June routes roundup: Alaska Airlines expands its international footprint by launching flights to Europe
Alaska Airlines has announced its arrival in Europe starting in May 2026, with a new scheduled route from Seattle. The operations, which will be carried out by Hawaiian Airlines’ Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft, will have four weekly frequencies, being the Italian capital the first destination chosen on the European continent.
In accordance with its press release, the first flight between Seattle and Rome will be on May 4th, 2026. With this schedule, the airline will offer 1200 seats per week on each leg, as Hawaiian’s Boeing 787-9s are configured with 34 seats in Business and 266 seats in Economy, giving a total of 300 seats.
Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday
Hawaiian has four Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners in its fleet, and plans to add more in the near future.
Porter to have a major international expansion
The Canadian airline has confirmed a new international expansion, which will begin in November for the Northern Winter 2025/26.
Hamilton (YHM/CYHM), Ottawa (YOW/CYOW) and Toronto (YYZ/CYYZ) will have new Porter routes, to be conducted with Embraer E195-E2 aircraft configured for 132 passengers in single class.
Arajet expands its operations in the United States
Arajet will fly between Punta Cana and Orlando as of October 26th by Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft, configured for 186 passengers, three times weekly. The airline will operate to Sanford Airport, which will regain international flights with Arajet.
Orlando will become Arajet’s fourth U.S. destination after Boston, Miami and Newark.
PUJ – SFB
SFB – PUJ
In addition, almost a month later, the Dominican company will launch flights to Chicago’s O’Hare airport. According to its website, Arajet will operate three times a week to/from Punta Cana with the same aircraft starting November 15th.
PUJ – ORD
ORD – PUJ
This commencement will bring the airline’s total number of destinations in the United States to five. It also operates to San Juan (Puerto Rico) from Santo Domingo and Punta Cana.
BoA to initiate two new international routes
Boliviana de Aviación will expand its domestic operations in Bolivia, with two new routes to be confirmed from Santa Cruz de la Sierra’s second airport, El Trompillo (SRZ/SLET), and will also launch a second destination to Spain and the United States.
The Bolivian state-owned airline will start flying to Washington DC and Barcelona from Santa Cruz de la Sierra, BoA’s main hub. Both routes will be operated on Airbus A330-200s configured for 275 passengers, which were incorporated by the airline as of 2023 to replace the Boeing 767-300(ER).
Santa Cruz de la Sierra – Barcelona will be non-stop, while Santa Cruz de la Sierra – Washington DC will have a stopover in Miami on both legs. According to BoA, the two routes will have two weekly frequencies with schedules to be confirmed. VVI-BCN will commence on August 16th, and further details of VVI-MIA-IAD are currently unknown.
easyJet will launch new routes
easyJet has announced that it will begin many new routes within Europe and two to Africa starting in late October, for the Northern Winter 2025/26.
Operations, as per its website, will be performed with Airbus A319 and Airbus A320 aircraft, most of them for two to three months, as they will be seasonal services.
October
November
December
Copenhagen, new Vietnam Airlines destination
Vietnam Airlines has confirmed that it will expand its European footprint beginning in December, with a new route between Vietnam and Denmark.
The airline will commence services to Copenhagen from Ho Chi Minh City as of December 15th, which will operate with Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft.
Monday, Wednesday and Friday
Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday
Frankfurt, London Heathrow, Munich and Paris Charles de Gaulle are its current destinations in Europe, all offered from/to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.
Air Canada resumes services in the United Kingdom-India market
Effective October 26th, Air Canada will once again operate between London and Mumbai, which it will offer with 255-seat Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft on a daily frequency. The complete route will be Toronto – London Heathrow – Mumbai and vice versa, scheduled for Northern Winter 2025/26.
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In accordance with our database, the airline currently has 10 weekly flights in the Canada-India (Delhi) market, being seven to Toronto and the remaining three to Montreal.
China Eastern Airlines to launch its first route to South America
The airline has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Auckland Airport to launch its first scheduled route between China and Latin America, choosing Buenos Aires as its first destination.
