Tag Archives: routes

Lisbon, Portugal skyline with Sao Jorge Castle

Exciting New Flight Routes That Will Improve Your 2019 Travel Plans

Leave a reply

Brett Snyder is President at Cranky Concierge, a service that Wendy recommends to WOW List travelers seeking the savviest help with international airline travel. Brett’s service ferrets out the smartest routes and fares, monitors your flights, and provides emergency rerouting assistance if your flight is delayed or cancelled. We asked him to pick the new 2019 routes that should be on our radar:

The economy is still doing well (for now), and airlines are bullish for next year. For that reason, a slew of new flight routes are coming to an airport near you. Many will make your travels easier, and some popular vacation spots will become more accessible. Here are the domestic and international flight routes that will change travel in 2019.

The Most Notable New Flights Within the U.S.

To/from Seattle

If you’re headed to Seattle, especially to the north of town, consider flying into Paine Field—home to Boeing’s mighty widebody manufacturing plant—which will be opening for commercial service in February.  Paine Field is 25 miles north of the city (as opposed to Sea-Tac, which is 15 miles south). Alaska Airlines has the biggest presence here, with flights to Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Orange County, Phoenix, Portland, San Diego, San Francisco, and San Jose. Those start between February 11 and March 12. The only other airline in the market will be United, with flights to both Denver and San Francisco starting March 31.

To/from Hawaii

Once Southwest gets FAA approval, expect its flights to Hawaii to start quickly. Initial routes will launch from Sacramento, San Diego, San Jose, and Oakland. There will be flights to all four major Hawaiian islands and even some inter-island flying. In the meantime, those in the eastern half of the country can celebrate more nonstop service to the Hawaiian islands. Delta will start flying to Honolulu from Detroit. And Hawaiian Airlines will make Boston its second destination east of the Rockies after New York–JFK.

New International Flights

Now let’s get to the really fun stuff. Portugal remains a hot spot, with several new routes from the U.S. to Lisbon this year. Los Cabos got a few new direct flights from Chicago (which started in November on Southwest) and Las Vegas (on Frontier). Morocco is now easier to visit, thanks to a new nonstop from Miami. Meanwhile, we’ve seen a couple of “firsts”: The good people of Charleston, South Carolina, snagged their first nonstop to Europe, while those in Los Angeles can now fly nonstop to Africa. And in late 2018 Singapore Airlines re-launched its longest flight in the world, between Newark and Singapore, and Kenya Airways introduced the first-ever nonstop between New York–JFK and Nairobi.

These are some of the more interesting route launches. (All start dates are 2019, except where noted.)

Boston to Lisbon, on Delta, starting May 23
Boston to Edinburgh, on Delta, starting May 23
Boston to Madrid, on Norwegian, starts May 2
Boston to Seoul/Incheon, on Korean, starts April 12

Charleston (SC) to London/Heathrow, on British Airways, from April 4 to October 24

Charlotte to Munich, on American, starts March 31

Chicago/O’Hare to Athens, on American, from May 3 to September 28
Chicago/O’Hare to Lisbon, on TAP Air Portugal, starts June 1
Chicago/O’Hare to Quebec City, on American, from June 6 to September 3

Dallas/Ft Worth to Dublin, on American, from June 6 to September 28
Dallas/Ft Worth to Munich, on American, from June 6 to October 26

Denver to Frankfurt, on United, starting May 2
Denver to Grand Cayman, on Cayman Airways, starting March 13

Ft Lauderdale to Guayaquil (Ecuador), on JetBlue, starting February 28
Ft Lauderdale to St. Maarten, on JetBlue, starting February 14

Las Vegas to Cancun (Mexico), on Frontier, starts December 21, 2018
Las Vegas to San Jose del Cabo (Mexico), on Frontier, starts December 15, 2018
Las Vegas to Tel Aviv, on El Al, starts June 14

Los Angeles to Lome (Togo), on Ethiopian, starting December 17, 2018
Los Angeles to Manchester (U.K.), on Virgin Atlantic, starting May 26
Los Angeles to Milan/Malpensa, on Air Italy, starting April 3

Miami to Casablanca, on Royal Air Maroc, starting April 3
Miami to Santa Marta (Colombia), on Via Air, starting December 18 (2018)

Minneapolis/St Paul to Dublin, on Aer Lingus, starting July 1
Minneapolis/St Paul to Seoul/Incheon, on Delta, starting April 1

Newark to Naples, on United, from May 22 to October 4
Newark to Nice, on La Compagnie, from May 6 to October 26
Newark to Prague, on United, from June 6 to October 4
Newark to Singapore, on Singapore Airlines, started late 2018

New York/JFK to Barcelona, on LEVEL, starting July 27
New York/JFK to Nairobi, started late 2018

Philadelphia to Edinburgh, on American, from April 2 to October 26
Philadelphia to Bologna (Italy), on American, from June 6 to September 28
Philadelphia to Berlin/Tegel, on American, from June 7 to September 28
Philadelphia to Dubrovnik (Croatia), on American, from June 7 to September 27

