The Spanish capital will join Sichuan Airlines’ regular schedule in Europe beginning April 27th, with a new route from Chengdu. According to its website, the Chinese airline will fly four times per week with Airbus A350-900 aircraft configured for 331 or 337 passengers, being the only operator on this service.
Madrid will be Sichuan’s fourth destination on the European continent, following Istanbul, Rome and St. Petersburg. Other cities, such as Frankfurt and Helsinki, are usually part of the schedule in Europe with freighter flights to/from China using Airbus A330-300(P2F) planes. Spain will be a new market for the Chinese carrier.
Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday
In accordance with our database, el aeropuerto de Madrid-Barajas (Madrid-Barajas airport) has an important connectivity with China, being linked to seven cities in the country.
Beijing
- Air China: 12 weekly flights · Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner
Chengdu · effective April 27th
Chongqing
Hangzhou
Shanghai
Shenzhen
Wenzhou
Edelweiss incorporates its first Airbus A350
At 15:13 local time on March 14th, Edelweiss Air’s first Airbus A350-900 landed at Zurich Kloten International Airport from Lourdes Tarbes on a ferry flight.
The aircraft, registered HB-IHF, becomes the first of six A350-900s that the carrier plans to incorporate by mid-2027, with the aim of replacing its current five Airbus A340-300s, which have an average age of 21 years.
Regarding the A350 HB-IHF, it is six years old, and returns to operate with an airline after four years. Between 2019 and 2021 it had flown for LATAM Brasil, but was withdrawn from the fleet due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Edelweiss Air fleet
- Airbus A320-200: 14
- Airbus A340-300: 5
- Airbus A350-900: 1
Ethiopian to commence flights to Porto
Ethiopia’s main airline has announced the launch of a new route to Europe starting July 2nd, which will operate from Addis Ababa International Airport with a stopover in the Spanish capital.
Ethiopian Airlines will fly the Addis Ababa – Madrid – Porto service with Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft, configured for 270 passengers (24 Business and 246 Economy), four times weekly.
Porto will become Ethiopian’s first destination in Portugal.
Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday
Currently, based on our database, Athens, Brussels, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Geneva, Istanbul, London Gatwick, London Heathrow, Madrid, Manchester, Marseille, Milan, Oslo, Paris Charles de Gaulle, Rome, Stockholm, Vienna, Warsaw and Zurich are its destinations in Europe.
Ato Mesfin Tasew, Group Chief Executive Officer of Ethiopian Airlines, commented on the new service: “We are thrilled to expand our network to Porto, Portugal, a vibrant city with rich cultural heritage and economic significance. This new route underscores our commitment to providing our passengers with more travel options and seamless connectivity.
We look forward to welcoming our passengers on board and offering them the exceptional service that Ethiopian Airlines is known for.”
Turkish adds flights to Cambodia
Effective December 10th, Turkish Airlines will begin flights between Istanbul and Phnom Penh, to be provided via the Thai capital on both legs. As per its press release, the company will serve three times a week using 299-seat Airbus A330-300s with two classes.
Wednesday, Friday and Sunday
Monday, Thursday and Saturday
Commenting on the new route, Turkish Airlines Chairman of the Board and Executive Committee, Prof. Ahmet Bolat, said: “As Turkish Airlines, we continuously expand our network in Asia and strengthen our connections with strategic destinations in the region. The launch of Phnom Penh flights marks a significant step forward in this goal. Our flights to Cambodia will create new opportunities for both tourism and business. Additionally, as the only European carrier flying to this destination, we will further solidify our leadership in the region.”
Condor resumes services within Germany
At 10:38 local time on March 1st, Condor’s inaugural flight to Berlin Brandenburg departed Frankfurt, and 20 minutes later the first operation to Hamburg took off from FRA.
For the first time in many years, the carrier will perform domestic services within Germany, which it will offer on Airbus A320-200s and Airbus A320neo aircraft seating 180 passengers.
Frankfurt – Berlin
Daily
Daily
Frankfurt – Hamburg
Daily
Daily
“With our city flights, we are adapting our flight schedule to the needs of our guests,” says Peter Gerber, CEO Condor. “Berlin and Hamburg are cities that are popular destinations for both business and leisure travel. We are also opening up further connecting options for our guests: After all, the Condor long-haul network from Frankfurt of course also offers our guests from Berlin and Hamburg many attractive destinations.”
