March routes roundup: British Airways to launch a second route to Australia

British Airways has announced the launch of flights between London Heathrow and Melbourne as of January 9th, 2027. The service will operate daily using Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft with a capacity of 215 passengers in four classes.

Melbourne will join Sydney as its destinations in Oceania, with both cities being served to/from the British capital. Currently, British Airways offers flights from London Heathrow to Sydney with a stopover in Singapore, and the new London-Melbourne route will include a stopover in Kuala Lumpur.

Daily

The current London-Kuala Lumpur service will be extended to Melbourne, with traffic rights also applying to the Kuala Lumpur-Melbourne route and vice versa. The same applies to the British Airways flight between Singapore and Sydney and vice versa.

In addition to the announcement regarding Melbourne, British Airways reported other international developments, including the start of new routes and an increase in flight frequencies.

• London (LGW) – Bridgetown (BGI): 7 weekly · eff October 25th · Boeing 777
• London (LGW) – Kingston (KIN): from 3 to 4 weekly · October 25th
• London (LGW) – Punta Cana (PUJ): from 3 to 4 weekly · October 25th
• London (LHR) – Baltimore (BWI): from 6 to 7 weekly · October 25th
• London (LHR) – Delhi (DEL): from 14 to 21 weekly · October 25th
• London (LHR) – Houston (IAH): from 11 to 12 weekly · October 25th
• London (LHR) – New Orleans (MSY): from 3 to 4 weekly · October 25th
• London (LHR) – San José (SJO): from 3 to 4 weekly · October 25th (switch from LGW to LHR)
• London (LHR) – Tokyo (HND): from 10 to 14 weekly · October 25th
• London (LGW) – St. Lucia (UVF): new non-stop service · eff October 25th  
• London (LGW) – Colombo (CMB): 3 weekly · eff October 26th · Boeing 777
• London (LHR) – Cape Town (CPT): from 17 to 21 weekly · December 13th

Beginning in June, Avelo Airlines will open four new routes from two of its hubs, operating them with Boeing 737-700 aircraft seating 149 passengers in a single-class cabin.

The U.S. airline will add two new international routes from Tampa, marking its first-ever entry into a Central American country.

In accordance with its website, Breeze Airways will operate these flights using Airbus A220 aircraft.

Punta Cana · July 2nd

Thursday and Sunday

San José · October 3rd

Wednesday and Saturday

The Costa Rican capital will be a new destination from Tampa, as well as for Breeze.

Pensacola-Cape Girardeau and Las Vegas-Page, two new routes that Contour Airlines will commence operating in May and July, respectively.

The airline has 1 CRJ-100, 15 CRJ-200s, 10 Embraer 135s, 9 Embraer 140s, and 3 Embraer 145s in its fleet, as per our database.

The US carrier will fly between Las Vegas and Reno starting June 11th. Based on its website, JSX Airlines will perform four weekly frequencies using Embraer 145 aircraft configured for 30 passengers.

Monday, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday

As of May 3rd, Qanot Sharq plans to launch flights between Tashkent and New York, which it will operate using 265-seat Airbus A330-200 aircraft configured in two classes.

According to its website, the Uzbek airline intends to fly every Wednesday and Sunday, becoming the second carrier in the Uzbekistan-United States market if these services finally commence.

Wednesday and Sunday

New York would be Qanot Sharq’s first destination in the Americas.

During the European summer season, avianca will serve flights between San Salvador, the capital of El Salvador, and Madrid on Airbus A330-200 aircraft, which are operated by Wamos Air, a Spanish airline.

The carrier will provide four weekly flights from June 15th to September 15th, with the following schedule:

Sunday/Monday

Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday

Bogotá, Cali, and Medellín are Avianca’s current destinations from the Spanish capital.

The Brazilian carrier has announced one of the most important international expansions in its history, with the launch of a new route to New York and its entry into the European market.

GOL Linhas Aéreas, part of the Abra Group, will begin flying to Lisbon, New York, Orlando, and Paris from Rio de Janeiro, initially using Airbus A330-200 aircraft from the Spanish airline Wamos Air, with plans to start operating its own Airbus A330neo aircraft before the end of the year.

GOL will be the first Brazilian airline to operate intercontinental flights from Rio de Janeiro in about 10 years.

The Danish airline will initiate flights from Copenhagen to Midtjyllands Airport in Karus effective April 20th, offering two services per day using 71-seat ATR 72-500 aircraft.

Air Alsie will compete with AIS Airlines, which currently runs the same route using the same aircraft, but operating nine times a week.