According to Auckland Airport, China Eastern will fly two times per week the Shanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG/ZSPD) – Auckland International Airport (AKL/NZAA) – Buenos Aires Ezeiza (EZE/SAEZ) route starting in December, on Boeing 777-300(ER) aircraft configured with 316 seats (6 seats in First, 52 seats in Premium Economy and 258 seats in Economy).
At the time of publication, schedules and days of operation are unknown, but flights should be for sale on China Eastern’s website shortly.
Virgin begins flights with Qatar Airways’ Boeing 777-300(ER)s
Virgin Australia’s inaugural flight to Doha departed Sydney Kingsford International Airport (SYD/YSSY) at 15:08 local time on June 12th. The airline will operate one daily frequency with Qatar Airways Boeing 777-300(ER) aircraft, seating 354 passengers in two classes (42 seats in Business and 312 seats in Economy).
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In addition, a week later, Virgin inaugurated its services between Brisbane and Doha, which will also be flown on Qatar Airways Boeing 777-300(ER)s. Virgin Australia will offer the following schedule:
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Effective December 1st, Virgin Australia will launch flights to Doha from Melbourne International Airport (MEL/YMML), to be operated with Qatar Airways Boeing 777-300(ER) aircraft.
Jetstar starts new routes to New Zealand
The Australian airline inaugurates two new routes between Australia and New Zealand, to be served by 186-seat Airbus A320-200 aircraft.
Hamilton International Airport (HLZ/NZNH) becomes, for the first time in 13 years, a regular connection on Jetstar Airways’ schedule, with flights to Sydney and Gold Coast, which commenced on June 16th and June 18th, respectively.
Sydney – Hamilton
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday
Jetstar connected Sydney and Hamilton until 2012.
Gold Coast – Hamilton
Wednesday, Friday and Sunday
Further news on the New Zealand-Australia market
Air New Zealand will fly between Christchurch and Adelaide from October 27th, during the Southern Summer 2025/26. Services will be operated twice-weekly with Airbus A320neo aircraft, offering 370 seats a week on each leg.
Monday and Friday
TAAG’s operations in the Angolan capital
TAAG Linhas Aéreas de Angola has announced that it will move all its operations from Luanda Quatro de Fevereiro Airport (LAD/FNLU) to Luanda Dr. Antonio Agostinho Neto Airport (NBJ/FNBJ) in September. At publication time, as can be seen in our database, TAAG operates domestic flights at Luanda NBJ airport, using Boeing 737-700 and Dash 8 aircraft, and services to the Republic of Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Flights to Cape Town (South Africa), Johannesburg (South Africa), Lagos (Nigeria), Lisbon (Portugal), Maputo (Mozambique), São Paulo (Brazil), São Tome (São Tome and Principe) and Windhoek (Namibia) will be added to those served from NBJ/FNBJ as of September 15th. Thus, Angola’s state-owned airline will no longer operate at LAD/FNLU.
Brazzaville, Cabinda, Catumbela, Dundo, Huambo, Kinshasa, Kuito, Lubango, Luena, Menongue, Namibe, Ondjiva, Saurimo and Soyo are part of TAAG’s schedule at Luanda NBJ/FNBJ.
Air Sial commences new services to the UAE
In June, Air Sial launched two new routes between Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates, to be offered using Airbus A320-200 aircraft configured for 180 passengers in single class.
Islamabad – Dubai · June 9th
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Mondays: ISB 11:30 · 14:00 DXB – DXB 15:00 · 19:10 ISB
Lahore – Dubai · June 9th
On the other hand, flydubai resumed flights between Dubai and Damascus on June 1st, and Emirates will restart services to the Syrian capital from DXB a month and a half later. Flydubai operates on 174-seat Boeing 737 MAX 8s, while Emirates will serve Boeing 777-200(LR)s, configured with 128 more seats.
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The airline resumed this route following a 12-year hiatus.
