We’re halfway through and it’s been a busy year for airlines. Companies have added flights to far flung places like North Korea as well as many a little closer to home. Check out our roundup of new flights added and announced so far this year.
Europe
Croatia
There have been three new flights added to Croatia. Easyjet is offering flights through the end of September between Zadar Airport and London Luton Airport. Flights run Wednesdays and Saturdays.
Although Easyjet has flown to Dubrovnik before, they now offer flights from Manchester and Belfast Airports. Flights will depart from Manchester Wednesdays and Saturdays starting July 22 and are already departing from Belfast Tuesdays and Sundays.
British Airways has also introduced service between London Heathrow Airport and Pula, Croatia, Tuesdays and Saturdays until September 30.
Cyprus
Jet2, a low-cost airline based in Leeds Bradford Airport, England, launched fights between London Stansted and Larnaka, Cyprus, as well as twice-weekly flights to Paphos, Cyprus.
Cyprus is the second fastest growing travel destination in Europe (according to the European Travel Commission) and will also see additional service next May from London to Larnaka. There will also be additional flights starting in February 2018 from London to Paphos.
German low-cost airline Eurowings is also getting in on the action. It announced that it will be offering increased service to Cyprus for the summer 2017 season. Flights between Vienna and Paphos will run once a week.
Germany
As part of Condor Airlines' expansion, non-stop service from San Diego, Pittsburgh, and New Orleans to Frankfurt, Germany, has been added. The airline will also add non-stop service to Munich from existing gateways in Seattle and Las Vegas.
Also leaving from California is United Airlines, flying between San Francisco International and Munich Airport for seasonal flights.
Not sure where you want to go? German airline Lufthansa has begun selling roundtrip flights starting at €69 – but guests don’t know where they’re going until the flight is booked.
The company is, however, allowing guests to choose a theme for their location. For example, guests opting for a romance theme will be sent to one of 10 locations like Florence, Paris, and Rome, while those who want a nature themed destination will be sent to one of eight places like Copenhagen, Faro, or Oslo. There are also sightseeing and culture, partying, and bromance themes.
Flights leave from Frankfurt and Munich airports.
Finland
Finnair is having quite the busy year. The company announced four additional weekly flights to Rovaniemi, Finland, from the nation’s capital during the 2017/2018 winter season. Additionally, Kuusamo, Finland will see a 21 percent increase in seat capacity with three additional weekly flights.
Finnair has also added nonstop flights to Lapland, Finland, from London, Paris, Frankfurt and Zürich starting mid-December 2017 until the end of March 2018.
Spain
A new route to Alicante, Spain, from Helsinki, Finland was added by Finnair, giving guests the choice of up to four weekly flights until October 27. Additionally, the airline will add two more flights between Helsinki and Malaga in June and July. In May, Finnair added new routes to Ibiza and Menorca for the 2017 summer season.
Iceland
Finnair added a fifth weekly flight to Reykjavik, Iceland, until August 11. During the winter season, the Reykjavik route will offer three flights a week through Icelandair, with whom Finnair has a code-share agreement.
Norwegian recently launched additional nonstop flights from Los Angeles, Newark, and Oakland to Barcelona, Spain. Later this summer the company will also add flights from Fort Lauderdale. And in the fall, it will add service from Los Angeles, Newark, and Oakland to Rome.
British Isles
Norwegian is flying from Denver and Seattle-Tacoma International Airports to London’s Gatwick Airport starting this September. There are now nine non-stop flights between the U.S. and London on Norwegian.
The airline has also added 12 new transatlantic routes, the first of which flew out of Hudson Valley’s Stewart Airport in Newburgh, New York, to Edinburgh, Scotland. Other flights have begun taking off from Providence, Rhode Island and Hartford, Connecticut to Dublin, Ireland; Belfast, Northern Ireland; Shannon, Ireland; Bergen, Norway; and Cork, with Ireland only out of Providence.
Thanks to these new transcontinental routes, Norwegian is opening up two new bases in the United States at Stewart and Providence’s T.F. Green Airport.