• Karup (KRP): 14 weekly · eff April 20th
• Sonderborg (SGD): 16 weekly · its current route

In accordance with our database, Air Alsie has two ATR 72s in its fleet, with Copenhagen-Sonderborg being its only current route.

Effective October 29th, the airline will launch a new service between Spain and the Netherlands, consisting in a weekly flight operated by Airbus A220-300 aircraft with a capacity of 148 passengers.

Thursday

AirBaltic currently provides flights to Tenerife from Vilnius, Riga, and Tallinn, one, five, and two times per week, respectively.

Málaga, KM Malta Airlines’ new destination.

Starting May 27th, the airline will perform twice-weekly flights between Malta and Málaga on 185-seat Airbus A320neo aircraft. Málaga will be KM Malta’s second destination in Spain, following Madrid Barajas Airport.

Wednesday

Sunday

KM Malta Airlines has eight Airbus A320neo in its fleet, averaging five years old.

The German airline will resume flights to Kuala Lumpur after a ten-year hiatus as of October 25th.

Lufthansa will begin services between Frankfurt and the Malaysian capital, which will be operated by 287-seat Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft.

Daily except Tuesday and Thursday

Flight LH 705 will operate except Wednesdays and Fridays.

Bangkok and Singapore are Lufthansa’s current destinations in Southeast Asia, operating from/to Germany. The airline serves the Thai capital from Frankfurt with Airbus A350s, and flies to Singapore from Frankfurt and Munich with Boeing 747-400s and Airbus A350s, respectively.

Following an absence of more than 10 years, effective December 14th, Air Tahiti Nui will return to Sydney.

French Polynesia’s flag carrier, based in Papeete, will resume flights to Kingsford International Airport. Operations will be conducted twice-weekly using Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft with a capacity of 294 passengers.

Monday and Thursday

Sydney will join Auckland, Los Angeles, Paris, and Tokyo, all of which are served by its 787s.

From October 27th, Jetstar Airways will operate flights between Perth and Christchurch on 232-seat Airbus A321neo aircraft. This new route, which is already available for booking on the Jetstar website, will run three times a week, offering 696 seats per week in each direction.

Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday

Adelaide, Bangkok, Brisbane, Cairns, Denpasar, Manila, Melbourne, Phuket, Singapore, and Sydney are Jetstar’s routes to/from Perth, and Auckland, Cairns, Gold Coast, Hamilton, Melbourne, and Wellington are its routes from/to Christchurch.

Using 34-seat Saab 340 aircraft, Link Airways will launch flights between Canberra and Launceston starting May 6th. The Australian airline will operate this route four times weekly, as follows:

Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday

Link Airways has four Saab 340s in its fleet.

The airline will resume flights between Shanghai and Stockholm beginning on June 22nd, operating with 264-seat Airbus A330-200 aircraft. The Swedish capital will join Copenhagen as its destinations on the Nordic region, which is also served from Shanghai Pudong International Airport.

China Eastern Airlines will be the second carrier serving flights between China and Sweden, following Air China, currently operating daily service on the Beijing – Stockholm route by Airbus A350-900s.

Monday, Thursday, and Saturday

As of April 29th, the Indian low-cost airline will inaugrate flights between Chennai and Réunion, which it will operate three times per week using 186-seat Airbus A320neo aircraft.

Roland Garros Airport, located in Saint-Denis, the island’s capital, will resume its connection with India after a three-year hiatus. France, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mayotte, South Africa, and Thailand are its current connections.

Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday

IndiGo operates in Kenya, Madagascar, and Mauritius, its current markets in Africa.

Rome, Air Seychelles’ new destination.

On March 27th, the airline began flights between Victoria (Mahe Island) and the Italian capital, to be operated by Airbus A320neo aircraft configured for 180 passengers in a single-class cabin. These operations will include a stopover in Hurghada in both legs.

Wednesday and Saturday

Timetables for the next flights

Air Seychelles does not have traffic rights on the Victoria-Hurghada and Hurghada-Rome routes.

As of July 14th, Neos will add a second destination in Tanzania, through a triangular route linking Milan and Zanzibar.

Flights to Kilimanjaro will be performed once a week using Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft seating 355 or 359 passengers in two classes, with the following schedule:

Tuesday

Boa Vista, Cairo, Dakar, Espargos, Luxor, Marsa Alam, Sharm el-Sheikh, and Zanzibar are Neos’ current destinations in Africa.

Cover photo: © Lewis Zhao – JetPhotos (London Heathrow, United Kingdom)