Another year has come and gone, and boy was this was a busy one for airline network planners across the country and around the world.
From new routes to far-flung destinations like Christchurch, New Zealand, to commercial airline service returning to Delaware, airlines added many new dots and lines to their route maps in 2023.
Of course, not all were successful — just look at American Airlines’ big retreat in Austin — nor were all of them noteworthy enough for a story.
But as we reflect back on 2023, TPG’s aviation team voted on the top 10 new routes that were either announced or commenced this year.
Without further adieu, here are the winners.
Avelo’s Wilmington service
Earlier this year, there was just one U.S. state without commercial air service: Delaware. Local travelers had to drive to nearby cities like Philadelphia or Baltimore to catch a flight.
But that changed when airline startup Avelo entered the market with a series of routes from Wilmington Airport (ILG). Some of them have since been suspended, but Delaware travelers can still go to a slew of destinations from Wilmington, including Orlando, Tampa and San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Before Avelo’s entry earlier this year, Delaware hadn’t had air service since June 2022, when Frontier Airlines retreated from the market, Cirium schedules show.
Atlantic Airways to the Faroe Islands
Most readers have probably never heard of Atlantic Airways, but the airline gave New York its first-ever flights to the Faroe Islands this summer season.
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The 3,024-mile service, which operated seasonally once a week from August to October, was flown on an Atlantic Airbus A320neo.
The Faroe Islands are in the North Atlantic Ocean and have historically had limited air service due to the Danish territory’s remote location. Vagar Airport (FAE) is the territory’s only airport, and it serves the capital of Torshavn, the largest city in the Faroe Islands.
Atlantic Airways flew there from New York’s “other” airport — Stewart International Airport (SWF) — and there’s no telling yet if the flights will return for another season.
New Tulum airport
Perhaps no airport received as much attention in 2023 as the new international airport in Tulum, Mexico, which officially opened on Dec. 1, 2023.
U.S. airlines have been busy preparing their Tulum schedules, and Delta Air Lines was the first to announce service there from its Atlanta hub. American, JetBlue, Spirit Airlines and United Airlines have all followed up with their own route announcements, and Air Canada even joined in on the fun, too.
The new Tulum airport makes it dramatically easier and more convenient to visit Tulum, allowing you to skip the lengthy and pricey drive from Cancun.
San Antonio gets Europe flights
Every midsized U.S. airport dreams of getting a flight to Europe.
Last year, St. Louis was reconnected with Europe thanks to Lufthansa, and this year, San Antonio got the tap from Condor.
The German leisure carrier Condor will commence flights between San Antonio and Frankfurt next year. “We have arrived on the world stage,” the San Antonio mayor claimed, showing how important the flight is for the city.
United’s Pacific expansion
Of all the U.S. airlines, United has the biggest wide-body fleet and the most ambitious plans to cover its route map with pins from all across the globe.
This year, the carrier’s long-haul growth strategy turned a new page: It boosted service across the Pacific and launched two new routes to cities that might not have been on your 2023 bingo card — Manila, Philippines, and Christchurch, New Zealand.
These cities might not have been obvious choices, but as the carrier leans into global growth, I’d expect more pins in smaller locales.
Turf war in San Diego
Alaska Airlines is no stranger to a turf war, and this year, the airline picked a fight in two markets.
Most notably, the airline launched flights between San Diego and Washington, D.C., in June.
Dulles International Airport (IAD) is a key hub for United Airlines, and the incumbent clearly didn’t like Alaska’s move. United retaliated by adding a fourth daily flight in the market, operated by its high-density Boeing 777, flooding the market with additional capacity.
Both airlines are still duking it out on this 2,700-mile route, so we’ll have to wait until 2024 to see whether Alaska folds or United accepts the new competitor.
(Alaska’s other new transcontinental route from Portland, Oregon, to Miami also sparked a turf war with American Airlines, which operates a hub in South Florida. American decided to add new Miami to Portland service just days after Alaska’s announcement.)
Starlux comes to the U.S.
The launch of a new airline is always exciting, especially when it claims to be a “luxury carrier.”
It turns out Taipei-based Starlux Airlines is the real deal, offering travelers a top-notch experience in first class, business class, premium economy and economy onboard its flagship Airbus A350.
Starlux inaugurated U.S. service to Los Angeles in April and followed up with service to San Francisco this month. Seattle service is also slated to commence next year.
Delta to Taipei
Delta announced earlier this month that it would return to Taiwan for the first time in seven years.
This time around, Delta will operate its Taiwan flights nonstop from the U.S., with daily year-round service from the airline’s Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) hub starting on June 6, 2024.
Delta hasn’t served Taiwan since May 2017, when the airline used to fly there from its now-shuttered Pacific gateway hub at Tokyo’s Narita Airport (NRT). Customers could fly Delta to Tokyo and then connect onwards on Delta planes to Taipei.
Qantas gets closer to the world’s longest flight
For years, Qantas has been talking about dethroning Singapore Airlines as the record-holder for the world’s longest regularly scheduled commercial flight.
Qantas has long said that it wants to operate roughly 10,000-mile nonstops from Sydney to both London and New York. That dream came one step closer to reality this year.
The carrier launched service from Sydney to New York via Auckland (following Air New Zealand’s lead last year), and it unveiled the business-class cabins that travelers can expect on these so-called “Project Sunrise” flights slated to start in late 2025.
American leans into Europe
American is getting creative with the launch of three new long-haul destinations in Europe next summer: Copenhagen; Naples, Italy; and Nice, France.
All three of these destinations will be served from Philadelphia, which hasn’t seen much exciting transatlantic growth from American recently.
In fact, American’s long-haul playbook in recent years has largely been to double down on serving major European cities and key Oneworld connecting hubs, such as London and Madrid.
This new Philly-to-Europe service will hopefully be a harbinger of what’s to come for American — giving flyers more nonstop destinations across the globe.
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