Monday, Thursday and Saturday
First flight scheduled as of July 16th.
New aircraft incorporated by airlines during June
| Aircraft | Registration | Airline |
|---|---|---|
| Boeing 777-F | D-AALZ | AeroLogic |
| Airbus A220-300 | G-GYLY | Air Canada |
| Airbus A319-153N | B-32LD | Air China |
| Boeing 737 MAX 8 | B-225Q | Air China |
| Boeing 777-F | B-225C | Air China Cargo |
| Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner | EC-OMB | Air Europa |
| Airbus A220-300 | F-HPNS | Air France |
| Airbus A350-941 | F-HUVR | Air France |
| Boeing 737 MAX 8 | VT-BWS | Air India Express |
| Airbus A321-271NX | ZK-NNH | Air New Zealand |
| Boeing 737 MAX 8-200 | VT-YBG | Akasa Air |
| Boeing 737 MAX 8 | N812AK | Alaska Airlines |
| Boeing 737 MAX 8 | N813AK | Alaska Airlines |
| Boeing 737 MAX 8 | N709AK | Alaska Airlines |
| Boeing 737 MAX 9 | N731AL | Alaska Airlines |
| Boeing 737 MAX 9 | N733AL | Alaska Airlines |
| Boeing 737 MAX 8-200 | N822NV | Allegiant Air |
| Boeing 737 MAX 8 | N308UK | American Airlines |
| Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner | N848AN | American Airlines |
| Boeing 737-7K2 | LV-ARR | Andes Líneas Aéreas |
| Boeing 737-7K2 | LV-PPM | Andes Líneas Aéreas |
| Boeing 777-F | N722GT | Atlas Air |
| Airbus A220-300 | N253BZ | Breeze Airways |
| Airbus A321-251NX | G-TNEH | British Airways |
| Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner | G-ZBLL | British Airways |
| Boeing 777-F | B-227K | China Cargo Airlines |
| Boeing 737 MAX 8 | B-209T | China Southern |
| Boeing 737 MAX 8 | HP-9805CMP | Copa Airlines |
| Boeing 737 MAX 8 | HP-9806CMP | Copa Airlines |
| Airbus A321-271NX | N555DE | Delta Air Lines |
| Airbus A350-941 | N529DN | Delta Air Lines |
| Airbus A350-941 | A6-EXH | Emirates |
| Boeing 737 MAX 8 | ET-BAJ | Ethiopian Airlines |
| Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner | A6-BNH | Etihad |
| Boeing 767-300F | N250FE | FedEx |
| Airbus A320-251N | HZ-FBM | flyadeal |
| Boeing 737 MAX 8 | A6-FQG | flydubai |
| Airbus A321-271NX | N667FR | Frontier |
| Boeing 737 MAX 8 | PS-GRL | GOL Linhas Aéreas |
| Airbus A321-251NX | B-32LY | Hainan Airlines |
| Boeing 737 MAX 8 | B-225S | Hainan Airlines |
| Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner | N783HA | Hawaiian Airlines |
| Airbus A321-271NX | TF-IAC | Icelandair |
| Airbus A321-251NX | VT-NCN | IndiGo |
| Airbus A220-300 | EI-HHW | ITA Airways |
| Boeing 737 MAX 8 | HL8554 | Jeju Air |
| Airbus A321-251NX | G-HLYK | Jet2 |
| Airbus A320-271N | CC-DIU | JetSMART |
| Airbus A320-271N | CC-DIV | JetSMART |
| Airbus A320-271N | CC-DIW | JetSMART |
| Airbus A320-251N | VH-A5D | Jetstar |
| Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner | B-226N | Juneyao Air |
| Airbus A321-252NX | PH-AXH | KLM |
| Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner | HL8574 | Korean Air |
