At 13:17 local time on April 29th, Alaska Airlines’ inaugural flight from Seattle landed at Rome’s Fiumicino Airport, marking a historic milestone for the airline: its first-ever route to Europe.

Alaska Airlines will offer a daily seasonal service between Seattle and Rome using Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft configured for 300 passengers in two classes (34 seats in Business and 266 seats in Economy). At the time of publication, flights on this route are scheduled through October 24th.

Rome is Alaska Airlines’ first destination in Europe, with London and Reykjavik set to be the next two additions. The Seattle-London Heathrow route will begin on May 21st, while the Seattle-Reykjavik route will begin on May 28th.

Rome

Daily

• AS 180  Seattle SEA 17:30 · 13:15+1 FCO Rome
• AS 181  Rome FCO 15:25 · 17:45 SEA Seattle

London Heathrow

Daily

• AS 100  Seattle SEA 21:45 · 15:05+1 LHR London
• AS 101  London LHR 17:00 · 18:45 SEA Seattle

Reykjavik

Daily

• AS 354  Seattle SEA 18:45 · 09:10+1 KEF Reykjavik
• AS 355  Reykjavik KEF 12:15 · 13:10 SEA Seattle

The airline has five Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners in its fleet, with an average age of two years. Its current routes include Honolulu, Seoul, and Tokyo, with Rome now added to the list; all of these services are operated from/to Seattle-Tacoma.

American Airlines

A historic milestone for Venezuela took place on April 30th.

After a seven-year hiatus, the country resumed regular flights to the United States, which will be operated by American Airlines using Envoy Air aircraft.

The airline will provide one daily flight between Miami and the Venezuelan capital with Embraer 175 aircraft configured for 76 passengers in two classes, although it has already confirmed that it will increase service to two daily flights starting May 21st.

Daily · eff April 30th

• AA 3599  Miami MIA 10:16 · 13:36 CCS Caracas
• AA 4194  Caracas CCS 14:40 · 18:13 MIA Miami

Daily · eff May 21st

• AA 3759  Miami MIA 08:55 · 12:15 CCS Caracas
• AA 3688  Caracas CCS 13:00 · 16:34 MIA Miami

American is the first U.S. airline to operate regular flights to Venezuela in seven years. Whether for cargo flights or repatriation flights, Amerijet International, Eastern Airlines, GlobalX, Omni Air International, and SkyLease Cargo have recently operated in the country.

Air Canada

The Canadian airline has announced that it will begin operating flights between Canada and the Canary Islands, becoming the only carrier to serve this market. These operations will be conducted using Airbus A321XLR aircraft configured for 182 passengers in two classes (14 seats in Business and 168 seats in Economy) during the 2026/2027 European winter season.

Toronto – Tenerife South · October 25th

Thursday and Saturday

• AC 954  Toronto YYZ 20:35 · 09:00+1 TFS Tenerife
• AC 955  Tenerife TFS 10:55 · 14:50 YYZ Toronto (Mon/Fri)

Montréal – Tenerife South · October 31st

Saturday/Sunday

• AC 956  Montréal YUL 21:00 · 09:00+1 TFS Tenerife (Saturday)
• AC 957  Tenerife TFS 10:55 · 14:10 YUL Montréal (Sunday)

In addition, Air Canada will significantly expand its operations in Central America and the Caribbean by adding new seasonal routes from Canada, which it will operate using narrow-body aircraft.

• Toronto (YYZ) – Mérida (MID): 2 weekly · November 21st
• Vancouver (YVR) – Monterrey (MTY): 3 weekly · December 3rd
• Winnipeg (YWG) – Punta Cana (PUJ): 1 weekly · December 3rd
• Montréal (YUL) – Oranjestad (AUA): 1 weekly · December 6th
• Edmonton (YEG) – Montego Bay (MBJ): 2 weekly · December 7th
• Vancouver (YVR) – Puerto Escondido (PXM): 4 weekly · December 7th
• Winnipeg (YWG) – Montego Bay (MBJ): 2 weekly · December 7th
• Calgary (YYC) – Puerto Vallarta (PVR): 3 weekly · December 10th
• Montréal (YUL) – Santo Domingo (SDQ): 4 weekly · December 10th
• Calgary (YYC) – Cancún (CUN): 4 weekly · December 11th
• Montréal (YUL) – Roatán (RTB): 1 weekly · December 12th
• Toronto (YYZ) – Roatán (RTB): 1 weekly · December 13th
• Vancouver (YVR) – Liberia (LIR): 4 weekly · December 13th
• Vancouver (YVR) – Mazatlán (MZT): 2 weekly · December 15th
• Halifax (YHZ) – Bridgetown (BGI): 1 weekly · December 17th
• Quebec City (YQB) – Pointe-a-Pitre (PTP): 1 weekly · December 17th

Air Transat

The Montréal-based carrier will introduce three new destinations in the Caribbean, which it will serve on Airbus A321neo aircraft configured with 199 seats.

