The Most Notable New Airline Routes This Week
Welcome to my 170th weekly routes article! It includes 10 mini-stories about subjectively exciting services that took off between May 27 and June 3 (unless stated). While dozens of routes worldwide started in the examined period, only a selection of intriguing additions are covered in this article.
Bilbao Gets 1st US Service
Until now, the northern Spanish city of Bilbao has not had any transatlantic flights. That changed on May 31, when 
United Airlines took off from Newark, its busiest hub for Europe-bound departures.
Photo: Aena Photo: Aena
Helped by incentives and perhaps other risk-sharing endeavours, United serves the market three times weekly on the 757-200ER. It is the airline’s sixth-longest European route on the aging but characterful single-aisle type.
United will serve 32 European airports this year. Other new additions in 2025 include Faro (Portugal), Funchal (Portugal), and Palermo (Italy). Five Spanish airports are on its map: Barcelona, Bilbao, Madrid, Malaga, and Palma de Mallorca. Tenerife South has been removed.
Related
Take Off: The US Welcomes These 27 New European Routes In May
Sixteen routes begin between May 21 and May 23.
Seattle Welcomes New Long-Haul Carrier
On June 2, Edelweiss began the first flight ever from Zurich to Seattle. The Swiss leisure carrier is attracted to the 28,000 local passengers, which will easily grow by 30%+ from the nonstop service, and that passengers can connect in Zurich to SWISS-operated destinations.
Seattle is Edelweiss’ fourth US destination, joining Denver, Las Vegas, and Tampa. Flights operate twice-weekly on the A340-300, becoming Seattle's only A340 operator this summer (Lufthansa's frames return in the winter). It is the world’s new 13th-longest A340 route. The last departure of the season is on September 15.
Photo: Edelweiss Photo: Edelweiss
The Washington State airport now has European flights by 12 carriers: Aer Lingus, Air France, British Airways, Condor, Delta Air Lines, Edelweiss, Finnair, Icelandair, Lufthansa, SAS, Turkish Airlines, and Virgin Atlantic. Alaska Airlines will join them next year.
Edelweiss' entry means Zurich has become Seattle's 11th European destination.
Emirates Begins 2 More Asian Routes
On June 2, the Gulf giant inaugurated the first flight ever from Dubai to Da Nang, well-known as an access point to beaches and other outdoor activities. This is its third Vietnamese destination, joining Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. Qatar Airways flew to Da Nang between 2018 and 2020.
Emirates operates four times weekly on the 777-300ER, with all flights in both directions via Bangkok, a traditionally liberal city for fifth freedom traffic rights. London, Paris, Amsterdam, and Vienna are among the larger targeted markets.
Photo: Emirates Photo: Emirates Photo: Emirates
On June 3, Siem Reap, Cambodia’s second most populous city, welcomed the first Emirates flight. Until now, it has not had flights from the Middle East. It operates thrice-weekly on the 777-300ER, with all flights also via Bangkok.
WestJet Returns To Amsterdam
After a two-year absence, WestJet has returned to Amsterdam, one of nine European airports in its network this summer. But while it flew from Calgary on the 787-9 between 2021 and 2023, things are very different now.
On May 29, WestJet’s inaugural 737 MAX 8 flight left Halifax for the Netherlands, the first time the market has been served since the 1990s, when KLM and Martinair operated. The return leg to Canada, which sees WS71 departing at 14:00 and arriving at 16:21 local time, has a block time of 7h 21m.
Photo: Halifax Stanfield International Airport Photo: Halifax Stanfield International Airport
It is served up to six times weekly. This high frequency from the get-go is influenced by WestJet’s codeshare agreement with KLM. It is one of WestJet’s multiple European launches and relaunches in May, including St John’s to Dublin, the carrier’s shortest transatlantic link. Read more about it below.
The Irish capital has nearly one in four of WestJet's European services this summer.
Etihad's European Network Has 3 New Cities
Three European airports have joined 
Etihad's network in less than a week. On May 29, it began flying from Abu Dhabi to Sochi, in European Russia (thrice-weekly A320). Brand-new to its network, Sochi is Etihad’s third Russian destination, joining Moscow Sheremetyevo and St Petersburg. It has up to five daily flights.
