Between April 30 and May 6, American Airlines, Breeze Airways, Delta Air Lines, Frontier, and United Airlines will introduce 14 new and returning routes. Ten of them will begin on May 5 and 6. It is always good to see many routes take off in so little time.

The airport pairs were identified by using OAG data to examine all US carriers’ schedules between January 1, 2025, and April 29, 2026. This was then compared to what is available from April 30 until May 6. Very time-limited services for the Kentucky Derby are excluded.

These Four Routes Begin On April 30

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History was made on Thursday, April 30, when this article was researched and written. That is because United took off from Newark, which is its leading hub for European flights, to Split. Flights run three times weekly using the low-capacity, high-premium, 167-seat Boeing 767-300ER. It has just 56 bog-standard economy seats.

Split is Croatia’s second most populous city and an increasingly popular tourist destination. It will be the first time that it has ever had scheduled flights from North America or, indeed, anywhere else. It joins United’s flights to Dubrovnik, which have existed since 2021. It is bound to be included in my weekly new routes article (see this week’s edition).

Croatia now has three routes from North America. In addition to United from Newark to Dubrovnik and Split, Air Transat serves Toronto to Zagreb for the diaspora. According to OAG data, Croatia has a record 130,000 seats to/from North America this year. That is 17% more than the prior high. US capacity has exceeded the prior high by a quarter.

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Three other routes began on April 30: American Eagle from Miami to Caracas (initially daily but then twice-daily Envoy Air E175; regional jets to South America!), Breeze from Pittsburgh to Louisville (twice-weekly A220-300), and United Express from Chicago O’Hare to Kearney (daily SkyWest CRJ200). The latter route starts despite the big pressure on O’Hare.

American last operated between its South Florida hub and the Venezuelan capital in 2019, while United operated the relatively short distance to Nebraska in 2022. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh to Louisville, which covers a modest 291 nautical miles (539 km) each way, was last served by the now-defunct OneJet in 2018. Due to the short distance, the US Department of Transportation shows that it is a pretty small existing market, with 28 daily round-trip passengers last year. Breeze will increase the traffic from nonstop flights and relatively low fares.

One Route Will Begin On May 1

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On May 1, United will take off from Newark to Bari, which will be the carrier’s second new long-haul inauguration in two days. It reflects the trend for travel to Southern Europe. The Star Alliance member will operate four times weekly aboard the 167-seat 767-300ER. Flights will leave New Jersey on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays. Not coincidentally, services to Split depart on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.

It will make history by being the first time a North American carrier has served Puglia. United’s flights are primarily designed for Italian Americans and also inbound tourists to that region of Italy. The carrier’s announcement motivated Neos to end its Bari-New York JFK flights, having only operated last year. It flew weekly. With such little capacity and a total focus on the local market, it filled a reasonable 75.6% of the available seats. United will have significantly more seats for sale but will benefit from its huge network behind Newark.

Nine Routes Will Start On May 5 And 6

Credit: Breeze

On May 5, Frontier will once again fly from Dallas/Fort Worth to Newark, having last done so in 2021/2022. It’ll operate daily. It’ll be the second budget operator in that market, alongside the heavily troubled Spirit. The airport pair had nearly 2,000 daily local passengers last year.

The following day, Delta will introduce two long-haul routes that are brand-new to its network. It’ll lift off from Boston to Madrid (daily A330-900) and Seattle to Rome (four weekly A330-900). The link to Spain’s capital means that the city pair will have a record three airlines, with Delta competing directly with Iberia and JetBlue. The latter’s debut occurred last year, and probably influenced Delta’s entry. Then there’s Seattle to Rome. Alaska Airlines introduced this route last week, before which it had never been served. It is not a coincidence that the SkyTeam member launched that route too.

Breeze will introduce six routes on May 6: Charleston to Atlantic City (twice-weekly A220-300); Louisville to Los Angeles (twice-weekly A220-300); Myrtle Beach to Islip (two to four weekly A220-300); and Raleigh/Durham to Bangor (twice-weekly A220-300), Stewart (twice-weekly A220-300), and Vero Beach (two to four weekly A220-300). Raleigh/Durham has replaced Orlando as Breeze’s top airport.