The airline industry is always on the go, and here are 10 new airline announcements to help get attendees directly to major meetings cities in 2016 and 2017.
International
- Virgin Australia recently unveiled its Business Class product, dubbed “The Business,” to go along with the airline’s new Business Class Bar and Lounge. The product (in partnership with Delta) will be the only trans-Pacific alliance to offer lie-flat beds with direct aisle access on services between Australia and the United States. It will be featured on daily flights between Sydney (SYD) and Los Angeles (LAX) and will offer 37 individual private suites.
- Norwegian started weekly services on Thursdays from Paris (CDG) to Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (FLL) on Aug. 4. This announcement follows the two routes from Paris to New York (JFK) and Los Angeles (LAX) that the airline announced in July.
- New Orleans will continue its efforts to become known as an international destination with a new direct flight to Frankfurt, Germany (FRA), launching in May 2017, and additional plans to add more international direct flights to Europe in the future.
- American Airlines launched a flight between Los Angeles (LAX) and Auckland, New Zealand on June 23. The 13-hour flight will be in a new 787 Dreamliner.
- In May, Delta launched daily nonstop service between New York (JFK) and Edinburgh, Scotland (EDI). The carrier also plans to add a new nonstop route from New York (JFK) to Glasgow, Scotland (GLA) in May 2017. Earlier this summer, Delta also launched nonstop service between Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP) and Rome (FCO) as well as Reykjavik (KEF).
- United launched new service between San Francisco (SFO) to Singapore (SIN) on June 1. The 8,446-mile flight is now the longest 787 Dreamliner flight in the world.
North America
- Southwest debuted seven new routes this month, linking Milwaukee (MKE) to San Diego (SAN); Baltimore/Washington, D.C. (BWI) to Sacramento, Calif. (SMF); Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (FLL) to Nassau, The Bahamas (NAS); Los Angeles (LAX) to Pittsburgh (PIT); Nashville, Tenn. (BNA) to Charlotte, N.C. (CLT); and Portland, Ore. (PDX) to Burbank, Calif. (BUR) and Ontario, Calif. (ONT).
- JetBlue plans to offer regularly scheduled flights to Cuba between Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (FLL) and Santa Clara, Cuba (SNU) on Aug. 31. The airline will offer three flights per week until Oct. 1, when daily service will start. In November, the airline will connect Fort Lauderdale to two other popular Cuban cities: Camaguey (CMW) and Holguin (HOG).
- Later this year, Norwegian will launch flights from Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (FLL) to Guadeloupe (SFC) in the French Caribbean. The exact schedule has yet to be released, but the carrier states the new route will be available weekly on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
- Aeromexico announced a new flight from Mexico City (MEX) to Austin, Texas (AUS), which will start on Nov. 17. This route makes it the fourth Texas destination linking Mexico City to the state.