On June 2, it commenced the first service from the UAE capital to Prague (four weekly 787-9), along with Warsaw the following day (four weekly 787-9). While both capitals are new to Etihad’s map, the now-defunct Czech Airlines operated Prague-Abu Dhabi between 2011 and 2014 in partnership with Etihad. Some flights were even on the A319.
Photo: Etihad Photo: Etihad Photo: Etihad
COPA Returns To Caracas
After a 10-month absence due to a flight ban, the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, is back on COPA's map. This occurred on May 27, with a daily 737-800 service from the carrier’s so-called Hub of the Americas in Panama City. Departures rise to double daily on June 23.
Caracas has been part of COPA’s network for many years. It even had four daily flights at times. Booking data shows that 60,000+ passengers connected to another flight in Panama City in the first quarter of 2024. The three most popular markets were Miami, Santiago de Chile, and Mexico City.
Photo: COPA
The Venezuelan capital is one of 38 airports COPA serves in South America. They are in 12 countries, with a slow rebuild, and other factors, meaning that Venezuela ranks eighth by flights, down from its previous level. On November 1, COPA will resume flights to Maracaibo and Valencia.
Take Off: avianca From Bogotá To Dallas
While avianca has flown to Dallas/Fort Worth since 2014, it has always done so from San Salvador. That changed on May 26, when its first flight from Bogotá took off. Flights run four times weekly on the A320neo.
Bogotá-Dallas has two carriers for the first time since American inaugurated the route in 2013. That carrier runs daily on the 737 MAX 8. avianca’s arrival means the market has the most flights to date.
In 2024, the city pair had 43,000 round-trip point-to-point passengers. Bogotá was Dallas’ largest South American market, but only number eight in Latin America. avianca passengers can connect to multiple other destinations across the continent, usually with a sub-two-hour wait in the Colombian capital.
AirAsia X Makes Pakistan Debut
AirAsia X is the Malaysian long-haul airline of the AirAsia Group. The widebody-only carrier now serves Pakistan for the first time. This is the unit’s second country in South Asia, rising to five at the Group level.
On May 30, AirAsia X left Kuala Lumpur for Karachi, with the new route becoming its 11th longest market this year. Flights run four times weekly on the 367-seat A330-300. Even before growth from lower fares, the local market is of a good size (55,000 passengers). Passengers can also connect across the Group’s intra-Asian and services Down Under.
It joins fellow Batik Air Malaysia, which operates three times weekly on the 737-800. Pakistan International operated until 2019, and Malaysia Airlines did until 2012. The now-defunct Shaheen Air served the market in 2016.
Photo: Dnata Photo: Dnata
Air Seychelles Is Back In Abu Dhabi
Air Seychelles is not an airline that is usually covered in my Weekly Routes article, as it doesn’t tend to begin new routes or resume links. That changed on May 23, when it resumed flights from its homeland to Abu Dhabi, having last served the UAE capital in 2019. It operates six times weekly on the 168-seat A32neo, the carrier’s sole jet equipment. In the past, it also deployed the A320ceo, 767-300ER, and A330-200.
Photo: Air Seychelles Photo: Air Seychelles Photo: Air Seychelles
The choice of Abu Dhabi is because of Etihad, an airline that previously owned part of the historically challenged Air Seychelles. The pair still work closely together, with passengers able to connect to Etihad’s network via the UAE capital. Air Seychelles is effectively serving Abu Dhabi for Etihad. And with under 5,000 local passengers a year, before growing from nonstop flights, transit traffic will be vital.
TUI Airways Returns To Southampton After 16 Years
It took 16 years, but TUI is back in Southampton, one of the 21 UK airports that will see its frames in the summer. Its resumption occurred on May 27, with the airport’s runway extension, completed two years ago, improving the economics of its 737-800 and 737 MAX 8-operated services.
TUI operates to Palma de Mallorca weekly until September 23. It is the second carrier on the city pair, joining easyJet, which launched flights 15 months ago. When TUI last served Southampton, in 2009, it also did so from Palma.
Photo: TUI Photo: TUI
Flightradar24 shows that the inaugural service used 13.1-year-old G-TAWJ. The aircraft was positioned from Reus to Southampton, operated to Palma, and then flew to the East Midlands. TUI’s first departure from Palma to Southampton was on June 3, when G-TUMG operated East Midlands-Palma-Southampton-Palma-East Midlands.