dailynewsnblog
2026 is looking like being a big year for Luxair, with the flag carrier of Luxembourg launching a grand total of 11 new routes between March and November. All of these originate at Luxembourg-Findel International Airport (LUX), and they serve a wide variety of destinations. Mediterranean getaways are a common thread, but these are by no means the only kinds of corridors that Luxair is opening in 2026.
Luxair is eyeing a pair of city routes to the north, with a longer corridor to the Middle East also set to launch. The small, diverse nature of the current Luxair fleet also means that an interesting mixture of aircraft is set to serve these new routes, with one making use of a wet-leased aircraft for additional capacity. Let’s take a closer look at its growth using data from Cirium, an aviation analytics company.
Four New Routes In July Alone
This month has been an especially fruitful one for the flag carrier of Luxembourg when it comes to network growth, with four new routes launching this month alone. Luxair started the month in style, adding flights to Helsinki on July 2, Edinburgh on July 3, and Tunis on July 7. All of these primarily use Luxair’s new Embraer E195-E2 regional jets, although some 737s also serve Tunis.
Edinburgh and Helsinki will each see a grand total of 52 Luxair rotations this year, compared to 33 for Tunis. More recently, yesterday saw Luxair commence operations on its new route to Bilbao (BIO). The carrier plans to serve this city 33 times in 2026, with all flights operated by its De Havilland DHC-8-Q400 turboprops. Luxair CCO Thomas Fischer commented on Edinburgh and Helsinki.
“Helsinki and Edinburgh have [both] been long-discussed and much-requested destinations. They have generated real demand, they are attractive in both directions, and they fit very well with the way we want to grow our network.”
Earlier Additions
Luxair’s concerted network growth efforts began on March 31 of this year, when it operated its inaugural flight from Luxembourg to Porto Santo in the Madeira archipelago. This launch was followed a day later by its first service to Alicante (ALC) on April 1. The latter of these routes will see 79 rotations in 2026, mainly with the E195-E2, while all 32 of Porto Santo’s rotations will use Boeing 737 jets.
Two more new destinations were added on May 20, with that date seeing Luxair commence operations from Luxembourg to Patras (GPA) and Zakynthos (ZTH) in Greece. Both of these have relatively limited schedules, with Zakynthos limited to 12 rotations with the Boeing 737. Meanwhile, Patras has just 10 aircraft: one 737-800, five 737 MAX 8s, and four Airbus A320-200s.
Luxair’s Fleet (ch-aviation) | |
|---|---|
Aircraft Type | Number |
Airbus A320-200 | 1 (leased) |
Boeing 737-700 | 3 |
Boeing 737-800 | 4 |
Boeing 737 MAX 8 | 2 (8 more on order plus 2 MAX 10s) |
De Havilland Canada DHC-8-Q400 | 10 |
Embraer E195-E2 | 4 (2 more on order) |
Those familiar with the Luxair fleet will know that the carrier does not fly any A320s in its own right. However, as seen in the table above, it is currently operating one from DAT (Lithuania) on a wet-lease basis. The two Greek additions were followed fairly swiftly by the addition of Girona (GRO) in Spain. These flights commenced on June 2 using the De Havilland Canada DHC-8-Q400, and 2026 will see 26 of them.
Abu Dhabi & Salerno Will Join The Party Later In 2026
There are also two newer Luxair routes launching this year that are yet to start. Abu Dhabi International Airport (AUH) is the first of these new destinations, with Luxair set to inaugurate this route on October 26. These flights will operate weekly using the 737 MAX 8.
Shortly afterward, Luxair is set to begin very limited operations on the route from Luxembourg to Salerno Costa d’Amalfi Airport (QSR) in southwestern Italy. Using the 141-seat 737-700, just three rotations are set to operate on this route on November 1, 5, and 8.
