Flight Alerts: 7 Exciting New Long-Haul Nonstop Routes Launching This Week

Welcome to my 208th weekly routes article! Over 75 routes started in the examined period. But as always, only a small selection is included in this article. Due to multiple new and returning long-haul markets this week, they are the exclusive focus. Five mini-stories were chosen; all the services launched between May 6 and May 12.

Delta Air Lines Starts 3 Long-Haul Routes In 2 Days

What is better than the start of a new route? The launch of three, of course! That is what Delta did in the examined week. Two of the routes began on the same day. On May 6, the SkyTeam member took off from Seattle to Rome (four weekly A330-900) and Boston to Madrid (daily A330-900).

Delta joins Alaska Airlines to the Italian capital, which launched at the end of April. Until then, that market had not been served. Now it has two carriers. Meanwhile, Delta becomes the record third airline operating between Boston and the capital of Spain.

The following day, the carrier started the first flight from Seattle to Barcelona. Until now, it was always unserved. In 2025, the market had 40,000 round-trip indirect local passengers, which made it Seattle’s second-largest unserved European city – after Rome. Now both places have nonstop flights.

Simple Flying Quiz

Easy (15s)Medium (10s)Hard (5s)

Royal Jordanian Arrives In Texas

Royal Jordanian’s May 10 launch of flights from Amman to Dallas/Fort Worth is the most ‘exotic’ entry this week. It is, of course, the first time that this long link has ever been served.

Jordan’s flag carrier will have a daily service during the summer, more than was originally planned, which will reduce to four weekly flights in the winter. The daily offering is extremely bullish in so little time.

New 14-Hour US Route: Royal Jordanian Launches First-Ever Flight To Dallas

Its jets are now seen in seven North American cities. Find out all about the new Dallas service here!

Amman is Dallas’s third most popular Middle Eastern market, while the carrier will target passengers who fly from other US cities to Amman via Dallas in partnership with fellow oneworld member American. It’ll also target those who fly from Dallas to cities across the Middle East via Amman and those who connect to another flight in both Texas and Jordan.

Aside from the first round-trip service, which used the airline’s brand-new 787-9, only the 270-seat 787-8 is scheduled. When all carriers are considered, it is the new longest service for the smallest Dreamliner variant from both Amman and Dallas. It is also Royal Jordanian’s new longest route.

United Airlines Begins 1st 737 MAX Route To The UK

Seven years after pulling out, United is back in Glasgow. Flights are, of course, from Newark, which is the Star Alliance member’s busiest transatlantic gateway. A daily service is available, with the final departure of the season leaving New Jersey on October 23.

United inherited the route from Continental, and the 757-200 was used (Continental last flew the 767 to Glasgow in 2005). In various years, Jet2 had flights to New York, for which it flew to Newark, for Christmas shopping trips. United’s offering is very different this time, as the 166-seat 737 MAX 8 is deployed. It is the airline’s first and for now only MAX route to the UK.

Frequency	Newark To Glasgow; Local Times	Glasgow To Newark; Local Times
Daily	10:15 PM-10:10 AM+1	2:00 PM-4:35 PM

United Airlines Launches Its First-Ever Nonstop Boeing 737 MAX Route To The UK

United Airlines has begun its groundbreaking transatlantic Boeing 737 MAX route to the UK.

Historically, Prestwick was the long-haul airport for Scotland, followed by Glasgow and latterly Edinburgh. 20 years ago, Cirium Diio data shows that Glasgow had 1,615 long-haul departures, but they’ve now fallen to 903 (-44%). In contrast, Edinburgh’s offering has jumped from 683 to 3,987 (+484%).

Glasgow’s US flights have fallen even further – from 914 departures in 2006 to just 212 in 2026 (-76%). Most airlines moved to Edinburgh, but United bucks the trend. It is now the only US carrier in Glasgow. But for this to happen, it has halved its Newark-Edinburgh flights.

JetBlue Begins 1st Flight To Italy

History was made on May 11, when JetBlue took off from Boston to Milan, which marked its debut in Italy. At 3,311 nautical miles (6,132 km) each way, it is the carrier’s new longest route ever in this sense. Served daily using the A321LR, JetBlue’s final flight of the season will leave the US on October 5.

Between 2009 and 2024, no airline served this city pair. That changed in 2025, when Delta began flying. Now it is JetBlue’s turn. It is the first time that two airlines have operated simultaneously.

As Delta’s seasonal service runs four times weekly on the A330-300, JetBlue wins the frequency race. When the pair’s offering is combined, 93,000 two-way seats for sale are available this year. That’s down from 159,000 in 2007, when the now-defunct Alitalia operated daily on a year-round basis.

LOT Polish Debuts In San Francisco

On May 6, ahead of the peak summer with the most demand, LOT Polish began flying from Warsaw to San Francisco. Operating four times weekly, this never-before-served market runs seasonally using both the 787-8 and the 787-9.

San Francisco was the Polish capital’s largest unserved city in North America last year and had a decently high fare, with both factors being critical in choosing the route. Interestingly, the carrier does not codeshare with fellow Star Alliance member United.

LOT Polish will grow the local market while also targeting passengers transiting to reach 46+ destinations via Warsaw, including Delhi. A split schedule exits for more two-way greater connectivity.

In the peak summer, LOT Polish will now have 69 weekly departures to North America. Ten routes will exist: nine to the US and one to Canada. Warsaw to Toronto is the most-served market, influenced – like so many of the airline’s transatlantic markets – by the Polish diaspora.