dailynewsnblog
Welcome to my 194th weekly routes article! It includes six mini-stories about subjectively exciting services that took off between December 2 and 8. As always, only a selection of additions has been chosen. This week, there’s a big emphasis on long-haul services from the US and Australia.
Salt Lake City Gets 1st South American Service
The start of Salt Lake City-Lima flights means 
Delta has more than one Peru route for the first time. It also means Utah has gained its first-ever nonstop passenger service to South America.
With 23,000 round-trip passengers, Lima is the Utah capital’s most-trafficked South American market. But more importantly, it will, of course, enable Delta to better capture traffic bound to/from the West Coast and Western Canada.
The new link runs daily on the 767-300ER. But like some routes elsewhere, such as Atlanta to Accra and New York JFK to Lagos, it will only operate for the holidays, ending in early 2026. The final Lima-bound departure will leave Salt Lake City on January 25.
It has become Delta’s longest 767-operated service from Salt Lake City since 2020, when the type ceased being deployed on the SkyTeam routes to Amsterdam and Paris CDG.
2 US Airlines, 2 New US-Australia Routes
On December 3, during the summer Down Under and in time for Christmas, Delta inaugurated service from Los Angeles to Melbourne. Timed at up to 16 hours, it is the carrier’s new fifth-longest service. It runs three times weekly on the 275-seat A350-900.
It joins Qantas (daily A380/787-9) and United (daily 787-9), becoming the first time a trio has operated since 2020, when Virgin Australia pulled out.
Two days later, 
American took off from Los Angeles to Brisbane, with a three-weekly 787-9 service. Oddly, celebratory photos could not be found. The oneworld member has doubled its routes to the Queensland capital, joining flights from Dallas/Fort Worth, which only started 12 months ago.
Los Angeles-Brisbane has three airlines for the first time. American joins partner Qantas (four weekly 787-9 flights, down from daily due to American’s entry) and Delta (three weekly A350-900).
The World’s New Longest 1-Stop Passenger Route
History was made on December 4, when China Eastern took off from Shanghai Pudong to Buenos Aires via Auckland. Fifth freedom rights exist between Auckland and Buenos Aires.
The 777-300ER operation runs three times a week. It is the first time that New Zealand and Argentina have had nonstop service since Air New Zealand pulled out in 2020.
Timed at up to 29 hours, it is the world’s new longest scheduled one-stop passenger service. With a great circle distance of 10,627 nautical miles (19,681 km) each way, it is now also first by this measure. In both senses, it replaces Aircalin from Nouméa to Paris CDG via Bangkok Suvarnabhumi.
China Southern Starts Boeing 737 Flights To Australia
China Southern now operates between Guangzhou and Darwin, becoming the carrier’s sixth Australian city. It also flies to Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, and Sydney.
Running three times a week on the 737 MAX 8, it is the first time the Northern Territory has had mainland Chinese service since Donghai Airlines ended Shenzhen flights in early 2020 because of—well, you can guess.
The never-before-served route from Guangzhou covers 2,376 nautical miles (4,400 km) each way. Based on December data, it is China Southern’s new second-longest narrowbody-operated nonstop service by distance. Only Guangzhou-Port Moresby covers more ground.
In the past year, only a few thousand people traveled between China and Darwin. The market was nearly non-existent. However, before the pandemic in 2019, when Donghai operated, over 33,000 traveled. China Southern is aiming to grow the market like that.
Phoenix Welcomes 1st Scheduled Nonstop Flight To Asia
Until now, Phoenix has not had scheduled nonstop flights to Asia (some charter services previously operated). That changed on December 3, with the introduction of China Airlines’ service from Taipei. The A350-900-operated flights run three times a week.
The Taiwanese carrier’s 10:20 pm arrival time in Taipei is not conducive to onward connectivity, but that might not be overly important anyway.
More than 30,000 Taiwanese citizens and Taiwanese Americans live in Greater Phoenix, some of whom work at the burgeoning Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company. It all means Taipei is by far Phoenix’s largest Asian market. Moreover, China Airlines will also benefit from its new partnership with Southwest, with passengers able to connect to multiple US cities via Phoenix.
While China Airlines had originally planned to stop in Los Angeles en route back to Asia, which would have been highly unusual, it later elected for nonstop flights in both directions. This will increase its competitiveness against STARLUX, whose first Phoenix flight will land in January.
Australia Now Has Cebu Flights
A few days after returning to the Philippines with the start of Perth-Manila flights, Jetstar has now commenced a second route to the Southeast Asian nation.
On December 3, the low-cost carrier depared from Brisbane to Cebu, which marked the first-ever flights between the two cities. Served three times a week, it uses the A321LR. At 2,820 nautical miles (5,223 km) each way, it is the airline’s new second-longest narrowbody route by distance, but is only fourth by maximum time.
Curiously, Cebu was only the 30th-largest Asian market from Brisbane in the 12 months to September. However, Jetstar will target passengers traveling to other Australian cities, while Auckland flights also connect well.
