This Week’s Most Notable New Airline Routes: Sept 30 – Oct 6
Etihad’s A321LR Push: First-Ever UAE Links to Medan and Phnom Penh
Etihad’s narrowbody long-hauler is doing heavy lifting. On October 2, the airline opened Abu Dhabi–Medan (3x weekly, up to 7h15m block), adding a third Indonesian gateway alongside Jakarta and Denpasar. A day later came a first for the UAE: Abu Dhabi–Phnom Penh (5x weekly; inaugural reportedly carried 154 guests including media). Both routes use the A321LR with first class, giving Etihad widebody-like service depth on thinner, long sectors. The LR is also being redeployed within Europe: as of October 1 it replaced the 787-9 to Copenhagen and Düsseldorf, enabling a move to daily frequencies while freeing widebodies for longer missions. Kolkata saw the type debut in September.
Gulf Air Returns to the U.S. After 28 Years
Bahrain–New York JFK is back, last served in 1997. Launched mid-July and flown 3x weekly with a 787-9 (282 seats), the 5,747nm sector is blocked up to 13h55m. Connectivity will be crucial: near-bank connections under four hours are strongest to Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Riyadh, with Chennai, Delhi, Dubai, Jeddah, and Mumbai viable at up to five hours.
Breeze, Allegiant & Southwest: 13 Domestic Adds
Breeze touched down in Salisbury, Maryland, from Orlando—Maryland’s first Breeze city and Salisbury’s first time with two carriers in over a decade. The startup also added Long Island–Wilmington (NC); Orlando–Norfolk; Raleigh/Durham–Key West; Tampa–Charleston (WV), Rochester (NY), Wilmington (NC); and Rochester (NY)–Myrtle Beach. Notably, roughly half of Breeze’s launches face direct competition.
Allegiant inaugurated Appleton–Gulf Shores, Des Moines–Gulf Shores, and Knoxville–Key West—all 2x weekly. Gulf Shores only opened to commercial flights in May; Allegiant is alone on all three.
Southwest began Jacksonville–Austin (ramping six weekly to daily), taking on Delta’s new service, and Fresno–San Diego (13 weekly to double-daily), matching up with Alaska (now 20–28 weekly). It’s the first time both city pairs have two operators.
flynas Adds Damascus, Priština & Nairobi
Saudi LCC flynas grew to 67 A320/A330s and just added Dammam–Damascus, Jeddah–Priština, and Riyadh–Nairobi, each 3x weekly on A320neo. Only Dammam–Damascus sees direct competition (SyrianAir). The Riyadh–Nairobi link restores a city pair last served by Saudia in 2022; more than 42,000 passengers flew between the capitals over the past year. Jeddah–Priština appears to be a market first, feeding VFR and seasonal tourism flows via the flynas network.
Air Canada Lands in Guatemala City—With a Widebody
Montreal–Guatemala City took off October 2, initially 3x weekly and later dropping to 2x weekly, using the A330-300 (285/297 seats)—Canada’s first widebody service to Guatemala. Montreal’s local market (~41,000 annual round-trip passengers) is larger than Toronto’s (~34,000), and this is Air Canada’s first Guatemala service in at least two decades. Even the U.S. hasn’t had regular widebodies to GUA since 2010.
EVA Air Touches Down at DFW
Taiwan’s EVA Air opened Taipei–Dallas/Fort Worth on October 3, 3x weekly with a 787-9 (278 seats; 26J/28W/224Y). The local TPE–DFW market is small (<27,000 annual round-trip passengers), so the play is clear: tap connections across East and Southeast Asia. Of EVA’s nine North American gateways, DFW debuts as the least-served—a measured start in a fortress hub environment.
Wizz Air Bases in Yerevan, Expands to 16 Cities
After five years of serving Armenia with non-based aircraft, Wizz Air has made Yerevan a base, coinciding with a new outstation at Gyumri. In the past week Wizz started Hamburg, Paphos, Paris Beauvais, and Prague from Yerevan; Bari, Bucharest, Memmingen, and Vienna follow later this month. Two A321neos are now stationed at EVN, making Wizz the airport’s largest airline by seats in October.
flyadeal Opens Two Syrian City Pairs
Saudia’s low-cost arm flyadeal entered Jeddah–Damascus on October 1 (3x weekly, A320neo), joining flynas (daily) and SyrianAir (3x weekly). On October 2 the carrier added Riyadh–Damascus (4x weekly), competing with flynas’ daily service. Damascus becomes flyadeal’s fourth international city after Amman, Baghdad, and Dubai (DXB and DWC), bringing the group to roughly nine daily departures across those regional links.
