Welcome to my 169th weekly routes article! It includes eight mini-stories about subjectively exciting services that took off between May 20 and 26 (unless stated). Many dozens of routes worldwide started in the examined period, including between the US and Europe. However, only a selection of intriguing additions are covered in this article.

United Begins Its 1st Flight To Senegal

The West African nation of Senegal is now part of United’s network. It is the Star Alliance member’s fifth African country, joining Ghana, Morocco, Nigeria, and South Africa.

On May 23, United inaugurated flights from Washington Dulles to Dakar. It was one of 10 new routes from Dulles in 48 hours, with United also commencing Nice and Venice services.

Using low-risk, 203-seat 767-300ERs, the airline operates three times weekly year-round to Dakar. It is United’s shortest of four African routes from its Virginia hub. With just 11,000 local passengers a year, Dakar is a relatively small point-to-point market compared to NYC (50,000) and Montreal (33,000).

It is the first time nonstop flights have existed between the two airports. However, Air Senegal—which no longer serves the US—had planned to fly to Dulles via JFK, before switching to Baltimore at the last minute.

3 Airlines Begin 7 US-Italy Routes In 3 Days

Southern Europe remains particularly popular with North Americans, none more so than Italy. The trend continues. Between May 21 and May 23, seven routes began, most new, as summarized below. They built on others recently, including Air Canada from Montreal to Naples.

Delta now serves New York JFK to Catania (daily 767-300ER), a brand-new market and the first time Catania has had US flights. Delta also introduced Atlanta to Naples (four weekly A330-300; brand-new), Boston to Milan (four weekly A330neo; last served by Alitalia in 2008), and Minneapolis to Rome (four weekly A330-300; last served by the airline in 2016).

United introduced Newark to Palermo flights (three weekly 767-400ER), the first time the airport pair has been served (Neos operates Palermo-JFK). It also introduced Washington Dulles to Venice (daily 767-300ER; a new market). Elsewhere, American started Philadelphia to Milan flights (daily 787-8; new to its network).

Take Off: JetBlue’s 2 New European Routes

On May 22, JetBlue took off from Boston to Madrid, with the Spanish capital—and Spain—brand-new to its network. This means the carrier now serves seven European airports in five countries.

Seasonal flights to Spain run daily aboard the carrier’s low-capacity, high-premium, 138-seat A321LR. JetBlue coexists with A321XLR-operating Iberia, the first time the city pair has had two carriers since Norwegian pulled out in 2019.

On the same day, JetBlue doubled its Edinburgh network, with the start of Boston service. While it also runs daily, bog-standard, less premium, 160-seat A321neos are flown.

Delta operated the Scottish capital’s first Boston flight in 2019. JetBlue’s entry means it has two carriers for the first time. At 2,667 nautical miles (4,939 km), Boston to Edinburgh is JetBlue’s second-shortest European offering, after Boston to Dublin. (Separately, American resumed its Philadelphia-Edinburgh service after six years.)

Air France Is Back In These 2 Long-Haul Cities

On May 19, Air France resumed flying from Paris CDG to Riyadh, having last done so in January 2019. Then, it operated three times weekly on the 208-seat A330-200 (they now have 224 seats). Now, it is five times weekly on the 324-seat A350-900.

CDG-Riyadh had 112,000 round-trip point-to-point passengers in 2024. The Saudi capital was by far Paris’s highest-yielding major Middle Eastern market. Due to the high number of passengers who traveled in business and first class, yields were twice as high as Jeddah’s, which has far more pilgrims traveling. Hence, Air France’s interest in Riyadh.

On May 21, the SkyTeam member reintroduced flights between Paris CDG to Orlando, with a four-weekly A350-900 service. When it served the market in 2011/2012, the 777-300ER and even the 747-400 were used. With 78,000 point-to-point passengers last year, Orlando was CDG’s largest unserved US market.

Denmark Gets 2 Long-Haul SkyTeam Routes

Due to SkyTeam membership, SAS has resumed Copenhagen to Seattle flights after 16 years. This occurred on May 21, with the summer seasonal route served five times weekly on the 300-seat Airbus A350-900, the carrier’s flagship and highest-capacity equipment.

On May 22, Delta introduced the first flight ever from Minneapolis to Copenhagen. It joins its long-established New York JFK service to the Danish capital. It is the first time it has had two routes to Copenhagen since Atlanta flights ended in 2011. Minneapolis is served thrice-weekly summer seasonally, on the A330-300/A330-900.

Two More Routes Join Pegasus’ Istanbul Map

Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen is by far Pegasusmost-served airport. It accounts for three of its four May services, helped by adding two new routes: Cluj-Napoca on May 20 (three weekly) and Algiers on May 23 (five weekly). They followed the launch of Atyrau flights on May 14 (twice-weekly), outside the scope of this Weekly Routes article.

While the cities are served by other operators from Istanbul’s primary airport, Pegasus only competes directly with another carrier from Sabiha Gökçen to Algiers. Formerly called AnadoluJet, AJet introduced the route in January 2025 (five weekly flights).

When both Istanbul airports are combined, Algiers had 364,000 point-to-point passengers last year, while Atyrau had 38,000 and Cluj 20,000. Of course, Pegasus focuses heavily on connectivity over Sabiha Gökçen, with the local market being critical in achieving higher yields.

British Airways’ Next Italian Destination Joins Network

Closer to the Amalfi Coast than Naples, Salerno reopened to flights in July 2024, having last had them 12 years before. On May 22, BA EuroFlyer began a thrice-weekly operation from London Gatwick.

It is the third carrier to serve Salerno from London. It joins easyJet from Gatwick (twice-weekly) and Ryanair from Stansted (twice-weekly). Last September, Jet2 announced Salerno flights from Birmingham and Manchester, but subsequently cut the destination from its map.

Salerno is the sixth Italian destination served by EuroFlyer, BA’s lower-cost unit. When mainline and BA CityFlyer are included, the Group flies to 19 Italian airports. On May 15, the mainline unit reintroduced Heathrow-Rimini flights after many years (three weekly).

Frontier Returns To Spokane

The carrier’s return occurred on May 20, when it commenced a thrice-weekly service from Denver, which remains its busiest airport. Flights variously use the A320neo, A321neo, and A321ceo. Frontier will help to grow local traffic, which totaled 141,000 passengers last year, while providing more connectivity options.

Frontier first served Spokane between 2004 and 2015, when Denver was its sole route. When it returned in 2018, Denver and Las Vegas were served, but the airline pulled out in 2022.

Now it is back, just with half the routes. It is the third carrier from Denver, 726 nautical miles (1,344 km) away. It joins United (triple daily in the current week) and Southwest (16 weekly). With Frontier’s return, daily flights have increased to a high of seven, although that’s not a record.

Source: Simple Flying