Travellers are presently seeing airlines ramp up routes and capacity, with some focused on more long-haul flights. As airlines begin to flex their wings and tap global demand for flying, here is a rundown of some routes that tourists could find themselves taking soon:
Air France
France is likely to be on the hot list for tourists, given that 2024 is the Olympic Games and will be hosted in Paris. The French carrier has launched a new weekly route between Raleigh-Durham Airport, South Africa and Paris CDG. If sports aren't your thing, the iconic Eiffel Tower and the Louvre will prove overwhelmingly tempting. The reopening to the public of Notre Dame de Paris Cathedral later in the year will be a crowning glory.
Tulum Airport
Located in Mexico's Riviera Maya, the new airport at Tulum is set to see major US interest ramp up. Delta is offering a daily route from Atlanta to Tulum starting March 28, while American Airlines and United Airlines are also following suit. The interest in Tulum is due to its location in such sites as the Ahau Tulum Sculpture Park and the Tulum Archaeological Site.
Turkish Airlines
Turkish Airlines seems to have new and exciting routes every year, so it is no surprise it is looking to roll out a flight to Detroit from Istanbul and also to Melbourne, Australia. Detroit will benefit from a thrice-weekly service. There are also plans to fly into Denver later in the year.
Flydubai
The airline based in Dubai has launched new routes into Europe, including direct flights to Basel, Switzerland; Riga, Latvia; Tallinn, Estonia; and Vilnius, Lithuania. This makes it the first UAE national carrier to operate direct flights to such destinations.
Air Arabia
In April, Egypt's Air Arabia will launch a new direct flight from Cairo to Istanbul's Sabiha Gökçen International Airport. The airline plans to operate three weekly flights.
Qatar Airways
Qatar Airways, which already has an expansive network, has announced the commencement of a new flight to Medan in Indonesia.
Lufthansa
The German-based carrier will expand its routes by revisiting one it left some years prior. It will resume its service to Hyderabad, in Telangana state, one of India's most populous cities. This was previously offered between Frankfurt and Hyderabad in 2011. The route will begin operating five weekly flights.
Air China
The airline has announced it will add a fifth weekly frequency between Beijing Capital International Airport and Geneva Airport in Switzerland, starting April 1. Another noteworthy route is operating daily flights from London Gatwick Airport (LGW) to Beijing starting June 1.
Vueling
The Spanish operator will launch two new routes from London Heathrow in 2024, with two daily flights to Barcelona El Prat Airport and a daily flight to Paris Orly Airport.
Best of the Rest
India-based Ajasa Air will launch its inaugural international flight from Mumbai to Doha in Qatar with four flights per week, starting in March. Asiana Airlines in South Korea will launch four weekly flights to Melbourne, Australia, in July, while Pakistan's Fly Jinnah will launch its first international route, Islamabad, to Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, on a twice-daily turnaround.
Andy Probert is an independent journalist based in Turkey. He writes about travel, aviation, new tech and business. His work has appeared on the BBC, in The Daily Telegraph, Hurriyet Daily News and other newspapers worldwide.
