Airlines often update their networks, and BTN is providing a list of select new airline destination announcements. Help keep BTN up to date by sending network development news to BTN senior transportation editor Donna M. Airoldi at [email protected].
May 2026 Announcements
For the week ending May 29
Delta Air Lines on Nov. 21 will launch nonstop service between Los Angeles and Vancouver, B.C., the carrier announced May 29. Flights will operate twice daily with Airbus A319 aircraft.
Lufthansa on Oct. 25 will launch nonstop service between Frankfurt and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the carrier announced May 28. Flights will operate five times weekly with Boeing 787-9 aircraft, which will include the Lufthansa's Allegris cabin.
Avianca on July 15 will launch flights between Fort Lauderdale and each Barranquilla and Cali in Colombia, the carrier announced May 28. The routes will operate daily. In addition, Avianca on Aug. 28 will launch daily flights between Bogotá, Colombia, and Maracaibo, Venezuela, the carrier announced May 26. The route will operate with Airbus A320 aircraft configured with 180 seats. Tickets for all three routes became available for sale this week.
Aer Lingus launched Dublin-Pittsburgh service, the carrier announced May 25. Flights will operate four times weekly with Airbus A321neo LR aircraft. With the launch, Pittsburgh is Aer Lingus' 24th North American destination, according to the carrier.
For the week ending May 22
Alaska Airlines launched daily nonstop service between Seattle and London Heathrow, the carrier announced May 21. The service will operate year-round. The carrier on May 28 also will begin seasonal daily nonstop service to Reykjavik, Iceland, making it the third European destination in its network, following the launch of Seattle-Rome service in April.
Porter Airlines has launched service between Toronto Pearson and Austin, Texas, the carrier announced May 21. The nonstop, year-round route will operate five times weekly with Embraer E195-E2 aircraft.
Delta Air Lines has further extended its temporary suspension of flights between Atlanta and Tel Aviv until Dec. 18, the carrier announced May 20. New York JFK-Tel Aviv service still is planned to resume Sept. 6. New Boston-Tel Aviv service remains delayed until further notice.
American Airlines also has extended its suspension of New York JFK-Tel Aviv and Philadelphia-Doha flights through Jan. 6, 2027, according to the carrier's website. Doha service has been suspended since March 2026 and Tel Aviv service since October 2023.
Air New Zealand this fall will relaunch three nonstop international routes from Christchurch, the carrier announced May 20. The first begins Oct. 28 between Christchurch and Singapore, a route last operated in 2020. On Nov. 28, flights will begin to and from Tokyo Narita, a route last operated in 2015. On Nov. 30, the carrier will begin flights between Christchurch and Perth, Australia, a route last operated in 2019.
Swiss in October will launch nonstop service between Zurich and Bengaluru, India, the carrier announced May 19. Flights will operate five times weekly on aircraft configured with three classes: first, business and economy.
Qatar Airways on July 2 will launch service between Doha and Port Sudan, Sudan, the carrier announced May 18. Flights will operate three times weekly. In addition, the carrier is increasing frequencies on routes between Doha and each Alexandria and Cairo, Egypt; Cape Town, South Africa; and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. It also is increasing frequencies on its flights between Lusaka, Zambia, and Harare, Zimbabwe, as well as between Maputo, Mozambique
For the week ending May 15
Porter Airlines has launched new service between Boston and each Toronto Pearson and Montreal Trudeau airports, the carrier announced May 14. The Toronto route will operate 14 times weekly with Embraer E195-E2 aircraft. The Montreal route will operate seven times weekly with De Havilland Dash 8-400 aircraft.
United Airlines on Oct. 24 will launch daily year-round service between Chicago and Tokyo Narita, supplementing its Chicago-Tokyo Haneda service, the carrier announced May 14. Flights are expected to operate with Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft. United also on Dec. 11 plans to begin seasonal winter service between San Francisco and Sapporo. The route will operate three times weekly through March 2027 with Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft.
In addition, United on Aug. 11 will resume daily flights between Houston and Caracas, Venezuela, the carrier announced May 12. United suspended service to Venezuela in June 2017. The route will operate with Boeing 737 Max-8 aircraft. Further, United on May 8 began operating flights between Newark and Glasgow, Scotland. The carrier had announced the addition in October 2025. The last time United operated the route was in October 2019.
Alaska Airlines on May 13 launched seasonal nonstop daily service between Honolulu and Burbank, Calif.Flights will operate daily with Boeing 737 Max-8 aircraft through Aug. 18. The carrier initially announced the new route in October 2025.
JetBlue on May 11 launched daily nonstop service between Boston and Milan. Flights will operate for the summer season on Airbus A321 aircraft configured with the carrier's Mint product featuring fully lie-flat private suites. With the new route, JetBlue now offers nonstop service to nine European destinations with flights from New York and Boston, according to the carrier.
