Flightline 48 - November 27, 2025

Royal Air Maroc (AT) has applied with the Department of Transportation (DOT) to begin service from Casablanca (CMN) to Los Angeles (LAX). The Moroccan flag carrier plans to launch Boeing 787 service in June.

Gulf Air (GF) will switch its Bahrain (BAH) to Moscow service from Domodedovo (DME) to Sheremetyevo (SVO) in early March. This daily route is flown by Airbus A320neo equipment.

Air Arabia (G9) will add 2x daily flights from Sharjah, United Arab Emirates (SHJ) to London Gatwick (LGW) on March 29. This route will be operated by Airbus A321neo LR equipment.

Centrum Air (C6) will add 2x weekly flights from Tashkent, Uzbekistan (TAS) to Frankfurt (FRA) on March 30.

Iberia (IB) will begin daily flights from Madrid (MAD) to Newark, N.J. (EWR) on March 29. An Airbus A321neo XLR is rostered on the route.

WestJet Encore (WR) is adding a daily Dash 8 from Vancouver (YVR) to Penticton (YYF) on May 15.

Look for Breeze Airways (MX) to add three new routes from Raleigh, N.C. (RDU) next year: Bangor, Maine (BGR), New York Stewart (SWF), and Vero Beach, Fla. (VRB). Breeze will also add Raleigh, N.C. to Santa Ana, Calif. (SNA) on May 29. This 2x weekly service replaces the Raleigh to Los Angeles sector.

Southwest Airlines (WN) is adding five new west coast routes this summer: Burbank, Calif. (BUR) and Ontario, Calif. (ONT) to Honolulu (HNL); Portland, Ore. (PDX) and Seattle (SEA) to Long Beach, Calif. (LGB); San Diego (SAN) to Santa Barbara, Calif. (SBA). Ontario to Honolulu starts on June 4 while the rest begin on August 4.

Air Transat (TS) will add 2x weekly seasonal service from Toronto Pearson (YYZ) to Accra, Ghana (ACC) next year. The route will operate on Wednesdays and Saturdays from June 17 through October 22.

Xiamen Airlines (MF) will add limited time daily flights from Nanjing (NKG) and Wuhan (WUH) to Singapore (SIN) from February 10 - 25. Both routes see a Boeing 737-800 put to work. On a side note, you’ve got to love that IATA code, although fellow Chinese airline Fuzhou Airlines has the better one - (FU).

Air Canada (AC) is adding a few more seasonal trans-Atlantic routes next summer: Halifax, N.S. (YHZ) to Brussels (BRU) from June 18 - September 6 on a Boeing 737 MAX 8; Montreal Trudeau (YUL) to Berlin (BER) from July 2 - October 11 on an Airbus A321neo XLR; Montreal Trudeau to Nantes, France (NTE) from June 10 - October 11 on a Boeing 737 MAX 8; Montreal Trudeau to Tel Aviv (TLV) from June 5 through October 24 on a Boeing 787-9. Toronto Pearson to Ponta Delgada, Portugal from June 11 through September 6. All routes are 3x weekly, with the exception of Tel Aviv, which will run 2x weekly.

WestJet (WS) will add a 3x weekly seasonal run from Winnipeg (YWG) to London, Ont. (YXU) from May 17 through September 13. This route, last flown in late 2017, will be operated by Boeing 737 MAX 8 equipment.

IndiGo (6E) will pause flights from Bhubaneswar (BBI) to Abu Dhabi (AUH) from mid-December through the end of March. The 3x weekly Airbus A320neo route resumes after that.

Ryanair (FR) will withdraw all service to the Azores at the end of March 2026, citing a combination of rising operating costs and limited government support. The carrier says airport fees charged by ANA Aeroportos de Portugal have become too high for a low fare model, and that air traffic control fees in the region have climbed significantly since the pandemic. A new two euro travel tax in Portugal adds another layer of cost, and Ryanair argues that it can redeploy aircraft to lower cost airports elsewhere in Europe. The move will end six routes and remove roughly four hundred thousand annual seats, which will reduce low fare connectivity for the islands and may lead to higher prices or fewer options for travelers.

BermudAir (2T) is ending flights from Bermuda (BDA) to Raleigh, N.C. and Richmond, Va. (RIC) by January 3.