| Airbus A330-941 | 9K-APL | Kuwait Airways |
| Airbus A320-271N | CC-BHJ | LATAM Airlines |
| Airbus A320-271N | CC-BHL | LATAM Airlines |
| Airbus A320-271N | CC-BHO | LATAM Airlines |
| Airbus A320-271N | PR-XBV | LATAM Airlines |
| Airbus A321-271NX | PS-LBO | LATAM Airlines |
| Airbus A350-941 | D-AIVE | Lufthansa |
| Airbus A330-941 | 9M-MNK | Malaysia Airlines |
| Boeing 737 MAX 8 | EI-RZH | Neos |
| Boeing 737 MAX 8 | SE-RTT | Norwegian |
| Boeing 737 MAX 8 | SE-NAA | Norwegian |
| Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner | A4O-SJ | Oman Air |
| Airbus A321-251NX | TC-RFN | Pegasus |
| Airbus A321-271NY(XLR) | VH-OGA | Qantas |
| Boeing 737 MAX 8 | CN-RHC | Royal Air Maroc |
| Airbus A320-271N | 9Y-RAE | Royal Jordanian |
| Embraer E195-E2 | JY-REF | Royal Jordanian |
| Airbus A320-251N | SE-RZA | SAS |
| Boeing 737 MAX 8 | 9V-MBQ | Singapore Airlines |
| Airbus A320-251N | SX-IOC | SkyExpress |
| Airbus A220-300 | OK-FYD | Smartwings |
| Boeing 737 MAX 8 | N8952Q | Southwest Airlines |
| Boeing 737 MAX 8 | N8953Q | Southwest Airlines |
| Boeing 737 MAX 8 | N8954Q | Southwest Airlines |
| Boeing 737 MAX 8 | N8955Q | Southwest Airlines |
| Boeing 737 MAX 8 | N8956Q | Southwest Airlines |
| Boeing 737 MAX 8 | N8958Q | Southwest Airlines |
| Boeing 737 MAX 8 | N8959Q | Southwest Airlines |
| Boeing 737 MAX 8 | N8960L | Southwest Airlines |
| Boeing 737 MAX 8 | N8961K | Southwest Airlines |
| Airbus A320-251N | B-32KS | Spring Airlines |
| Boeing 737 MAX 8 | TC-SMR | SunExpress |
| Boeing 737 MAX 8 | HL8581 | T’Way Air |
| Airbus A220-300 | D2-TAI | TAAG |
| Airbus A320-271N | B-22102 | Tigerair Taiwan |
| Airbus A321-251NX | PH-YHT | Transavia |
| Airbus A320-252N | F-HXSQ | Transavia France |
| Airbus A320-252N | F-HXSR | Transavia France |
| Airbus A321-271NX | N24542 | United Airlines |
| Boeing 737 MAX 8 | N37371 | United Airlines |
| Boeing 737 MAX 8 | N17373 | United Airlines |
| Boeing 737 MAX 9 | N17599 | United Airlines |
| Boeing 737 MAX 9 | N17405 | United Airlines |
| Boeing 767-300F | N390UP | UPS |
| Airbus A320-271N | XA-VUS | Volaris |
| Airbus A321-271NX | XA-VUT | Volaris |
| Airbus A321-271NX | HA-LGW | Wizz Air |
| Airbus A321-271NX | 9H-WII | Wizz Air Malta |
| Airbus A321-271NX | 9H-WMD | Wizz Air Malta |
| Boeing 737 MAX 8 | B-20DX | Xiamen Air |
Icelandair’s Boeing 757, registration TF-FIC, with Pan Am livery.
The aircraft was part of the luxury world tour called “Tracing the Transatlantic”, which passed through some of the destinations once operated by the iconic Pan Am. New York (JFK/KJFK) – Bermuda (BDA/TXKF) – Lisbon (LIS/LPPT) – Beja (BYJ/LPBJ) – Marseille (MRS/LFML) – London (STN/EGSS) – Shannon (SNN/EINN) – New York (JFK/KJFK) was the complete journey, which began on June 17th and finished on June 27th.
Cover photo: epilot787 – JetPhotos