San José del Cabo · December 10th

Thursday

• TS 468  Montréal YUL 09:00 · 13:40 SJD Los Cabos
• TS 469  Los Cabos SJD 15:00 · 22:05 YUL Montréal

Oranjestad · December 12th

Saturday

• TS 378  Montréal YUL 09:40 · 16:00 AUA Oranjestad
• TS 379  Oranjestad AUA 17:20 · 21:40 YUL Montréal

Bridgetown · December 13th

Wednesday and Sunday

• TS 288  Montréal YUL 10:40 · 17:05 BGI Bridgetown
• TS 289  Bridgetown BGI 18:25 · 23:20 YUL Montréal

ITA

Effective November 30th, ITA Airways will commence flights between Rome and Santo Domingo, marking its first-ever entry into the Dominican Republic and the Caribbean.

Alitalia, its predecessor, operated in the Dominican Republic as well as in other Caribbean countries, including this same route until the end of the last century.

Monday

• AZ 686  Rome FCO 09:10 · 15:15 SDQ Santo Domingo
• AZ 687  Santo Domingo SDQ 17:15 · 08:00+1 FCO Rome

The airline will increase to two flights per week (a new service on Sundays) starting December 14th, all with Airbus A330neo aircraft.

Air France

Bordeaux-Nice: new domestic route to be performed by Air France Hop.

The airline will resume flights between Bordeaux and Nice starting July 4th, which will run throughout the Summer 2026 on 76-seat Embraer 170 aircraft.

Saturday

• AF 7653  Bordeaux BOD 09:20 · 10:40 NCE Nice
• AF 7652  Nice NCE 11:20 · 12:45 BOD Bordeaux

Beijing Capital

Beijing Capital Airlines will begin operating flights to Lisbon from Beijing Daxing starting June 22nd. According to the airline’s website, these services will be provided during the European summer using Airbus A330-300 aircraft configured for 303 passengers.

Monday

• JD 627  Beijing PKX 10:55 · 17:15 LIS Lisbon
• JD 628  Lisbon LIS 18:55 · 14:00+1 PKX Beijing

The last flight is scheduled for September 28th.

Binter Canarias

On June 15th at 14:25 local time, Binter Canarias’ first flight will depart from Gran Canaria bound for Vitoria, a Spanish city located about 50 kilometers south of Bilbao.

The route will be operated using 132-seat Embraer E195-E2 aircraft during Summer 2026, twice-weekly.

Monday and Thursday

• NT 5432  Gran Canaria LPA 14:25 · 18:25 VIT Vitoria
• NT 5433  Vitoria VIT 19:05 · 21:15 LPA Gran Canaria

Binter, the leading airline in the Canary Islands, will be the only one to operate flights between the Canary Islands and Vitoria.

China Eastern

On April 20th at 06:11 local time, China Eastern Airlines’ inaugural flight from Xi’an landed in Vienna. The airline will operate three flights a week using Airbus A330-200 aircraft, this being its first and only route in Austria.

Monday, Thursday, and Saturday

• MU 5063  Xi’an XIY 01:30 · 06:10 VIE Vienna
• MU 5062  Vienna VIE 13:30 · 05:50+1 XIY Xi’an

Xi’an joins Beijing, Chengdu, Shanghai, and Shenzhen as destinations on the Vienna-China market; these routes are currently operated by other Chinese airlines, with the exception of the Shanghai route, which is served by Austrian Airlines.

Transavia

The airline will add three new routes to the Nordic region, which will be operated using Airbus A321neo and Boeing 737-800 aircraft with 232 and 189 seats, respectively.

• Brussels (BRU) – Reykjavik (KEF): 1 weekly · Boeing 737 · October 30th
• Amsterdam (AMS) – Kittila (KTT): 2 weekly · Airbus A321 · December 19th
• Amsterdam (AMS) – Salen (SCR): 1 weekly · Boeing 737 · December 19th

Air China

As of July 12th, Air China will initiate flights between Chengdu and London Gatwick. The service will operate four times a week by Airbus A350-900 aircraft with 312 seats, to be provided during the European summer season.

Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday

• CA 629  Chengdu TFU 13:45/14:00 · 18:05/18:30 LGW London
• CA 630  London LGW 20:20 · 14:00+1 TFU Chengdu

Air China currently operates two daily flights between China and London Gatwick using the same aircraft: one daily flight from/to Beijing and another to/from Shanghai.

China Southern

The Chinese carrier will expand its operations in Frankfurt from June, with the launch of a new route from/to Urumqi, which will be operated using Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft.

Monday and Friday · eff June 1st

• CZ 6041  Urumqi URC 15:10 · 17:20 FRA Frankfurt
• CZ 6042  Frankfurt FRA 19:20 · 09:05+1 URC Urumqi

At present, China Southern Airlines performs three flights per week to Frankfurt Airport: two departing from Guangzhou and one from Shenyang.

Air New Zealand

On October 26th, Air New Zealand plans to launch flights to Sydney’s Western Airport, operating three times weekly to/from Auckland using Airbus A320neo and Airbus A321neo aircraft with 165 and 214 seats, respectively.

If these flights do begin, the new frequencies will be added to the current service between Auckland and Sydney Kingsford International Airport, bringing the total to four daily flights using a mix of Airbus A321neo, Boeing 777-300(ER), and Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft.

Monday, Wednesday, and Friday

• NZ 165  Auckland AKL 06:05 · 07:50 WSI Sydney
• NZ 166  Sydney WSI 09:00 · 14:15 AKL Auckland

Singapore

Singapore Airlines is another airline that has confirmed its first flights to Sydney’s new airport, scheduled to begin on November 23rd.

Based on its website, the airline will launch flights between Singapore and Western Sydney, which will be operated by 318-seat Airbus A350-900 aircraft, adding to its existing service on the Singapore-Sydney Kingsford International Airport route.

Daily

• SQ 201  Singapore SIN 11:30 · 22:20 WSI Sydney
• SQ 202  Sydney WSI 23:55 · 05:05+1 SIN Singapore

Between the two airports, Singapore Airlines will operate five daily flights on the Singapore-Sydney route.

Air Tanzania

Beginning May 1st, Air Tanzania will introduce flights between Dar-es-Salaam and Victoria, the capital of the Seychelles. Operations will be carried out using Airbus A220-300 aircraft, with a capacity of 132 passengers (12 seats in Business and 120 seats in Economy).

The airline will be the first and only carrier serving the Tanzania-Seychelles market, where it will offer three weekly flights.

Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday

• TC 242  Dar-es-Salaam DAR 02:30 · 06:15 SEZ Victoria
• TC 243  Victoria SEZ 07:15 · 09:00 DAR Dar-es-Salaam

Cabo Verde Airlines

After nearly seven years, Cabo Verde Airlines will return to South America.

The airline will operate the Praia-Recife route with Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft, starting May 6th. According to its website, Cabo Verde Airlines will provide weekly service as follows:

Wednesday

• VR 663  Praia RAI 20:00 · 22:05 REC Recife
• VR 664  Recife REC 00:30 · 06:30 RAI Praia

Flight VR 664 will be operated on Thursdays.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, in addition to Recife, it operated flights between Praia and Porto Alegre using Boeing 757-200 aircraft.

Etihad

The airline is set to expand significantly in Africa with the launch of four new scheduled routes from Abu Dhabi, serving five new destinations.

All of these routes will be performed by Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft configured with 290 seats or 303 seats, with service set to begin in 2027. The carrier will operate the following schedule, in accordance with its website:

Accra · March 17th, 2027

Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday

• EY 751  Abu Dhabi AUH 02:00 · 06:10 ACC Accra
• EY 752  Accra ACC 07:30 · 19:40 AUH Abu Dhabi

Kinshasa · March 18th, 2027

Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday

• EY 797  Abu Dhabi AUH 02:20 · 07:20 FIH Kinshasa
• EY 798  Kinshasa FIH 08:45 · 19:20 AUH Abu Dhabi

Lagos · March 18th, 2027

Daily

• EY 781  Abu Dhabi AUH 02:00 · 07:15 LOS Lagos
• EY 782  Lagos LOS 08:45 · 19:35 AUH Abu Dhabi

Harare – Lubumbashi · March 24th, 2027

Monday, Wednesday, and Friday

• EY 777  Abu Dhabi AUH 02:00 · 07:05 HRE Harare
• EY 777  Harare HRE 08:25 · 09:50 FBM Lubumbashi (no traffic rights)
• EY 777  Lubumbashi FBM 11:10 · 19:45 AUH Abu Dhabi

New aircraft added during April

Cover photo: © NRT Spotter – JetPhotos

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