Two passengers at Cologne, Germany (CGN) attempted an unauthorized dash onto the ramp after arriving too late for their Wizz Air (W6) flight to Bucharest (OTP). According to airport officials, the pair bypassed a secure door and ran toward the aircraft as it was already pushing back from the stand. Ground crews intercepted them before they reached the plane, and operations were briefly halted while security teams responded. The aircraft departed after a short delay and both passengers were detained for questioning. The incident is now under review for potential charges tied to airport security violations.

The Cathay Group, which includes Cathay Pacific Airways (CX) and HK Express (UO), recorded a 21 percent year-over-year increase in October passenger traffic. Cathay Pacific carried 2,604,215 passengers, a 29 percent rise from the prior year, operating 10,516 flights and filling nearly 86 percent of its available revenue seats. HK Express reported a 32 percent annual increase in October traffic, transporting 683,476 passengers on 4,064 flights, which produced a system-wide load factor of 76.5 percent.

Navi Mumbai (NMI), the new second airport for Mumbai, is set to open on Christmas Day, and Indian carriers are already scheduling service, with at least 16 routes set to start across three airlines when the airport opens.

Two United Airlines (UA) Boeing 737-900/ERs got into a brief scuffle at Houston Intercontinental (IAH) on November 18, with a wing on each aircraft exchanging glancing blows. Nobody was injured during the incident, which happened while one aircraft was taxiing and the other just pushing back. What the wing walkers were doing is anybody’s guess. N69806 and N68843 were the participants.

Air Baltic (BT) flew 477,200 passengers on 4,218 October flights, with the carrier realizing a system-wide load factor of 82.5 percent during the month.

Russian low-cost carrier Pobeda Airlines (DP) recently conducted an in-service test of a humanoid robot aboard a regular revenue flight, deploying “Volodya” to greet passengers, check boarding passes and perform a scripted safety demonstration alongside the human cabin crew.  The experiment took place on a domestic route in Russia and, while the robot did not handle any service functions or safety-critical tasks, the airline said the pilot event was designed to explore the role of robotics in the cabin environment.

SmartLynx Airlines (6Y) ceased all commercial operations Monday, following a comprehensive review of its financial health and long-term viability. Amid filing for legal protection in late October and a change in ownership just weeks earlier, the Latvian carrier concluded that continuing operations was no longer feasible under current conditions. While the broader group’s subsidiaries continue under different structures, the shutdown of the Latvian AOC after 33 years marks a significant development in the European ACMI and charter aviation landscape.

U.S. scheduled service airlines in September used 1.514 billion gallons of fuel, 9.7 percent less fuel than in August 2025 (1.677 billion gallons) and 1.2 percent less fuel than September 2024 (1.532 billion gallons). Airlines paid an average of $2.30 per gallon in September.

For those of you who love the Christmas markets in Frankfurt, perhaps you’ve wondered about flights from the U.S.? In December, seven passenger airlines combine to offer 1,062 flights from 24 U.S. cities to Frankfurt. 307,124 seats are available during the month; Lufthansa offers nearly 500 of the flights.

🇦🇺 There were 5.50 million passengers carried on Australian domestic commercial aviation (including charter operations) in September 2025, compared with 5.36 million in September 2024 (up 2.6 percent). This is also an increase of 1.4 percent on pre-COVID September 2019 passenger numbers (5.43 million). Melbourne (MEL) to Sydney (SYD) was Australia’s busiest route with 655,100 passengers, followed by Brisbane (BNE) to Sydney with 360,000 passengers and Brisbane to Melbourne with 317,900 passengers.

ITA Airways (AZ) is losing roughly $88,000 per day as Pratt and Whitney PW1000G powdered-metal defects force it to park 28 percent of its short-haul fleet. The grounding affects 22 A320neo family aircraft and has stretched shop-visit delays to nearly three hundred days. ITA projects about $162 million in long-term damage through 2030 while resorting to engine cannibalization and schedule adjustments.

easyJet (U2) reported a strong fiscal year 2025 with a Headline Profit Before Tax of £665 million, up nine percent year on year, supported by a surge in demand across primary airports and another standout performance from its easyJet Holidays unit, which delivered £250 million in profit. Group revenue passed ten billion pounds as the carrier continued its network reconfiguration, opening new bases at London Southend (SEN), Milan Linate (LIN), and Rome Fiumicino (FCO) while exiting Venice (VCE) and Toulouse (TLS). Fleet size reached 356 aircraft with nine new A320neo family deliveries and eight aircraft purchased off lease to reduce long term ownership costs. For FY26, easyJet expects moderate three percent seat growth and a 15 percent rise in holidays customers as it targets more than £1 billion in medium term profit.