As of March 30th, Condor will begin operations between Frankfurt and Munich, with two daily frequencies on Airbus A321neo aircraft for 212, 215, 223 or 230 passengers.
We review other highlights from the European market
Aegean Airlines has confirmed the order of eight additional Airbus A321s, reaching a total of 58 Airbus aircraft ordered since 2018. The eight additional Airbus A321s are A321neo, joining four Airbus A321neo LRs, 21 Airbus A320neo and other 25 Airbus A321neo.
So far, 34 aircraft have been delivered to Aegean from the total order, while the remaining 24 will be incorporated over the next few years. In 2025, the Greek airline added a new A320neo, and plans to receive four more soon.
Aegean Airlines fleet
- Airbus A320-200: 28
- Airbus A320neo: 20
- Airbus A321-200: 4
- Airbus A321neo: 14
Dimitris Gerogiannis, AEGEAN’s CEO, commented: “The expansion of our investment plan with the additional order of 8 new Airbus A321neo aircraft is essential for achieving our growth objectives and further enhancing the competitiveness of our operations. It is also clear that we have a strong preference for the larger-capacity and extended-range version of the A321neo type, which will soon represent two-thirds of our Airbus fleet. We thank Airbus for their outstanding partnership, and we once again promise our passengers that we will make the best possible use of our new aircraft, bringing all the creativity and dedication of our team to deliver new services, new destinations, and even better travel experiences.”
Air Baltic Corporation AS announced that it will have a major expansion at Amsterdam starting March 30th, doubling frequencies on two of its routes and increasing from 14 to 21 weekly flights on another service.
The airline operates Airbus A220-300 aircraft configured for 145 or 149 passengers in single class.
airBaltic is the leading operator in the Baltic – Netherlands market.
Martin Gauss, President and CEO of airBaltic: “As the leading airline in the Baltic States, we are committed to providing the best global connectivity from the region to destinations worldwide. Amsterdam is one of the most popular destinations in our network, and by closely monitoring market trends and passenger demand, we recognize that increasing flight frequency is a strategically important step for the Baltic region. This expansion will also provide customers with greater connectivity options and attract more tourists from around the world.”
Beginning July 21st, Animawings will commence its services between Bucharest and Dublin, thus entering the Irish market. The Romanian carrier will fly Airbus A220-300s with the following schedule:
Monday, Wednesday and Friday
“In the last 10 years, Dublin has become a highly sought-after and appreciated destination among customers, especially Romanians living or working in Ireland. We are happy to be able to serve a large diaspora through our flights, now even better connected with family and friends back home. Animawings maintains its objective of being a company with a Romanian soul, which contributes to facilitating the connections of Romanians abroad with their birthplaces and loved ones”, commented Marius Pandel, shareholder of Animawings.
The Guernsey-based airline will expand its operations by summer 2025, with the launch of three new routes to be performed using 72-seat ATR 72-500 aircraft.
Aurigny will serve Alicante, Bastia and Nice as follows:
- Nice (NCE): 1 weekly · June 14th
- Alicante (ALC): 1 weekly · July 5th
- Bastia (BIA): 1 weekly · August 16th
Flights will be on Saturdays.
During almost 25 days, an Air Europa Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner has flown the Brussels – New York JFK route for Brussels Airlines. The aircraft, with registration EC-MTI, replaced Brussels Airlines’ Airbus A330-300s, which normally serve between the two cities, from February 22nd to March 15th.
Brussels Airlines currently operates five weekly frequencies to John F. Kennedy International Airport using the 295-seat Airbus A330-300 jets.
Daily except Tuesday and Wednesday
New York is Brussels Airlines’ only destination in the Americas.
On March 15th at 02:03 local time, Bulgaria Air’s new Airbus A220-300, registered LZ-OSL, arrived in Sofia from Montreal Mirabel International Airport via Oslo on a ferry flight. This is the first aircraft to be introduced by Bulgaria Air in 2025.
