A Look Back at 2018’s Biggest Routes

There is no denying that 2018 was a big year for new airline routes. It seemed like, just about every month, airlines were doing their best to create hype new routes. So let’s take a moment to look back at 2018’s biggest routes.

Singapore Airlines

Singapore Airlines launched the longest flight in the world back on Oct. 11 of 2018. That 18-hour flight connects Newark and Singapore daily. One piece of good news for any daring travelers who decide to book the route is that no economy section is being offered. That means that the worst you can do on Singapore’s A350-900ULR aircraft is premium economy.

United

United also made headlines when it launched new direct flights from Chicago to Auckland. In addition, expanded service from San Francisco to Auckland and Tahiti came into the picture in 2018. These flights definitely helped to make some destinations that had been notoriously hard to reach much easier to visit. While visitors can get to Auckland from San Francisco on a daily basis, flights to Tahiti only take off three days a week right now.

Spirit Airlines

Travelers in the United States looking to get to warm-weather destinations on a dime rejoiced when Spirit Airlines added routes from Orlando to Central America and the Caribbean in 2018. The list of new destinations serviced by Spirit now includes Aguadilla, Guatemala City, Santo Domingo and Panama City. The budget carrier sprinkled in a mix of daily, weekly and several-times-weekly flights when crafting its new roster.

The Rest

European airlines also added some new routes in 2018. Norwegian Air added flights from Florida to London and Stockholm in the fall. British Airways made a lot of people happy when it launched a three-times-per-week flight between London Gatwick and Las Vegas in March. In addition, 2018 brought us seasonal flights between Dallas and Reykjavik from United, seasonal flights between Chicago and Venice from American, flights between Dublin and Philadelphia from Aer Lingus and flights between Paris and Seattle from Air France.

The Future

It looks like 2019 will also be a big year for route expansions. American Airlines has huge plans to offer more flights out of Dallas this year. Here’s a look at the routes that will either be introduced or expanded at various points throughout 2019:

• Dallas (DFW) to Augusta, Georgia (AGS)

• Dallas (DFW) to Gainesville, Florida (GNV)

• Dallas (DFW) to Yuma, Arizona (YUM)

• Dallas (DFW) to Bakersfield, California (BFL)

• Dallas (DFW) to Monterey, California (MRY)

• Dallas (DFW) to Flagstaff, Arizona (FLG)

• Dallas (DFW) to Burbank, California (BUR)

• Dallas (DFW) to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic (SDQ)

• Dallas (DFW) to San Pedro Sula, Honduras (SAP)

• Dallas (DFW) to Tegucigalpa, Honduras (TGU)

You won’t miss out totally if flying out of Dallas isn’t for you. American is also offering some new routes that don’t involve its Dallas hub in 2019. Here’s a look at those routes:

• Miami (MIA) to Santiago, Cuba (SCU)

• Dallas (DFW) to Durango, Mexico (DGO)

• New York (LGA) to Aruba (AUA)

• Charlotte (CLT) to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic (SDQ)

How many of the routes that were introduced in 2019 will make it to the end of 2019? It’s hard to say. Airlines have a habit of quickly getting rid of underperforming routes. Kenya Airways was forced to decrease the frequency of its direct flights between New York and Nairobi due to low demand just weeks after launching the route.

[Image: Wikimedia/Jpatokal]