China Cargo Airlines (CK) on November 20 commenced a three times weekly Boeing 777 freighter service between Shanghai Pudong (PVG) and Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG).

Western Global Airlines (KD) warned that its MD-11F grounding will last far longer than expected after Boeing advised that the aircraft require highly invasive inspections, repairs, and part replacements following the fatal United Parcel Service (5X) MD-11F crash in Louisville (SDF) earlier this month. The carrier said it had anticipated a quick return based on an earlier noninvasive inspection plan, but the updated guidance led to an undetermined outage for its MD-11F fleet, which forms the bulk of its 15 aircraft, although only three to five frames are active. Western Global has issued furlough notices to staff, reportedly pilots, beginning November 22, calling the situation untenable. The FAA issued an Emergency Airworthiness Directive for all MD-11F operators after the UPS jet’s left engine and pylon separated during takeoff.

🇦🇪 A6-LRH, an Airbus A321-251neo, was delivered to Etihad Airways (EY) on November 24.

🇶🇦 A7-AJG, an Airbus A321-251neo, was delivered to Qatar Airways (QR) on November 25.

🇨🇳 B-32P0, an Airbus A320-251neo, was delivered to China Southern Airlines (CZ) on November 25. Sister-ship B-32PQ followed on November 26.

🇨🇳 B-32PY, an Airbus A320-251neo, was delivered to Hainan Airlines (HU) on November 25.

🇨🇦 C-FKWS, a Boeing 737 MAX 8, was delivered to WestJet on November 25.

🇩🇪 D-AIIB, an Airbus A320-251neo, was delivered to Lufthansa CityLine (CL) on November 24.

🇺🇸 N14554, an Airbus A321-271neo, was delivered to United Airlines on November 25.

🇺🇸 N315UU, a Boeing 737 MAX 8, was delivered to American Airlines (AA) on November 24.

🇺🇸 N320BK, an Embraer E175, was delivered to Envoy Air (MQ) on November 24. Wears American Eagle livery.

🇺🇸 N37415, a Boeing 737 MAX 9, was delivered to United Airlines on November 25.

🇺🇸 N413FR, an Airbus A320-271neo, was delivered to Frontier Airlines (F9) on November 25.

🇺🇸 N821AK, a Boeing 737 MAX 8, was delivered to Alaska Airlines (AS) on November 25.

🇺🇸 N8983Q, a Boeing 737 MAX 8, was delivered to Southwest Airlines on November 25.

🇧🇷 PS-ADJ, an Embraer E195/E2, was delivered to Azul (AD) on November 24.

🇹🇷 TC-LPV, an Airbus A321-271neo, was delivered to Turkish Airlines (TK) on November 24.

🇮🇳 VT-NHH, an Airbus A321-251neo, was delivered to IndiGo on November 24.

🇲🇽 XA-TVB, an Airbus A320-271neo, was delivered to Volaris (Y4) on November 25.

🇪🇸 EC-MTL, an Airbus A319-111 with Volotea (V7), was withdrawn from use (wfu) and ferried on November 26 to St. Athans, Wales (DGX) for part-out and scrap.

🇪🇸 EC-NVQ, a Boeing 737-8AS with Air Europa (UX), was wfu and ferried on November 24 to St. Athans, Wales for part-out and scrap.

🇺🇸 N545US, a Boeing 757-251 with Delta Air Lines (DL), was wfu and ferried on November 26 to Victorville, Calif. (VCV) for part-out and scrap. This frame was delivered new to Northwest Airlines in June 1996 and had accumulated 89,762 hours and 29,002 cycles as of October 21.

🇳🇱 PH-HZX, a Boeing 737-8K2 with Transavia (HV), was wfu and ferried on November 25 to St. Athans, Wales for part-out and scrap.

🇹🇷 TC-SOT, a Boeing 737-8Z9 with Sun Express (XQ), was wfu and ferried on November 26 to Caude, Spain (CDT) for part-out and scrap.