Also heading to Ireland is Delta, with expanded flights from Boston to Dublin. The company also expanded its service to Lisbon from New York and its return service from Berlin to New York.
Amsterdam
Boosting its European Dreamliner network, Etihad Airways will deploy its new Boeing 787-9 aircraft to fly to Amsterdam, starting September 1, and Madrid from October 1 from Abu Dhabi, UAE. The 787-9 will also operate seasonally to Athens during the summer months.
France
Etihad Airways will add twice-daily service from the UAE capital to Paris on the world’s largest passenger jet. It includes a three-bedroom suite and houses 496 seats.
Asia
Japan
All Nippon Airways is now connecting Mexico City to Tokyo with daily service. A member of the Star Alliance, ANA’s passengers can now travel directly between the two countries. According to the company, the new route makes ANA the first international airline connecting Mexico and Japan through a direct, daily flight.
South Korea
A new Delta and Korean Air joint venture has made more flights to Korea available. Earlier this summer, Delta Airlines launched a new daily flight from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Airport to Seoul-Incheon.
North Korea
Looking for something a bit more adventurous? North Korea’s national airline, Air Koryo, has begun service to Dandong, China. This brings its total of international flight destinations to five. The first flight landed in Pyongyang's Sunan Airport carrying around 50 Chinese tourists. Trips take less than an hour and are scheduled to run twice a week.
The flight time between Dandong, right on China's border with North Korea, and Pyongyang is less than an hour. The flights are currently scheduled to operate twice a week, on Tuesdays and Fridays.
China
The first non-stop service between Western China and New York has been introduced by Hainan Airlines. Starting October 20, 2017, the flight will be available from Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport on Wednesdays and Fridays and from John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) Thursdays and Saturdays.
Singapore
United is setting a record with its new nonstop flight from Los Angeles to Changi Airport in Singapore. The flight, which begins October 27, 2017, will travel 8,700 miles and take almost 18 hours westbound and just over 15 hours eastbound.
India
The first direct flight from Brussels to Mumbai, India, began in April. The service connects five times a week. It is not only designed to connect the two cities, but gives travelers the opportunity to connect with other Brussels Airline flights to and from places in Europe, Africa, and North America. In India, the airline works with Star Alliance, a partner of Air India, to connect via Mumbai to several other destinations in India.
Russia
Finnair is doubling their flights between Helsinki and Moscow by adding one flight a day. The flight to Russia connects to Finnair’s Hong Kong and Singapore flights.
Continental United States
United has added service to 13 cities this summer, including San Luis Obispo, California; Sacramento, California; Charlottesville, Virginia; Reno, Nevada; Spokane, Washington; Springfield, Missouri; Cincinnati, Ohio; Detroit; Hartford, Connecticut; as well as four all-new destinations: Champaign/Urbana, Illinois; Columbia, Missouri; Rochester, Minnesota and United’s shortest flight to Santa Rosa, California.
United is also introducing daily summer flights to: Kona, Hawaii; Salt Lake City, Utah; Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Tucson, Arizona; New Orleans; and Kalispell, Montana.
The airline will also add additional flights from San Francisco to eight cities: Seattle, Albuquerque, Baltimore, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Nashville, Philadelphia, and Portland. All added flights begin this August.
Branson Airport is providing service to Austin, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, and Houston through Via Airlines. Discount flights are available through September 5 with promotional one-way fares.
German air carrier Eurowings has added a direct flight from Cologne, Germany, to Las Vegas. The two flights a week (Monday and Friday) are scheduled to run until October 27, 2017.
Three roundtrip flights from Amsterdam Airport Schiphol to Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport have begun via KLM Royal Dutch Airlines. The new KLM service supplements three daily flights between Amsterdam and Minneapolis operated by Delta Air Lines, Air France KLM’s transatlantic joint-venture partner.
Finnair has added a seasonal flight from Helsinki to San Francisco through September 30 Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays.
EL AL Israel Airlines will launch nonstop service from Israel to Miami, Florida starting this fall with three roundtrip flights weekly.
