February route roundup: Where airlines are adding service

Airlines are constantly tweaking their schedules, trying to find profitable new routes or pulling the plug on ones that have underperformed. Airports and communities also court these new services.

There are dozens of changes to airline routes each month. Here's a look at some of the most interesting from February.

Europe options multiply in the Northeast

Fliers in the Northeast will soon have a bevy of new options to get to Europe on Norwegian Air.

The fast-growing European discount carrier announced 10 new trans-Atlantic routes, all of which will come from smaller airports in the region that Norwegian does not currently fly to.

Providence was the big winner. Norwegian’s new flights will connect the city to five destinations in Europe: Belfast, Northern Ireland; Edinburgh, Scotland; and the Irish cities of Cork, Dublin and Shannon.

IN-DEPTH: Norwegian Air: $65 one-way fares from Northeast to Europe now on sale | Norwegian Air's $65 fares to Europe: What’s the catch?

Stewart International Airport in Newburgh, N.Y., also fared well, landing four routes to Europe. That airport – located about 70 miles north of Midtown Manhattan – will get the same routes as Providence, minus Cork.

Connecticut’s Bradley International Airport near Hartford will get non-stop service to Edinburgh.

The first of the new routes will launch June 15, and all 10 will be flying by July 3.

Norwegian's new service comes as it prepares to begin flying its first Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, which it will use for the flights from the three Northeast cities. To accommodate the service, Norwegian is opening 737 pilot bases in both Providence and Newburgh.

Pittsburgh’s got Spirit … 

Spirit Airlines announced a major expansion into Pittsburgh, which will become the 61st city in the carrier’s network.

The discount airline will enter the market with seven non-stop routes. Spirit’s first Pittsburgh flights launch May 25, when it begins daily service to both Dallas/Fort Worth and Myrtle Beach, S.C. The carrier will add five more routes – to Fort Lauderdale, Houston Bush Intercontinental, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Orlando – by July 13.

Spirit Airlines expands to Pittsburgh, adds 7 new routes

The new Pittsburgh service also will make Spirit a significant player in western Pennsylvania, where the airline already flies from the tiny Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Latrobe.Three of Spirit's five Latrobe destinations (Fort Lauderdale, Myrtle Beach and Orlando) overlap with its new service from Pittsburgh.

The Latrobe and Pittsburgh airports are only about 65 miles apart, bracketing the Pittsburgh metro area. Pittsburgh, the region’s primary airport, sits about 20 miles west of downtown. Latrobe, where Spirit is the sole passenger airline, is about 45 miles east of downtown Pittsburgh.

Despite the overlap, Spirit says it intends to keep service at each of the airports.

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… and Hartford does too 

Spirit will begin flying from Hartford this year with two routes to Florida and one to the South Carolina beach and golf resort of Myrtle Beach.

Spirit will be first so-called “ultra-low-cost carrier" to fly from Hartford. The business model of such airlines – which also include Frontier and Allegiant – features low base fares but extra charges for everything from carry-on bags to water.

Spirit’s first flights from Hartford will begin April 27 when it launches daily flights to Orlando and four-times-a-week service to Myrtle Beach. Daily service to Fort Lauderdale will start June 15. The Florida routes are intended to operate year-round; the South Carolina service will be seasonal.

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Asian discount giant takes aim at U.S. 

Malaysian budget carrier AirAsia X announced its first-ever route to the United States.

The airline – the long-haul unit of low-cost carrier AirAsia – will begin flying from Honolulu on June 28. AirAsia X will fly non-stop from Honolulu to Osaka/Kansai, Japan, with continuing service to its main hub in Kuala Lumpur.

IN-DEPTH: AirAsia announces $99 fares for first-ever U.S. destination

International expansion spree for Air Canada

Air Canada has been on a torrid international expansion spree during the past two years. Now the airline is looking south of the border to fill its overseas flights, trying to tempt Americans to connect via its hubs in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver.

Air Canada began its first-ever Asian route from Montreal this month, launching non-stop service to Shanghai with the carrier’s Boeing 787 Dreamliners.

The airline also is boosting its service to Israel, adding a summertime non-stop to Tel Aviv from Montreal and increasing the number of flights on its existing service from Toronto. The twice-weekly Montreal-Tel Aviv service starts June 22 and will run through Oct. 16.

IN DEPTH: New-look Air Canada woos Americans

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Aeromexico finds its way to San Jose

Mexico’s biggest airline will begin flying to Silicon Valley on July 1, launching non-stop service between San Jose and Guadalajara, Mexico.

Aeromexico’s arrival will give the Mineta San Jose International Airport service on 15 different carriers. It also will ramp up competition between San Jose and Mexico’s second-largest city. Aeromexico’s six-weekly Boeing 737 flights will compete head-to-head with daily service offered by both Alaska Airlines and Mexican budget carrier Volaris.

West Coast giant Alaska Airlines growing in California

Already a dominant carrier along the West Coast, Alaska Airlines is further beefing up its presence in the region with a new non-stop route from Southern California.

Beginning Aug. 18, Alaska Airlines will add service from Orange County’s John Wayne Airport to Albuquerque. Alaska Airlines' regional affiliate Horizon Air will fly one daily round-trip flight on 76-seat Embraer E175 jets.

The route continues Alaska's expansion at West Coast airports in recent years. Seattle is Alaska Air’s busiest hub followed by Portland, Ore., but the carrier has also added service in San Diego, Los Angeles, Salt Lake City and San Jose, among others.

TWITTER: You can follow Today in the Sky editor Ben Mutzabaugh at twitter.com/TodayInTheSky

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