Phoenix to London/Heathrow, on American, from March 31 to October 26

San Francisco to Delhi, on United, starts December 5
San Francisco to Amsterdam, on United, starts March 30
San Francisco to Lisbon, on TAP Air Portugal, starts June 10
San Francisco to Melbourne, on United, starts October 29
San Francisco to Milan/Malpensa, on Air Italy, starting April 10
San Francisco to Tel Aviv, on El Al, starts May 13

Seattle to Hong Kong, on Cathay Pacific, starting March 31
Seattle to Osaka/Kansai, on Delta, starts April 1
Seattle to Singapore, on Singapore Airlines, starting September 3
Seattle to Tokyo/Narita, on Japan Airlines, starting March 31

Tampa to Amsterdam, on Delta, starts May 23

Washington/Dulles to Lisbon, on TAP Air Portugal, starts June 16
Washington/Dulles to Rome, on Alitalia, starting May 2
Washington/Dulles to Tel Aviv, on United, starts May 22

 

Be a smarter traveler: Read real travelers’ reviews of Wendy’s WOW List and use it to plan your next trip. You can also follow her on Facebook, Twitter @wendyperrin, and Instagram @wendyperrin, and sign up for her weekly newsletter to stay in the know.

Fakarava island in french polynesia with canoe on turquoise blue water

New Flight Routes That Could Improve Your 2018 Travels

Leave a reply

At the start of each new year, as I plot out my travels for the year ahead, I like to look at the new routes and flights being launched. That’s not just because airlines sometimes offer special fares on introductory routes. It’s because these added flights indicate which places are growing in popularity and thus are best visited sooner rather than later (when they could get overrun).

It’s not at all surprising to see airlines adding routes in 2018 to destinations that have skyrocketed in popularity, such as Iceland (which in the past few years has gone from blissfully empty to teeming with tour buses), Portugal (a hot spot, thanks to a buzzing architecture-and-design scene, stylish new hotels, and exciting new food and wine experiences) and Hawaii (which is currently so in-demand that top hotels are already almost sold out for the 2018 Christmas-New Year holiday). Personally, I’m most excited about the new non-stop from New York to the Azores, the sunny Atlantic islands off Portugal that will soon be reachable from JFK in only six hours.

These are the new flights, all from major U.S. hubs, that excite me the most:

Atlanta to Lisbon, Portugal, on Delta, starting May 24.

Chicago (O’Hare) to Venice, Italy, on American Airlines, starting May 4.
Chicago (O’Hare) to Vancouver, Canada, on American Airlines, starting May 4.
Chicago (O’Hare) to Calgary, Canada, on American Airlines, starting June 7.

Dallas to Reykjavik, Iceland, on American Airlines, starting June 7.

Houston to Sydney, Australia, on United, starting January 18.

Los Angeles (LAX) to Kona, on Hawaiian Airlines, starting March 12.
Los Angeles (Long Beach) to Honolulu, on Hawaiian Airlines, starting June 1.
Los Angeles (LAX) to Paris (CDG), on Delta, starting June 16.
Los Angeles (LAX) to Amsterdam, on Delta, starting June 16.
Los Angeles (LAX) to Shanghai, on Delta, starting July 2.

New York (Newark) to Porto, Portugal, on United, starting May 4.
New York (Newark) to Reykjavik, Iceland, on United, starting May 23.
New York (JFK) to the Azores (Ponta Delgada), Portugal, on Delta, starting May 24.
New York (JFK) to Nairobi, Kenya, on Kenya Airways, starting October 28.

Philadelphia to Dublin, on Aer Lingus, starting March 25.
Philadelphia to Budapest, on American Airlines, starting May 4.
Philadelphia to Prague, on American Airlines, starting May 4.

San Francisco (Oakland) to Kauai, on Hawaiian Airlines, starting April 12.
San Francisco (SFO) to Madrid, on Iberia Airlines, starting April 25.
San Francisco (SFO to Zurich, Switzerland, on United, starting June 7.
San Francisco (SFO) to Tahiti, on United, starting October 30.

Seattle to Paris (CDG), on Air France, starting March 25.
Seattle to Dublin, on Aer Lingus, starting May 18.

Washington, D.C. (Dulles) to Edinburgh, Scotland, on United, starting May 23.
Washington, D.C. (Dulles) to Hong Kong, on Cathay Pacific, starting September 15.

 

ALSO: Southwest Airlines has promised to start flying to Hawaii in 2018 from multiple U.S. hubs, but has not yet revealed where or when. Hurry up, Southwest. Travelers need those extra flights!

 

Be a smarter traveler: Read real travelers’ reviews of Wendy’s WOW List and use it to plan your next trip. You can also follow her on Facebook, Twitter @wendyperrin, and Instagram @wendyperrin, and sign up for her weekly newsletter to stay in the know.