Condor airlines took its inaugural flight from Frankfurt, Germany to San Diego, which marked the start of the airline’s U.S. summer 2017 flight expansion. Additional flights added are to New Orleans and Pittsburgh.
Along with merger partner Virgin America, Alaska Airlines is expanding service to Dallas Love Field from Seattle, San Diego, Portland, Oregon, and San Jose. These additional are a continuation of Alaska Airlines' West Coast expansion.
Switzerland-based airline Edelweiss, a sister company of Swiss International Air Lines, expanded its route to North America earlier this summer. The airline offers seasonal flights between Zurich and San Diego and will travel through September.
Delta has added three daily flights to Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport from Seattle, which, according to the company, will allow the airline to serve all of the top 10 Seattle destinations. Earlier this year, Delta added flights to Austin, Texas; Eugene, Oregon; Lihue, Hawaii; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Nashville, Tennessee; Raleigh, North Carolina; and Redmond, Oregon, from its Seattle hub. These additions bring Delta’s total to more than 160 peak-day flights to 50 destinations from Seattle.
Hawaii
Later this year, United Airlines will increase service on 11 routes from the Continental United States to Hawaii. Starting December 20, 2017, service will increase from Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.
Ohana by Hawaiian took its first flight to Kapalua Airport in West Maui from Honolulu International Airport on the 30th anniversary of Kapalua’s opening. The flight runs roundtrip twice a day.
Hawaiian Airlines launched its first non-stop flight this year between Kauai's Lihue Airport and Kona International Airport on Hawaii Island, marking the first time in the airline's history that it will connect Lihue and Kona with a direct flight.
Mexico
For those traveling from Columbus, Ohio, to Mexico, Vacation Express added new seasonal flights. Guests can travel from Columbus International Airport in Ohio to Cancun and Punta Cana. Flights are available every Sunday through August.
A third non-stop flight from JFK to Mexico City’s Auropuerto Internacional Benito Juárez has been added, with flights starting at $388.42 round trip.
South America
United Airlines will add a year-round daily flight from Newark to Buenos Aires, Argentina, beginning in October as well as adding an additional flight to Bogota, Colombia.
This spring, Avianca increased flights on the Bogota, Colombia – Los Angeles route from four weekly to one daily flight due to the high demand from business and leisure travelers. Those traveling to Colombia will have access to multiple connections in Latin America, including Santiago, Chile; Sao Paulo, Brazil; Lima, Peru; and Quito, Ecuador.
Delta is expanding its connections to Brazil by adding a new nonstop flight between Rio de Janeiro and JFK, starting December 21, 2017.
Caribbean
Delta will be adding additional non-stop service from JFK to St. Kitts as well as a second weekly nonstop flight from Atlanta trough the peak 2017/2018 winter season.
The U.S. Virgin Islands will also see an increase in flights over the summer via United. The airline will add four more weekly summer flights from last year out of Houston St. Thomas.
Service between Port-au-Prince, Haiti Toussaint Louverture International and Orlando International Airport will fly via JetBlue later this year.
In February, Sunrise Airways expanded its service to Cuba with its’ first-ever flight to Havana. The twice weekly service connects Havana and Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Connecting service will also be available through Port-au-Prince aboard Sunrise Airways flights originating in Cap Haitien and Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
Vacation Express has added flights from Nashville International to Montego Bay, Jamaica. Flights are scheduled to run until August 7.
At this year’s CHTA’s Caribbean Travel Marketplace 2017, the Grenada Tourism Authority announced JetBlue’s launch of daily service between JFK and Grenada’s Maurice Bishop International Airport (GND).
Australia
The first non-stop flight from the UK to Australia is set to take off in March, 2018. Linking London and Western Australia, the flight is also quite a bit more expensive than most one-stop flights. The first one-way starts at £755.
Africa
Thrice a week, South African Airways will fly between Washington Dulles and Johannesburg O.R. and Tambo International Airport via Dakar, Senegal. The new flight is environmentally friendly and SAA customers have access to Premium Business Class seats.