The most notable routes launched during this period: ITA flies to Miami and Boston; Qatar Airways launches several flights to Nigeria; Saudi Arabia resumes flights to Bangkok after a 30-year hiatus!
We are starting a series of articles about the most notable routes that will be launched in the next period. COVID rules have been removed from most countries in the world, and airlines are launching new routes and resuming flights on many other routes that were suspended during the pandemic. We will compile information globally and regionally, so all we have to do is let it work.
ITA Airways flies to Miami and Boston
The beginning of March came with two new routes linking Italy to the United States. The new ITA Airways has inaugurated the Rome Fiumicino - Miami and Rome Fiumicino - Boston routes. Obviously, these routes were previously served by Alitalia. The new routes to the United States join the existing Rome-New York.
All flights will be honored with Airbus A330-200 aircraft, the only widebody model in the ITA Airways fleet. They have a total of 256 seats, of which 20 are in business class, 17 seats in premium economy and 219 in economy class.
Saudi Arabia has resumed flights to Bangkok after a 30-year hiatus
Saudi Arabia, the national airline of Saudi Arabia, has resumed flights to Bangkok, Thailand, after a hiatus of more than 30 years. Diplomatic relations between the two countries will also be restored.
During all this time, there were passengers between the two states, but they used the services of other airlines. In 2019, more than 70 passengers traveled between Saudi Arabia and Thailand, mainly through the Muscat and Abu Dhabi hubs.
Direct flights between the two states have been banned so far. But March 2022 marks the start of the Jeddah-Riyadh-Bangkok route on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
Qatar Airways opens two new routes in Africa
Qatar Airways has started flying to Doha - Kano (4 times a week via Abuja) and Doha - Port Harcourt (3 times a week via Abuja). They join the existing Nigerian network of Qatar Airways, which includes two daily flights to Lagos and one daily flight to Abuja. All flights are operated by Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft.
Lagos - Dubai with Air Peace from Nigeria
The route Lagos - Dubai receives the second carrier after Emirates. From March 1, Nigeria's Air Peace began flying on the Lagos-Dubai route, providing 3 weekly rotations on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays.
RYANAIR has inaugurated the Porto - Fez route
Starting March 3, 2022, RYANAIR started flying on the route Porto - Fez. It is RYANAIR's third Moroccan destination to be served from its base in Porto. Ryanair also flies to Marrakech (November 2010-March 2012, then October 2018-present) and added the tourist destination Agadir in November 2021.
This week, RYANAIR has more departures from Porto than any other airline (215 out of 645; 33%) through a network of 51 routes. In Fez, RYANAIR has 53 of the 101 departures (52%) with 25 routes.
Edelweiss returned to Florida
After a two-year absence, Zurich is back in Tampa. The Swiss recreational carrier Edelweiss reintroduced the 4.878-mile (7.851 km) long route on March 2 and was its first resumed route in the United States. Edelweiss flies Wednesday and Friday on the Zurich-Tampa route, using 340-seat A300-314 aircraft.