dailynewsnblog
Welcome to my 199th weekly routes article! As always, the purpose is to provide a small selection of subjectively exciting services colorfully. Seven routes have been chosen this week, all of which took off between March 3 and March 10, unless stated.
Southwest Begins 31 Routes
What is more exciting than the introduction of one or two routes? Dozens of them, of course! Between March 2 and 8, the increasingly evolving Southwest inaugurated 31 routes. Some were resumptions, even after an absence of a decade or more, while others have never been served by any carrier.
They included Southwest’s debut in Knoxville, which is its third city in Tennessee. Until now, it had only ever served Nashville—which is one of its most-served airports—and Memphis.
Let’s focus on Knoxville. The airline’s first flight there occurred on March 5, with seven routes planned this year: Austin, Baltimore, Dallas Love, Denver, Nashville, Orlando, and Tampa. The intrastate link to Nashville, which is obviously all about connections, is Southwest’s 15th-shortest route by distance.
In April, it’ll have a total of 156 departures from Knoxville, meaning it’ll be the fifth-largest operator there. It’ll be the airline’s 98th most-served airport out of the 121 facilities, domestic and international, in its network that month.
Southwest’s Massive Expansion: 31 New Routes Launch Next Week [Map]
Southwest’s second-shortest route takes off next week, one of several very short flights…
American Begins Its 1st Long-Haul Airbus A321XLR Route
On March 8, 
American began its first long-haul route on the Airbus A321XLR. It was from New York JFK to Edinburgh, which marked the first time that the oneworld member has served the route since 2018. The seasonal flights run daily.
The development is notable for various reasons. First, it is the inaugural transatlantic XLR route for any North American carrier. Second, it is American’s new longest narrowbody flight. Third, it is the airline’s first transatlantic single-aisle service for seven years.
Fourth, it is the XLR’s first transatlantic service from North America to the UK. Fifth, it is the first time that American has had two Edinburgh routes simultaneously, with JFK service supplementing its operation from Philadelphia (which will now see the XLR later this year). Sixth, its return to the route means JFK-Edinburgh has three airlines for the first time. Not bad for ‘just’ one route!
|
Frequency |
New York JFK To Edinburgh; Local Times |
Edinburgh To New York JFK; Local Times** |
|---|---|---|
|
Daily |
8:20 pm/8:30 pm-8:30 am+1 |
10:30 am-1:10 pm/1:11pm |
|
* First week of April |
** First week of April |
Tempting? American Airlines Launches 1st Airbus A321XLR Long-Haul Flight This Sunday
The launch is historic in multiple ways. Discover them here!
easyJet Inaugurates 2 Routes From The UK
On March 5, the pan-European low-cost carrier took off from Birmingham to Rome Fiumicino, with four times a week service, mainly on the A320ceo. It is easyJet’s second Italian destination from the West Midlands city this year.
easyJet is the fourth (!) airline on the airport pair, joining Jet2, Ryanair and Wizz Air. On March 29, the ultra-low-cost carrier Ryanair will introduce flights to Fiumicino. It’ll replace its service to Ciampino, which is much nearer to the center of the Italian capital.
Despite Eurostar, more than 1.6 million local passengers flew between London the French capital last year—4,300+ daily. They did not fly elsewhere. On March 5, easyJet recommenced service from London Stansted to Paris CDG. Flights run twice-weekly on the A319/A320ceo. The route was last served in 2020.
SAS Introduces Two Routes From Primary Hub
On March 8, 
SAS took off from Copenhagen to Riga, which is served 19 times a week on the CRJ900. The Latvian capital was last part of the airline’s network in 2020, when flights were operated from Stockholm. The route from Denmark was previously served in 2018.
SAS joins airBaltic and Norwegian on the city pair. The SkyTeam carrier now flies to four cities in the Baltics: Palanga, Riga, Tallinn, and Vilnius. All are flown from Copenhagen, while it also has flights from Stockholm to Tallinn and Vilnius.
On March 9, SAS introduced a 13-weekly operation from the Danish capital to Luxembourg, which is also on the CRJ900. The Grand Duchy was last served in 2015. It competes with Luxair, with two carriers operating for the first time in 11 years.
This US Airport Gets Commercial Passenger Flights In 80 Years
In a highly different move, a tiny US airport has regained commercial passenger flights for the first time since 1946. It is Felts Field, which is around five miles from Downtown Spokane. It is slightly closer to this area than Spokane International. Felts Field was the original airport for the city.
The honor goes to the little-discussed SeaPort Airlines, which begin flying to Seattle Boeing Field on March 9, which is slightly closer to Downtown Seattle than the primary airport is. The route, which covers 202 nautical miles (374 km) each way, is on its sole equipment: the nine-seat PC-12.
Flights operate 22 times weekly: four daily during the week, none on Saturday, and two on Sundays. But with a day trip priced at $435 in April, it’s certainly an expensive proposition—as you’d expect with such small aircraft.
Take Off: Flyadeal Starts New Domestic Route
Flyadeal is the low-cost unit of the Saudia Group. On March 5, the budget operator took off from Jizan, near the Yemen border, to Medinah, which is the country’s fifth most populous city and famous for pilgrimages.
With around 18,000 round-trip passengers, Medinah was Jizan’s second-largest unserved domestic market, while Jizan ranked number one from Medinah.
The new route is served twice-weekly on the A320neo. Nonstop flights were last available in 2014, when flynas’ A320s pulled out. Saudia operated until 2011 on its now-retired E170s.
What South American Routes Have Started?
Various new routes in South America commenced in the examined period. They include JetSmart between Bogotá and Montería, which covers 266 nautical miles (493 km) each way. It operates ten times a week and competes directly with Avianca and LATAM. JetSMART replaces the now-defunct Ultra Air and Viva.
Given the mountainous nature of the country, often slow overground transportation options, and cities located quite close together, the stage length of this market is only marginally longer than Colombia’s average domestic hop.
Elsewhere, other launches this week include Azul between Belo Horizonte and Montevideo. It appears to be the first time that this city pair has been served since 2012, when the now-defunct PLUNA operated. Flown twice-weekly on the E195-E2, it is Azul’s fourth international route from Belo.
