New airline routes connect major cities across Asia, Europe, and North America

After a 13-year hiatus due to the Syrian civil war, Istanbul-Aleppo flights have resumed. Turkish Airlines now flies daily from Istanbul Airport using Boeing 737-800/737-900 aircraft. AJet began daily service from Sabiha Gökçen the following day with a Boeing 737-800. This comes six months after flights resumed between Turkey and Damascus.

Aleppo’s renewed connectivity will help serve members of the Syrian diaspora across Europe; large populations reside in Germany’s North Rhine-Westphalia region as well as Berlin.

Wizz Air UK has introduced two new routes from London Gatwick: Medinah in Saudi Arabia and Warsaw Chopin in Poland. The Medinah route operates overnight with an Airbus A321XLR and is currently the only UK-Medinah connection available. It is Wizz Air’s second-longest route by duration after Gatwick-Jeddah. The Warsaw Chopin route marks Wizz Air’s return since easyJet ceased operations on it in 2019; previously several other carriers had served this market.

Batik Air Malaysia has begun flying four times weekly between Subang (Kuala Lumpur) and Bangkok Don Mueang using Boeing 737-800 aircraft—reportedly the first direct service between these airports. This supplements Batik’s existing Kuala Lumpur International–Suvarnabhumi operation. Between Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok airports collectively there are about twenty daily flights; AirAsia leads in frequency followed by Malaysia Airlines, Batik Air Malaysia, and Thai Airways.

Etihad Airways’ first Airbus A321LR entered commercial service on August 1 operating Abu Dhabi–Phuket flights until late September before returning again next January. The aircraft replaces a larger Boeing 787-9 on this route for now.

Cathay Pacific has reinstated its Hong Kong–Brussels service after nearly five-and-a-half years away; four weekly year-round Airbus A350-900 flights are offered despite rerouting around Russian airspace like other European services operated by Cathay Pacific. Brussels joins eleven other European cities served by Cathay Pacific passenger jets including Amsterdam, Frankfurt, London Heathrow, Paris CDG, Zurich among others—with average frequencies down compared to pre-pandemic levels.