Airlines increasing routes in August

Around the world, airlines are beginning to increase the number and frequency of services, as the airline industry starts the fightback and paves the way to global economic recovery .

We’ve taken a look at what plans some of the world’s leading airlines have to bolster their schedules this month.

British Airways

Throughout August, British Airways is resuming flying to more destinations, albeit with continued low frequencies while the impact of Covid-19 remains felt across the globe.

In Europe flights will resume to the holiday destinations of Bari, Bastia, Bodrum, Bordeaux, Catania, Figari, Frankfurt, Genoa, Kefalonia, Lyon, Luxembourg, Malta, Paphos and Pula, while further afield Antigua, Islamabad and Nairobi join the long-haul line-up.

Air France

Air France plans a gradual frequency increase throughout the summer period, reaching 20% of the capacity initially planned for June, 35% in July and now, 40% this month. It is planning to reach of 80% of its pre-Covid global network having flights, with reduced frequencies, during the summer.

KLM

In terms of numbers of destinations, KLM is virtually at pre-Covid-19 levels.  Between now and October, KLM will be serving 91 destinations, just one fewer than the same period last year, and up from 72 in July.

Lufthansa

Last month, Lufthansa announced that Birmingham-Munich, Edinburgh-Frankfurt and Glasgow-Frankfurt would be reintroduced in August, while London City-Frankfurt would return in October.  However, the airline has subsequently brought forward – to 7 September – the return of the latter service.

United Airlines

United announced the return of the San Francisco route from Heathrow this month as well as Chicago to Brussels and Frankfurt, and Newark to Brussels, Munich and Zurich. Overall United will be serving 25% of its usual international schedules, up from 16% last month.

Delta Air Lines

Following the reintroduction of a number of routes in July, Delta has announced it will continue to offer a robust, connection-friendly network in August, flying more than 3,000 daily departures and serving 239 destinations worldwide, including 206 markets in the U.S. and 33 internationally.

American

American Airlines increased domestic flights and reopened Admirals Club lounges earlier in the summer, as well as resuming flights from Charlotte, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Raleigh-Durham to Heathrow, from where it now operates at Terminal 5.  The airline has also announced a strategic partnership with Jetblue which, it claims, will increase American’s schedule to further European, African, Indian and South American routes.

Ryanair

Ryanair will increase flights to over 60% of its normal schedule throughout August, following what it said was a successful resumption of services at 40% of capacity last month.

easyJet

easyJet announced earlier in the summer that it intended to increase the routes it operates to 75% of normal, in August, up from 50% in July.

If you plan to book flights on these – or any other airlines – this month, contact your GTM Account Manager.