The company reaches 17 airplanes in its fleet, including Airbus A220s, Airbus A319s, Airbus A320s and Embraer 190s. Based on our database, the fleet averages eight years of age.
Bulgaria Air fleet
- Airbus A220-300: 7
- Airbus A319-100: 1
- Airbus A320-200: 5
- Embraer 190: 4
Charter flights to Piestany from Türkiye, operated by Corendon Airlines.
The carrier will initiate services to the Slovakian city from May 24th, operating with Boeing 737-800 aircraft seating 189 passengers in single class, as announced by AeroRoutes. At the time of publication, these charters will be carried out until the end of June.
At present, Piešťany Airport has no regular or charter flights scheduled, averaging two to three daily flights between non-scheduled or freighter services, as can be seen in the arrivals and departures section of our website.
The Spanish charter carrier plans to commence a new seasonal route between Belgium and the Dominican Republic effective December 9th, to be offered with Airbus A330s from World2Fly, another European charter airline.
Sunday
Starting in November, Eurowings will have a major expansion in the Middle East, adding new routes from Germany and increasing frequencies on existing services.
As announced by the airline through a press release, these will be the new features:
“Eurowings will be flying to Dubai 24 times a week in future,” says Eurowings CEO Jens Bischof: ”This is an indication that our connections to the booming Gulf region are among the most popular and successful routes in our winter flight schedule. We want to continue this success story with the expansion at the Berlin, Hanover, Cologne/Bonn and Stuttgart locations.”
We will comment on schedules and frequencies in our Africa and Middle East report.
The Belgian capital will join FlyOne Armenia’s regular schedule beginning March 30th, with a new route from Yerevan, the capital of Armenia. Services will be conducted twice-weekly on 180-seat Airbus A320-200s.
Thursday and Sunday
FlyOne Armenia will compete with Brussels Airlines on this route (flight SN 2899/2900 – every Saturday).
As of March 31st, ITA Airways will start services between Milan Linate and Munich, which it will provide on 125-seat Airbus A220-100s. The Italian airline will offer the following schedule:
Daily except Sunday
Daily except Saturday
ITA Airways’ codeshare flights with five airlines of the Lufthansa Group (Lufthansa, SWISS, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines and Air Dolomiti) will commence on March 30th.
Istanbul, new KM Malta Airlines destination.
For the first time, the company will operate between Malta and Türkiye, to be performed four times a week on Airbus A320neo aircraft with a capacity of 180 passengers, effective June 2nd.
MLA – IST
IST – MLA
David Curmi, Chairman of KM Malta Airlines, said: “This exciting development further reinforces KM Malta Airlines’ commitment to providing passengers with enhanced travel opportunities. With Istanbul serving as a major global hub, this route will open doors to more destinations while strengthening trade and tourism ties between Malta and Türkiye.”
LOT Polish Airlines will add a new service from Barcelona beginning in June.
The airline will fly the Warsaw Radom – Barcelona route with 186/189-seat Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft, on a weekly basis. According to its website, operations will be year-round.
Saturday
Warsaw Chopin is LOT’s only BCN route, which it provides on Boeing 737-800s, Boeing 737 MAX 8s and Embraer 195s. In addition, it operates between Warsaw Chopin and Madrid by 737s.
After nearly three years, the German airline returns to Izmir with seasonal flights from Munich.
Lufthansa will operate five times per week using 174-seat Airbus A320-200 aircraft until mid-September.
Daily except Tuesday and Thursday
The first flight will be on July 4th.
Effective June 30th, Norwegian will expand its schedule between the UK and Denmark, with the launch of the new London Gatwick – Billund route, to be operated year-round.
Daily except Saturday
“Norwegian and Billund Airport have had a strong partnership for many years, and we see great potential for growth in this region. With Ryanair’s recent exit, we now have a unique opportunity to strengthen our presence in Billund and Western Denmark. The new route to London Gatwick is just the first step, and we are continuously evaluating opportunities to expand our offerings from Billund,” says Sara Neergaard, Director of Communications & Public Affairs at Norwegian Denmark.
Qatar will reach three daily frequencies on the Doha – Berlin route, currently conducted 18 times weekly. The airline serves Boeing 787-8 and Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner with 254 and 311 seats, respectively.
