Turkish Airlines expanded its network by launching daily flights from Istanbul to Seville on September 17. Seville is Spain’s fourth most populous metropolitan area and a significant tourist destination. The inaugural round-trip used a Boeing 777-300ER for press and dignitaries; regular service uses the Boeing 737 MAX 8. On the same day, Turkish Airlines began flying three times weekly to Port Sudan using Boeing 737-800/900 aircraft. This marks Turkish Airlines’ return to Sudan after suspending Khartoum operations in 2023 due to civil war. The carrier now competes directly with Badr Airlines on this route.
Air Tanzania introduced its first-ever service between Dar es Salaam and Lagos on September 19 using a Boeing 787-8 for the inaugural flight; subsequent thrice-weekly operations use a two-class Boeing 737 MAX 9 for what is now Air Tanzania’s longest narrowbody route at over 4,200 kilometers each way. Despite fewer than ten thousand annual round-trip local passengers in this market, Air Tanzania aims to attract connecting travelers bound for destinations such as Harare, Johannesburg (which has higher passenger numbers), and Zanzibar.
Vueling launched Córdoba’s first scheduled air link with Barcelona using an Airbus A320ceo twice weekly. Córdoba becomes Vueling’s sixth Andalusian destination alongside Almería, Granada, Jerez, Malaga, and Seville. While Córdoba is Andalucía’s third-largest city by population, its proximity to better-served airports in Malaga and Seville may limit demand.
Royal Air Maroc returned to Cape Verde after eight years by starting Casablanca-Sal flights on September 19 with a twice-weekly Embraer E190 service—the airline's lowest-capacity jet equipment. With only several hundred local passengers annually between Morocco and Cape Verde, Royal Air Maroc expects most traffic will come via connections through Casablanca airport coordinated for onward travel across Europe.
Akasa Air debuted in Phuket with daily Mumbai-Phuket flights using Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft beginning September 20. Akasa joins IndiGo (operating two daily A320neo/A321neo flights) and Thai VietJet Air (four weekly A320ceo services) as carriers serving this rapidly growing market between India and Thailand's popular tourist island of Phuket.
Recent data show that over 800,000 round-trip passengers traveled between India and Phuket last year—a rise of about sixty percent compared to figures from two years earlier—and available seat capacity has increased seven percent year-on-year in response to rising demand.
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