ROUTES & DESTINATIONS

Airport World provides a snapshot of the latest route development news from Stockholm Arlanda, Milan Malpensa, Budapest and Ireland’s Cork and Dublin airports.1.0.0.20

Tokyo back on Stockholm Arlanda’s flight schedule

Stockholm Arlanda will reconnect with Tokyo for the first time in 30 years when All Nippon Airways (ANA) launches a non-stop service to Haneda Airport in the summer of 2020.

According to airport operator, Swedavia, the service will offer the fastest route from Scandinavia to Japan, which is one of Sweden’s most important export markets in Asia.

“The new direct route has long been sought by Swedish export companies and will also boost the Swedish tourism industry,” said Swedavia CEO, Jonas Abrahamsson.

“We are really pleased that the connectivity between Sweden and Asia is now being significantly expanded with the investment ANA is making at Stockholm Arlanda.”

ANA’s senior vice president, Seiichi Takahashi, enthused: “There is growing demand to visit Japan, and ANA will increase its international service just as Haneda Airport also expands to adapt for inbound Japanese tourism.

“This new route will increase the ease and convenience for passengers flying to Japan, a significant benefit of our dual hub strategy.”

New Shanghai route for Dublin

China’s Juneyao Air is to launch a new twice weekly year-round service between Dublin and Shanghai in March 2020.

The new route is expected to enhance the growing trade, tourism and investment links between Ireland and China and beyond as the Shanghai based carrier offers onward connections to 40 other Chinese destinations, six cities in Japan and 10 other Asia-Pacific destinations, from its Pudong hub.

The new route will operate on Sundays and Thursdays, on a state-of-the-art Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft with a short stop in Helsinki on each leg.

Shanghai is already the most popular unserved mainland Chinese destination for Irish passengers, as there are currently 42,000 trips between Ireland and Shanghai every year.

“This new service is great news for the entire Irish economy,” notes Dublin Airport’s managing director, Vincent Harrison. “Shanghai is a major global economic hub and this new route will significantly boost Irish tourism and trade, making it easier for Irish firms to do business in China and enhancing the options for Chinese tourists wishing to visit Ireland.”

Malpensa’s growing route network

The long-haul carriers keep coming to Milan Malpensa, with EVA Air (Taipei), Gulf Air (Bahrain), and ANA (Tokyo) all announcing plans to introduce new services from next year, starting with the February 18 launch of four weekly flights from Taipei Taoyuan by the Taiwanese airline.

Andrea Tucci, vice president of aviation business development for airport operator, SEA, said: “Next year looks like a very promising already with three new long-haul route launches, especially as it comes after a successful, though challenging 2019.”

LOT continues to expand in Budapest

Higher than expected demand during the first two months of its new year-round Budapest-Seoul service has persuaded LOT Polish Airlines to increase frequency on the route to four weekly departures from May.

The Polish carrier has also announced its intention to launch its 12th and 13th routes from Budapest in June 2020 with the commencement of weekly services to Dubrovnik (Croatia) and Varna (Bulgaria).

Dutch delight for Cork

Cork Airport has welcomed the announcement that KLM Royal Dutch Airlines will launch a new daily Amsterdam service on March 30, 2020.

Adding an extra 41,000 seats from Cork Airport for the busy summer season, the new route will be operated by KLM subsidiary, KLM Cityhopper, using Embraer 175 and Embraer 190 aircraft, depending on the day of the week.

Airport managing director, Niall MacCarthy, said: “KLM is a fabulous airline and we’re really thrilled to welcome them to Cork Airport.”