All of the airline route information it’s essential to know from August 2023

Here at TPG, we keep you informed about all the changes and developments in the travel industry.

In the airline world, one thing that seems to keep changing is the route map. Airlines like to say that they are in a unique position since they can simply deploy their planes as needed to seek out greater profits.

There are plenty of other reasons for airline network adjustments, but one thing is certain: Route maps are always changing, and you can count on TPG to bring you all the news as it unfolds.

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That said, not every single route announcement deserves its own story, so we’re bringing back our recap series to highlight many of the biggest and most notable route announcements each month. (Like what you read or have suggested improvements? Email us at [email protected].)

August brought a slew of network updates, but no carrier was nearly as busy as American Airlines, which became the first of the major U.S. airlines to unveil a big expansion in Europe for next summer. American also shuffled around another high-profile long-haul route and even made some domestic adjustments now that the Northeast Alliance with JetBlue is over.

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Read on for the August route announcements you might’ve missed.

This will bring the Aer Lingus U.S. network to a total of 15 destinations in the U.S., plus Toronto.

Note that Minneapolis is technically a resumption for Aer Lingus since it used to fly to this Delta Air Lines hub before the pandemic. (In fact, Delta even retaliated to the Aer Lingus announcement just hours later — more on that below.)

American Airlines

Where to start with American …

Internationally, the carrier just unveiled its biggest European expansion since the pandemic began. This includes three brand-new destinations — Copenhagen; Naples, Italy; and Nice, France — all served nonstop from Philadelphia beginning next summer. The airline will also add a new route from Dallas-Fort Worth to Barcelona and resume service from Chicago to Venice, Italy.

A handful of other network tidbits are included in American’s big announcement, so be sure to check it out.

In another high-profile move, American announced that it’s scrapping its nonstop route from New York to Doha, Qatar, a flight that launched in conjunction with the now-defunct Northeast Alliance.

Instead of fully cutting the route, American will switch the gateway to Philadelphia — another big boost for this Northeast hub that seems to have been neglected by American in recent years.

Domestically, American is rearranging its New York network by restoring flights on the busy New York-to-Boston corridor and from New York to Philadelphia. The airline will also add a route from Philly to San Antonio to boost connectivity there.

Avelo is one of the nation’s newest startup airlines, and the carrier keeps expanding.

The latest update includes new service to Puerto Rico. It’s not all good news, though, as the airline is cutting two of its three routes to Melbourne Orlando International Airport (MLB).

Azores Airlines, a small Portuguese carrier based in the Atlantic Ocean territory of the Azores, is expanding its footprint in North America. The carrier has long flown between the U.S. and the Azores. Now, the airline is adding several new nonstop routes connecting Boston, New York and Toronto directly to cities in mainland Portugal.

Delta announced a big expansion in the Caribbean this month. While the airline will fly its largest-ever schedule to this region over the coming months, it didn’t actually load that many new routes.

There are two in particular worth mentioning, though: New York to Kingston, Jamaica, and Miami to Nassau in the Bahamas. The latter is especially interesting since it’s a rare point-to-point flight for Delta. It comes as the airline is busy turning Miami into a so-called “gateway hub” with the help of its nascent joint venture with South American juggernaut LATAM.

There’s also an interesting new Delta route launching on Oct. 28 that will connect Honolulu’s Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL) with Tokyo’s Haneda Airport (HND). The route will be the first time Delta has flown between the cities since 2020, when it flew from HNL to Tokyo’s Narita International Airport (NRT). Delta will fly Boeing 767-300ER jets on the route.

Domestically, Delta announced three new routes, including two from New York’s Westchester County Airport (HPN), which hasn’t seen much splashy growth in a while. Delta will start flying from HPN to Orlando and West Palm Beach in the winter season — two very popular routes for those based in the Northeast looking for some warmer pastures in the winter.

Finally, Delta announced a new route from Minneapolis to Dublin just hours after Aer Lingus did the same.

Etihad will touch down in Boston for the first time next spring, the Abu Dhabi-based carrier announced this month.

The new service will operate four times a week using the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft. Etihad joins Emirates and Qatar as the trio of Middle East behemoths flying to Boston.

With this new route, those based in New England should have easy, one-stop access to hundreds of cities in India, the Middle East and beyond.

JetBlue is making some changes to its Boston and New York routes as part of the winddown of the Northeast Alliance.

The airline will add a second daily flight on the existing route from Boston to Chicago. It’ll also slash some New York flights — ending service to Savannah, Georgia, and adjusting frequencies to Boston, Charleston and Nashville.

Though previously announced, it’s also worth noting JetBlue launched service to its third European city when its New York-Amsterdam flights began Aug. 29.

Canada’s Porter Airlines has been on an expansion tear since it added new Embraer 195 jets to its fleet, opening a nearby hub at Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ) that complements its long-time base at Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport (YTZ) near downtown. The latter airport is restricted to turboprop flights, meaning Porter’s expansion to YYZ and the addition of Embraer jets opened a whole new range of options that the airline couldn’t serve previously.

Already this year, Porter has expanded its route map to include western Canadian cities like Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, Victoria and Winnipeg.

Now, Porter is using its new aircraft to fly deep into the U.S., announcing five new destinations in Florida this month. With more jets on the way, expect Porter to be a frequent addition to this list.

Qatar Airways

As mentioned, American is shifting its Doha route from New York to Philadelphia, but don’t worry: Qatar Airways will pick up the slack.

The airline announced a third daily flight from New York to Doha starting in October. As part of the switcheroo, Qatar will cease flying to Philadelphia on Oct. 28.

Red Way was a budget startup aimed at boosting air service in the Nebraska state capital of Lincoln. The airline had its share of skeptics, but few expected it to fail less than three months after launching. However, that’s exactly what happened. The carrier’s last flight was scheduled for Aug. 31.

During the pandemic, Southwest went through a massive growth spurt. Expansion mode seems to have been disengaged in recent months, though, as the Dallas-based carrier seems more focused on restoring capacity and smaller, iterative updates.

This month, the airline added three new routes (and cut another) as part of its schedule extension. Just note that all three of the new routes only operate on Saturdays.

While United has been in the news recently for many network adjustments, it was a quiet August for the airline.

The most notable change was the capacity adjustment in Cancun, where it’ll fly its largest-ever winter schedule yet.

As part of the news, the airline will deploy its dense 364-seat Boeing 777-200s from Chicago, Denver and Houston to Cancun.

Additional reporting by Ben Mutzabaugh.