New airline routes connect key global markets amid shifting industry trends

Royal Brunei Airlines introduced a temporary Tuesday-only nonstop flight between Bandar Seri Begawan and London Gatwick using a Boeing 787-8. This seasonal service will run until August 19 to meet higher demand during school holidays. The flight lasts approximately 15 hours and 25 minutes each way, making it temporarily the UK's second-longest nonstop connection. It supplements Royal Brunei’s existing services to Heathrow via Dubai.

Korean Air marked thirty years of continuous passenger service between Seoul and Washington Dulles International Airport. Since launching in July 1995, Korean Air has carried nearly 3.5 million passengers on this route—about five percent of its total US traffic according to US Department of Transportation data (https://www.transportation.gov/). The airline now operates daily flights with a Boeing 777-300ER featuring first class cabins.

Centrum Air, an Uzbek carrier established in 2023, continues expanding its international network with two new routes: Tashkent-Seoul Incheon (twice weekly) using an A321neo starting July 25; and Samarkand-Sochi (twice weekly) with an A320neo starting July 23. Earlier in July, Centrum Air launched several other regional connections including Tashkent-Bangkok and Tashkent-Jeddah.

Icelandic low-cost airline PLAY started operating twice-weekly flights from Keflavik to Valencia on July 22 using an A320neo—the first regular service for this city pair. As PLAY ends its North American operations along with some Northern European routes that depended on transatlantic connectivity, it is focusing more on point-to-point leisure destinations across Southern Europe and Türkiye.