All Nippon Airways has announced services to three European capitals, as Qantas Airways returns to Paris after a long absence.
During its 2024 winter schedule ANA will launch non-stop services from Tokyo Haneda to Istanbul, Milan, and Stockholm.
ANA says that it will be the first Japanese carrier to provide a scheduled flights to Stockholm, with a three-times-weekly service starting on 31 January 2025.
Istanbul and Milan will also be operated thrice weekly. Milan will commence on 3 December, followed by Istanbul two months later on 12 February 2025.
“These new routes reflect ANA’s commitment to meet the increasing demand for travel between Japan and each country” said Shinichi Inoue, president and chief executive of ANA.
“We hope this expansion provides our travellers with greater choice, new customer experiences and reinforces our commitment to a seamless and enjoyable journey.”
The routes add to the airline’s daily services to Munich and Paris and follow its addition of Vienna in August.
South Korean low-cost carrier T’way will also launch a service on the Seoul Incheon-Paris route from 28 August. The service will operate four times weekly with Airbus A330-200s.
July saw Qantas Airways return to Paris for the first time in two decades, with a new direct service from Perth. The route, originally announced in 2023, is operated with Boeing 787-9s.
Qantas will operate the Perth-Paris service four times weekly. The carrier claims that the direct services reduce travel times to Paris by 3h.
China’s Hainan Airlines is also adding to its European and North American networks. It plans to launch a twice-weekly service to Budapest on 2 August. The flight follows its recent addition of a Mexican service on the Beijing-Tijuana-Mexico City routing.
Taiwan carrier China Airlines has launched a new Taipei-Seattle service, it’s sixth non-stop destination in the North America. Its other North American destinations are Los Angeles, Ontario, New York City, San Francisco, and Vancouver.
China Airlines will use the A350-900 on the Seattle route.
In the Asia-Pacific airlines have added regional routes. From 1 August AirAsia will add services to the eastern Chinese city of Ningbo from Kuala Lumpur and Kota Kinabalu. Both services will be operated three times weekly.
The long-haul, low-cost arm of AirAsia, AirAsia X, will also launch services on the KL-Nairobi route from 15 November, operating to the African city four times weekly with A330s.
Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific will also launch a four-times-weekly Ningbo service in August with A321neos.
“This new service will provide greater connectivity for our customers travelling between the two cities, while also enabling our customer in the Chinese Mainland to connect to the world through the Hong Kong hub,” says Cathay.
Cathay’s Ningbo flights add to services to already operated by Cathay low-cost unit HK Express.
During a recent state visit by Vietnamese president To Lam to Cambodia, Vietnam Airlines announced that it will launch a Hanoi-Phnom Penh service from 27 October. The service will be operated four times weekly with A321s.
The carrier already serves Siem Reap from Hanoi, and both Phnom Penh and Siem Reap from Ho Chi Minh City.
In Malaysia, Batik Air announced the launch of Hat Yai and Krabi services from 13 September. The carrier will serve the two Thailand destinations daily from Kuala Lumpur, using 737s.
Chandran Muthy, chief executive of Batik Air, notes that Thailand is a very popular leisure destination for Malaysia, with over 4 million annual visits.
New Guinea’s Air Niugini announced that it will resume its Port Moresby-Port Vila service from 3 August, operating weekly with a 737.
In addition to improving connectivity between the two countries, the service will also allow passengers from Vanuatu to connect to Air Niugini’s broader network, namely Hong Kong, Manila, and Cairns. Air Niugini recently increased its Hong Kong service to four times weekly from three previously.