DOH – BER
BER – DOH
Flight QR 83/84 will increase to daily from July 10th.
Berlin, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg and Munich are Qatar’s destinations in Germany.
By summer 2025, the low cost carrier will open several routes to/from Scandinavia beginning in June, to be carried out with Boeing 737-800 and Boeing 737 MAX 8-200 aircraft.
Scandinavian Airline System will resume operations to Lebanon following more than a year.
The Nordic carrier announced that it will fly to the country’s capital from Copenhagen and Stockholm starting June 6th and the 17th, respectively. Among both routes, SAS will provide five frequencies a week by Airbus A320neo planes seating 174 passengers.
Copenhagen – Beirut
Monday, Wednesday and Friday
Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday
Stockholm – Beirut
Tuesday and Saturday
Wednesday and Sunday
“We know that many of our customers have been looking forward to the return of our Beirut flights. These routes are particularly important for those traveling to see family and friends, and we are delighted to once again offer a direct and convenient connection,” says Henrik Winell, Vice President Network at SAS.
Bordeaux – Toulon, Transavia’s new route in France.
Operations will be performed twice-weekly on 189-seat Boeing 737-800s starting July 9th, which will run during summer 2025.
Wednesday and Saturday
Thursday and Sunday
TwinJet, a French airline based in Aix-En-Provence, will launch services between Nice and Venice from March 31st, as announced by AeroRoutes.
These flights will be conducted two times a week using Beechcraft 1900s with a capacity of 19 passengers.
NCE – VCE
VCE – NCE
As per our database, TwinJet has 13 B1900s in its fleet.
Beginning July 6th, Volotea will fly between Paris Beauvais and Bastia with 186-seat Airbus A320-200 aircraft. The Spanish airline will be the only operator on this route.
BIA – BVA
BVA – BIA
Air Corsica and Air France serve to Bastia from Paris Orly, both on Airbus A320s.
For summer 2025, Wizz Air will have a major expansion in Sibiu (Romania) with six new routes to be served by Airbus A320-200 jets.
- Hamburg (HAM): 3 weekly · August 1st
- Vienna (VIE): 3 weekly · August 1st
- Basel (BSL): 3 weekly · August 2nd
- Frankfurt (HHN): 2 weekly · August 2nd
- Rome (FCO): 3 weekly · August 2nd
- Madrid (MAD): 2 weekly · August 3rd
New aircraft added by European airlines
- Swiss International Air Lines
| Aircraft | Airline | Registration | Ferry flight | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airbus A320-252N | Transavia | F-HXSJ | XFW-ORY | February 18th |
| Airbus A320-271N | Swiss | HB-JDI | XFW-ZRH | February 19th |
| Airbus A220-300 | ITA | EI-HHU | YMX-FCO | February 22nd |
| Airbus A320-252N | Transavia | F-HXSM | TLS-ORY | February 27th |
| Boeing 737 MAX 8-200 | Ryanair | SP-RZS | BFI-DUB | February 28th |
| Airbus A321-271NX | Wizz Air | 9H-WNU | XFW-FCO | February 28th |
| Airbus A321-271NX | Icelandair | TF-IAB | XFW-KEF | March 1st |
| Airbus A220-300 | Smartwings | OK-EYB | YMX-PRG | March 1st |
| Airbus A321-271NX | Turkish | TC-LPP | XFW-IST | March 4th |
| Airbus A321-271NX | Wizz Air | 9H-WNX | XFW-FCO | March 4th |
| Airbus A350-941 | Air France | F-HUVP | TLS-CDG | March 5th |
| Boeing 777-F | DHL | D-AALW | PAE-LEJ | March 6th |
| Boeing 737 MAX 8-200 | Ryanair | SP-RZQ | BFI-DUB | March 7th |
| Airbus A320-251N | Aer Lingus | EI-NSG | TLS-DUB | March 10th |
| Airbus A220-300 | Bulgaria Air | LZ-OSL | YMX-OSL-SOF | March 14th |
Other reports we have published
Cover photo: Laurence Liu – JetPhotos (Chengdu Shuangliu – ZUUU – China)
