With the peak summer travel season now upon us, the past several weeks have experienced the launch of a number of new overseas flights to the United States and North America, primarily from Europe and with many from low-cost carriers. Meanwhile, there were also announcements of new service expected later this year and in 2019. Our tally includes the following:
—Delta Air Lines plans to resume nonstop flights between the U.S. and Mumbai in 2019, a service which the airline had ended in 2009.The flights will begin next year and either depart from New York JFK or Delta’s home base at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, however the full schedule details will come later this year.
—Philippine Airlines (PAL) has announced a new non-stop flight from New York to Manila starting in October for an initial fare of $664 round-trip. One-way, it’s a 15½-hour flight. The airline previously only had non-stop flights from San Francisco, Los Angeles, Honolulu and Vancouver while flights from New York landed in Vancouver for refueling. This long-haul flight is part of PAL’s strategy to improve its position in the North American market.
—Virgin Atlantic will switch its Las Vegas flights from Gatwick to Heathrow from beginning in the spring of 2019. The airline is also adding a second daily Boston service with fares starting from £313 ($420). The Las Vegas flights begin from on March 31, 2019, departing at 12:40 pm and from Las Vegas at 19:05. The second daily service between London Heathrow and Boston will launch on the same day, departing London Heathrow at 20:30 and Boston at 08:30.
—On May 23, United Airlines launched two transatlantic routes, with it now serving Reykjavik from New York/Newark and Edinburgh from Washington Dulles. The route between Newark and Reykjavik/Keflavik airport is already well served by WOW air and Icelandair. Currently, Qatar Airways holds the world record for its Doha-Auckland route. The Arabian airline flies the 9,000-mile route in 16.5 hours.
—Avianca has announced a new direct flight between Bogotá and Chicago. Scheduled to start on Nov. 17, it will be the first and only airline that will connect directly the two cities. The Bogotá-Chicago flight will operate four times a week on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.
—American Airlines has just launched (on June 7th) daily non-stop service to Reykjavik from Dallas-Fort Worth. The new service will operate through October.
—Aer Lingus began service from Dublin to Seattle-Tacoma last month. Along with its routes from Dublin, the airline also provides flights from Shannon to Boston and New York JFK. All totaled, the carrier is currently operating 15 transatlantic services this summer.
—Condor has started a new flight from from Frankfurt to Phoenix.
—Icelandair has began service between Cleveland and Reykjavik on May 16. Icelandair follows fellow Icelandic carrier WOW air in serving Cleveland. On May 25, the airline began service to Kansas City from Reykjavik.
—The new European carrier Primera Air has begun service between Birmingham and New York Newark. The new service operates six times weekly.
—Volaris Costa Rica has begun service between San Jose, Costa Rica and Washington Dulles. The twice weekly service—on Mondays and Wednesdays—operates via San Salvador.Volaris Costa Rica also serves Los Angeles and New York JFK in the US.
—WOW air has, launched flight service between Reykjavik and St. Louis. This is the first non-stop European service for St. Louis since 2003 when American Airlines stopped flights to London Heathrow.
—Icelandair has introduced Dallas-Fort Worth to its route map, launching service from Reykjavik. It has also reintroduced service between Reykjavik and San Francisco. Icelandair will face direct competition on both routes, with WOW air operating Dallas/Fort Worth three times weekly and San Francisco daily.
—WestJet began flights between Halifax, Nova Scotia and Paris (CDG) on May 31st, with the French capital becoming the airline’s first destination in mainland Europe.