Porter Airlines on May 11 launched daily service between Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport and Nashville, operating with De Havilland Dash 8-400 aircraft. On May 12, the carrier reintroduced service between Toronto Pearson and Quebec City with 12 weekly roundtrip flights operated with Embraer E195-E2 aircraft configured with 132 seats.
Qatar Airways on July 22 will launch service between Doha and Caracas, Venezuela, via Bogotá, Colombia, the carrier announced May 11. Flights will operate twice weekly. The two cities will become Qatar Airways' 15th and 16th destinations in the Americas, according to the carrier.
Singapore Airlines on Oct. 26 will launch Singapore-Barcelona-Madrid service, operating five times weekly, the carrier announced May 8. Once that route is active, the carrier will cancel the three-times-weekly Singapore-Milan-Barcelona service.
El Al has begun selling tickets for new routes between Tel Aviv and each Hanoi, Seoul and Buenos Aires, the carrier has announced. Those routes are scheduled to start in October 2026, March 2027 and November 2026, respectively. El Al also will begin flying to Manila in the Philippines, but it did not announce a date. Buenos Aires flights will operate twice weekly. The Asian routes will operate three times weekly.
For the week ending May 8
Alaska Airlines on Sept. 8 plans to relaunch flights between Seattle and Long Beach, Calif., the carrier announced May 7. Flights will operate twice daily year-round on Boeing 737 aircraft. The last time Alaska operated the route was a decade ago, according to the carrier.
United Airlines will increase its Florida service in light of the closure of Spirit Airlines, the carrier announced May 6. On Oct. 25 it will launch new service between Los Angeles and Fort Lauderdale. The service will operate five times weekly, and on Dec. 17 increase to twice daily through the peak winter schedule. The carrier also is increasing its peak-day frequencies to six on service between Fort Lauderdale and Houston. United will add a fifth frequency to flights between Orlando and Fort Lauderdale for May 21 to May 31. In addition, the carrier will upgauge one daily roundtrip between Chicago and Orlando to a Boeing 777HD widebody aircraft from a narrowbody plane, adding 328 more seats on the route, which operates seven peak-day frequencies.
Southwest Airlines will expand its service for Las Vegas and Orlando, the carrier announced May 4. Between May 2026 and March 2027, Southwest plans to add new nonstop service between Las Vegas and each Anchorage; Boston; Hilo; Knoxville; Miami; Philadelphia; San José, Costa Rica; and Cancun, Puerto Vallarta and San Jose del Cabo in Mexico. Southwest also will add frequencies on 15 existing Las Vegas routes. For Orlando, new routes include flights to and from each Little Rock and Wichita, beginning in June, and San Jose, Calif., set to start in November. The carrier between June and November also plans to increase frequencies on 17 existing Orlando routes.
JetBlue in the coming months plans to continue its Fort Lauderdale expansion with six new "JetBlue cities" connected to Fort Lauderdale, and five new nonstop routes to and from existing JetBlue destinations, the carrier announced May 2. Beginning July 9, JetBlue will launch nonstop service between Fort Lauderdale and each Nashville, Tenn. (three times daily), Detroit (twice daily), Houston (three times daily), Chicago (twice daily), Ponce, Puerto Rico, (daily), Baltimore (three times daily) and Charlotte (three times daily). Flights to and from Barranquilla, Colombia, begin Oct. 1, while daily service to Cali, Colombia, will start Oct. 15. On Nov. 2, JetBlue will launch daily service between Fort Lauderdale and each Columbus, Ohio, and Indianapolis. In addition, the carrier on Nov. 2 will begin daily service between Baltimore and San Juan, P.R.
Delta in November plans to add new service between Los Angeles and Florida, the carrier recently announced. Year-round flights to Tampa will start Nov. 9 and operate three times daily. Delta on Nov. 20 will launch nonstop flights to Palm Beach. Also on Nov. 20, the carrier will increase flights between LAX and Orlando to five times daily.
Air India on May 1 launched new nonstop service between Delhi and Hanoi, Vietnam. The route will operate five times weekly on Airbus A320neo aircraft configured with business, premium economy and economy classes.
ITA Airways on May 1 launched its nonstop service between Rome and Houston, the carrier announced. Flights operated with Airbus A330-900 aircraft. The new route initially will operate three times weekly, increasing to five times weekly from June 1. In addition, ITA Airways on Nov. 30 will launch seasonal flights between Rome and Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. The route initially will operate with one flight weekly and increase to twice weekly from Dec. 14 on Airbus A330neo aircraft configured with business, premium economy and economy classes.