Thrilling new airline routes from July 2024 and past

July was arguably the busiest month for aviation news so far this year.

From Delta Air Lines’ meltdown to Southwest Airlines’ new seating policies, travelers have lots to catch up on. The airline network planners were also seemingly working overtime in July because the flurry of route news didn’t stop.

Many airlines made major network announcements last month, and some carriers published smaller adjustments that didn’t warrant their own story.

Either way, this report is one you won’t want to miss. You’ll catch all the details of July’s route changes in our comprehensive monthly roundup below.

Alaska’s network headliner from July was the announcement that it would add a whopping 18 routes, including one new destination (Eagle, Colorado).

The airline’s new routes mainly target leisure traffic during the winter months. In fact, some of the routes are supported by contracts with Apple Vacations, a major vacation outfitter.

Alaska also added new service from Los Angeles to both La Paz and Monterrey in Mexico.

It wasn’t all good news for the route map, though. Alaska unveiled plans to drop flights from San Diego to Cancun and from Orange County, California, to Bozeman, Montana. Additionally, the airline has suspended service between LA and Bozeman.

Ultra-low-cost carrier Allegiant Air announced another splashy route expansion last month. This time, the airline unveiled eight new routes across 13 popular Florida cities. All of the flights are designed to take flyers to warm-weather destinations during the winter.

The big winner in Allegiant’s latest route announcement is Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport (SAV) in Georgia, which landed three new nonstop routes to Florida.

The first is the addition of a new route-map pin in Carlsbad, California. American’s regional affiliate Envoy Air will operate twice-daily flights to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX), marketed as American Eagle service. This new flight takes off Feb. 13, 2025.

American also added a new international destination last month: South Caicos, Turks and Caicos. Flights launch Feb. 15, 2025, from Miami. The South Caicos area boasts some popular resorts and will also be home to a new Marriott Luxury Collection property opening next year.

The airline also added two more routes from New York’s LaGuardia Airport (LGA) to Florida. This is the latest addition following the breakup of the Northeast Alliance with JetBlue.

In terms of cuts, American made big moves in Austin, cutting five routes about nine months after cutting 21 mostly regional routes from Austin.

The airline also suspended flights from Phoenix to London for the winter season, and it brought its flagship jet, the Boeing 777-300ER, to Charlotte for the first time with regularly scheduled service.

Avelo Airlines had a blockbuster July with the announcement of its largest-ever network expansion. This expansion includes three new cities across 18 routes. Two of those cities are the airline’s first-ever international destinations: Montego Bay, Jamaica, and Cancun.

Avelo also added two new routes as part of a West Coast schedule extension. The new routes are from Salt Lake City and Ontario, California, to Sonoma County.

It wasn’t all additions in July, though. Avelo also dropped six cities from its network, including Lansing, Michigan; Kalamazoo, Michigan; Dubuque, Iowa; Mosinee, Wisconsin; Binghamton, New York; and Brownsville, Texas.

Breeze Airways added two new cities to its network last month: Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and Montrose, Colorado. The airline also added a new route to Vero Beach, Florida, a popular destination for warm-weather seekers.

Finally, the airline brought back its most uncomfortable regional jet, the CRJ-200, on a handful of routes from Salt Lake City, but that jet should be headed back to the desert in the coming weeks.

It was a bleak month for Frontier Airlines’ network, which saw over 50 route cuts during the past 31 days. Several of the affected routes had only been recently added by the airline, some as early as this May.

For its part, Frontier said that these cuts are due to the “current industry supply and demand imbalance.” The airline said it might resume some of these routes next year depending “on relevant seasonal performance.”

Route cuts are the real story: The airline is halting 24 routes and pulling out of seven outstations. The cuts are designed to help the carrier downsize to profitability.

JetBlue will add a handful of new routes across New England, with a heavy emphasis on flying between the Northeast and Florida. The airline will also add service to Manchester-Boston Regional Airport (MHT) in New Hampshire.

Southwest was busy making major changes last month, starting with retiring the open-seating policy in favor of assigned seats. The airline will also even add a premium extra-legroom product.

On the network side, the airline added four new routes, all of which were previously operated by the carrier.

The additions were offset by 11 route cuts during the winter months.

Southwest told TPG that these are “seasonal suspensions,” meaning that the airline plans to fly them again in the future. However, the airline hasn’t published any resumption dates, so we’ll have to monitor if the carrier follows through on its word.

Separately, the airline will also drop service to Fukuoka, one of the largest cities in Japan and one of the more unusual United destinations. The airline used to fly to Fukuoka from its Guam hub, which it inherited as part of the merger with Continental Airlines.

Now that Mexican airlines are once again allowed to add flights to the U.S., these carriers have been busy in recent months making notable additions.

Last month, Aeromexico filed a few new routes:

• Atlanta to Manzanillo will see once-weekly service on an Embraer 190 beginning in November.
• Newark to Mexico City will see daily service on a Boeing 737 MAX starting in October. Newark will become a new destination for Aeromexico once this flight launches.
• Denver to Monterrey is launching Dec. 21 with once-weekly service on a Boeing 737 MAX.
• LA to Manzanillo is launching Dec. 21 with once-weekly service on a Boeing 737-800.