Thrilling new airline routes from December 2023 and past

The airline network planners didn’t simply fast forward to 2024.

Instead, they spent much of December — especially the weeks leading up to the Christmas holiday — rolling out tweaks to their route maps.

This includes some big expansions from Air Canada and Frontier, as well as JetBlue, which joined the fray in adding service to Tulum’s new airport. The planners down in Atlanta also didn’t rest on their 2023 laurels when they unveiled a major expansion in Austin.

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Catch all the airline route news you might’ve missed below — and we’ll see you again in 2024.

Alaska Airlines filed some noteworthy changes in one of its key focus cities: Boise, Idaho. While the airline experimented with some eastward-bound flights to Austin and Chicago from the city during the pandemic, those routes are being cut early in 2024.

Instead, Alaska will again focus on connectivity throughout the West for its Boise base.

All of this comes as the airline focuses on longer leisure-focused flights, such as the newly inaugurated service this month from Los Angeles and Seattle to Nassau in the Bahamas.

A cut: American axes a whopping 21 Austin routes in major network shake-up

Additionally, the airline added new daily seasonal service from Charlotte to Spokane beginning on June 5, 2024, followed by once-weekly seasonal service from Charlotte to Calgary launching on June 8, 2024.

The first is in Austin, where the airline is adding 11 new flights and 3 new routes, two of which are intra-Texas markets. These are rare point-to-point flights for the carrier that are aimed at connecting smaller Texas communities with the airline’s global network. All of the increased Austin service comes just weeks after American retreated in the market.

Delta is also resuming flights to Taipei with the introduction of its first-ever transpacific flights from Seattle to Taiwan. Previously, Delta served Taipei from its Tokyo Narita hub (that’s since been shuttered).

Finally, Delta is tweaking its domestic network by cutting service from New York’s LaGuardia Airport (LGA) to Las Vegas and Salt Lake City. Delta also filed plans to scrap one of its unique point-to-point services between Miami and Nassau.

Frontier unveiled a sizeable expansion earlier this month with seven new nonstop routes. This includes flying between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh on a twice-daily basis.

This intra-state route will compete with American Airlines, which operates a big hub in Philly. Frontier will also compete with American on several of the new routes that touch Dallas-Fort Worth.

JetBlue made just one network announcement this month: it would add service to Tulum’s new international airport.

The U.S. airlines have been rushing to add service to Tulum after the airport’s official opening this month. JetBlue is joining the fray with daily service from New York.

It’ll be interesting to see how the airline fares in a market that’s quickly becoming saturated with nonstop service from the U.S.

United added another new long-haul route for next summer: San Francisco to Barcelona. The airline will compete against Spanish low-cost carrier Level and give West Coast flyers another convenient way to get to Spain.

The flight, operated by a Boeing 777-200ER, will take off on May 23, 2024, and operate daily through Oct. 25, 2024.

United also inaugurated another long-haul route from San Francisco this month. This one, transpacific service to Christchurch, New Zealand, represents a big push by the carrier to expand across the Pacific.

Elsewhere, United is adding seasonal flights from Cleveland to both Las Vegas and Phoenix for a short spring break season (from March 7, 2024, to May 20, 2024).

Finally, United is pulling out of two U.S. cities in early January: Moab and Vernal in Utah. These airports, which receive subsidized service under the government’s Essential Air Service (EAS) program, will instead be connected to American’s Phoenix hub by interline partner Contour Airlines.

Air Canada joined in on the fun this month with a major transborder expansion that includes five new routes and two new destinations: Charleston and Tulum.

The airline is also boosting service to two existing U.S. gateways: Austin and St. Louis. Air Canada added a slew of frequencies across its network as part of one of its largest schedules to date.

Etihad didn’t announce any new routes this month, but it did share some whale-sized news that it would bring back the A380 to the U.S.

The A380 will return to New York on April 22, 2024, and with it comes the reintroduction of the flagship Residence product on flights to the U.S.

Etihad will also fly a first-class-equipped Boeing 787 to New York and stop selling this cabin on flights to Washington, D.C.