Each year, airlines debut new routes in an effort to stay competitive and win the battle for your travel dollars.
With the focus on customer demand, that means phasing out unprofitable routes and initiating new ones to lure air travelers for 2019.
Look before you book: Best new airline routes for 2019
Perhaps the change that is getting the most attention is Southwest Airlines’ imminent entry into the Hawaiian market. Can you imagine two free checked bags to Maui?
Southwest caused much excitement among fliers in 2018 when it announced in an investor report that “Hawaii remains our expansion focus, and our goal is to begin selling tickets later this year.”
Southwest to Hawaii has been pushed back again and again, but word is that 2019 is the year. Money expert Clark Howard says that that should be a boon for travelers looking to say “Aloha” on the islands this year.
“We’re going to see deals to Hawaii month after month after month because everybody’s jockeying for position,” Clark said in a Facebook Live. “Hawaiian and Alaskan Airlines both dominate flights to Hawaii and they’re facing down the barrel of Southwest Airlines announcing their service.”
But the Southwest/Hawaii news isn’t the only thing to be excited about when it comes to new option for air travel this year.
Here are some great new routes air travelers can book in 2019
Note: Some of these routes won’t to be offered on a daily basis, and others will be seasonal. Here’s a fly-around, along with the dates the new route is in effect:
Aer Lingus
Beginning July 8: Minneapolis – Dublin
Air France
March 31: Atlanta – Paris
March 31: Dallas – Paris
Alitalia
May 2: Washington DC – Rome
American Airlines
December 19: Philadelphia – St. Thomas
December 22: NYC – St. Thomas
December 24: DFW – Key West (Saturday service through April 1)
February 16: Philadelphia – Orlando; Melbourne, Florida
February 16: Chicago – Key West (through August 31)
February 19: Seattle – El Paso
March 31: Charlotte – Munich
March 31-October 26: Phoenix – London
April: Boston – Honolulu
May 3: Chicago – Athens
May 3: Asheville – Philadelphia
May 3: Charlotte – Erie
April 2: Philadelphia – Bologna
April 2: Philadelphia – Edinburgh
June-September: Philadelphia – Berlin and Dubrovnik
June: Dallas – Dublin and Munich
June 6: Miami – Cordoba, Spain
Cayman Airways
March-September: Denver – Grand Cayman
Delta Air Lines
March 2-April 27: Boston – Sarasota
April 22: Atlanta – Ontario, California
May 23: Boston – Edinburgh
May 23: Boston – Lisbon
May 23: Tampa – Amsterdam
May 23: Atlanta – Hilton Head
June 29: Detroit – Honolulu
Frontier Airlines
December 6: Orlando – Portsmouth, New Hampshire
December 10: Sarasota – Atlanta
February 9: Orlando – Burlington, Vermont
February 10: Philadelphia – Montego Bay
April 30: Philadelphia – Raleigh, Atlanta, Las Vegas, Myrtle Beach, and Pensacola
April 30: Raleigh – Albany, New York; Hartford, Connecticut, Jacksonville, Islip/Long Island
May 1: Raleigh – Boston; Columbus, Ohio; Tampa
Hawaiian Airlines
April 4: Boston – Honolulu
JAL/American Airlines
March 31: Seattle – Tokyo (Narita)
JetBlue Airways
February 28: Ft. Lauderdale – Guayaquil, Ecuador
February 14-April 22: Boston – St. Thomas
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines
March 31: Boston – Amsterdam
June 6: Las Vegas – Amsterdam
Korean Air/KLM
April 12: Boston – Seoul-Incheon, Korea
Polish Airlines LOT
June 1: Warsaw – Miami
Singapore Airlines
September 3: Seattle – Changi-Singapore
Southwest Airlines
March 9: Cleveland – Tampa / Cincinnati – Orlando
March 9: St. Louis – Montego Bay and Punta Cana
March 9: Milwaukee, Pittsburgh, Raleigh-Durham, San Antonio – Cancun
March 9: Baltimore – Cabo San Lucas
June 9: Nashville – Burbank
June 9: Nashville – San Jose, California
June 9: Nashville – Norfolk
June 9: Nashville – Seattle
June 9: Nashville – Omaha
June 9: San Diego – Omaha
June 9: San Francisco – Ontario, California
June 9: Austin, Texas – Raleigh
June 15: Baltimore – Grand Cayman
June 15: Houston – Punta Cana
Spirit Airlines
February 14: Ft. Lauderdale – Punta Cana
United Airlines
January 6: Chicago – Key West (Saturday, Sunday through February 13)
Winter 2018/19: Washington, D.C.-Dulles – St. Thomas
Spring 2019: Los Angeles – Eugene, Madison, Wisconsin; and Pasco, Washington
March 30: San Francisco – Amsterdam
April 6: Chicago – Hilton Head
May 22: Washington D.C.-Dulles – Tel Aviv; 3x week
May 22-October 4: Newark – Naples, Italy
June 6-October 4: Newark – Prague
June 6: Denver – Fairbanks
June 6: Denver – Charleston, South Carolina
June 6: Denver – Eureka, California
WOW Air
Now through April 2019: Orlando – Reykjavik, Iceland
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