Latest route launches

Hyderabad to Male

GoAir is the only carrier on Hyderabad to Male, which it operates four-weekly.

GoAir began Hyderabad to Male on 11 February, with the 1,541-kilometre service operating four-weekly.

The carrier will have four routes to Maldives capital this winter: Hyderabad along with Bangalore, Delhi, and Mumbai.

This winter, five airlines are scheduled to operate between Male and India with eight routes, OAG shows. GoAir is the leading carrier by seat capacity.

The Indian LCC also has 18 routes from Hyderabad, with Male its only international offering.

Pradeep Panicker, CEO, GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd, said, “This new flight service connecting Hyderabad and Malé is a much-awaited one. Adventure enthusiasts, nature lovers, and holiday goers would love this direct, two and half hour flight from GMR Hyderabad International Airport.”

GoAir’s new Hyderabad to Male service marks the first time the route has been operated this decade. About to declare the route open includes Anindya Acharya, Head of Airline Marketing and Route Development, Hyderabad International Airport, far left; Ashish Kumar, Chief Commercial Officer, third from the left, and, next to him, Pradeep Panicker, CEO.

Denver to Cozumel

Frontier launched Cozumel from Denver on 13 February, with the ULCC now having three Mexican routes from Denver.

Frontier began Denver to Cozumel on 13 February, with the 2,730-kilometre service operating once-weekly until 7 August using A320neos.

Or, technically, restarted, for the ULCC operated the route for years until 2015.  It typically operated once-weekly but was up to three-weekly in 2011.

United then began it in 2017; it has always been once-weekly.  Now, both Frontier and United compete directly.

Cozumel is one of three Mexico routes Frontier operates from Denver, alongside Cancun and Puerto Vallarta. 

It has previously served Mazatlán (until 2012), Zihuatanejo (until 2015), and Los Cabos (until 2018).

Latest route launches (A – Z by airline name)

With the inauguration of Miami and Key West, JetBlue now serves nine Florida airports.  In order of seat capacity this year, they are: Fort Lauderdale; Orlando; West Palm Beach; Tampa; Fort Myers; Miami; Jacksonville; Sarasota; and Key West.

JetBlue began operations at both Miami and Key West on 11 February.

Miami launched with four routes (Boston, Los Angeles, Newark, and New York JFK), while it was two for Key West (Boston and JFK).

This week, JetBlue has 14 departures from Miami to Los Angeles, 24 to Newark, and 25 to both Boston and JFK.  Boston, JFK, and Newark will later increase to 28-weekly each.

From Key West, JFK has five-weekly departures and Boston four. Both routes will be served for 11 weeks, and while JFK will remain five-weekly, Boston will rise to once-daily for a short period.

Miami’s CEO, Lester Sola, said:  “Welcoming JetBlue, one of the world’s leading low-cost carriers, to our network is truly a landmark event in our airport’s history.”

JetBlue has four routes from Miami.

JetBlue’s new Raleigh Durham route is one of 13 it has from the airport this winter.

JetBlue took off from Tampa to Raleigh Durham on 11 February. 

The route, some 945 kilometres, operates five-weekly using Embraer 190s.  It’ll reduce to three-weekly in March, before a once-daily service is offered from April onwards.

JetBlue currently competes directly with Delta’s 19-weekly offering, which will increase up to 21-weekly in the coming weeks.

Southwest, meanwhile, will return on a Saturday-only basis from mid-March, growing to once-daily from April.

This winter, JetBlue has 13 routes from Tampa (up from six YOY) and 15 from Raleigh Durham (three).

We wonder if they’re (JetBlue) Mint cookies? 🙂

Pacific Coastal’s crew commemorate the route’s launch in Kamloops before returning to Vancouver.

Pacific Coastal began Vancouver to Kamloops on 9 February, with Kamloops the carrier’s 12th destination served non-stop from British Columbia’s largest city this month.

Operating six-weekly, the 258-kilometre service uses 19-seat Beech 1900s.

Air Canada Jazz and Central Mountain Air will return in April, with all three having a collective 42-weekly.  

Ed Ratuski, Managing Director of Kamloops Airport, said: “Welcoming the return of Pacific Coastal Airlines to Kamloops is certainly a bright spot for the airport and the community we are proud to serve.

“This new service provides a valuable connection with Vancouver for essential travel as we look forward to recovery.”

Southwest has launched Chicago O’Hare and Sarasota, the latter its 10th airport in Florida.

Southwest inaugurated two new airports on 14 February: Chicago O’Hare and Sarasota.

Southwest has 112 departures this week from O’Hare – 16 daily – to five destinations: Denver (35 weekly); Baltimore (28); Nashville (21); Dallas Love (21); and Phoenix (seven).

The carrier is the only airline to Dallas Love, with the rest having strong direct competition.

Southwest is second of four carriers to Denver; number-one of three to Baltimore; second of three to Nashville; and three of five to Phoenix.

Sarasota becomes Southwest’s 10th airport in Florida.  OAG shows that it has over 424,000 two-way seats in the seven months to August. 

It ranks eighth by seats so far this year, ahead of West Palm Beach and Pensacola.

Southwest will have eight routes from Sarasota when all have started, with many coming in mid-March.

Based on the week starting 22 March, it’ll have 67 weekly departures: Baltimore (21); Nashville (14); Chicago Midway (14); Atlanta (seven); Houston Hobby (seven); Indianapolis (two); Columbus (one); and Pittsburgh (one).

Southwest has 112 departures from O’Hare this week and, come 22 March, it’ll have 67 from Sarasota.

Sunlight Air began Clark – Busuanga on 5 February.

Philippine regional carrier Sunlight Air began Clark to Busuanga on 5 February.

Operating twice-weekly, the 343-kilometre service uses ATR-72-500s.

The route first began in 2017 with both PAL express and Cebgo.  Between them, they had almost 74,000 seats, OAG shows.

Cebu Pacific exited in 2018, with PAL express then growing capacity to 309,000 in 2019.

From the start of this summer, PAL express will compete directly with a 28-weekly service using Dash-8-400s.