TF-PPA, TF-PPB, TF-PPC, TF-PPD, TF-PPE, and TF-PPF).

Cover photo: © CAF168 – JetPhotos (Shanghai Pudong International Airport, China)