The Wise Traveller brings the latest round-up of airline routes in 2026, with the opportunity for you to be transported to new locations and new adventures worldwide.
Indian airline IndiGo has launched nonstop flights to Athens, Greece, from both Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport and New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International.
The thrice-weekly services, which began late January, mean IndiGo is the only Indian carrier offering direct connectivity between the countries.
Iberia is expanding into secondary Brazilian cities with the launch of Madrid-Fortaleza three times a week service before ramping up to four in February. Iberia's Brazilian network already includes several flights to destinations such as São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.
AirAsia X is planning to recommence its highly frequented flights connecting Malaysia to South Korea's largest coastal city, Busan, cementing its position as the only airline in Malaysia to offer direct connectivity between the two major cities.
Set to commence operations on June 17, with a four-times-weekly frequency, this will mark the airline's 21st destination and the second in South Korea.
Meanwhile, Asia's best travel booking app, AirAsia MOVE (MOVE), has announced its first global airline partnership of 2026 with Air Arabia. Through this partnership, the budget carrier has authorised MOVE to distribute its flight inventory on the MOVE platform, connecting millions of users to the airline's extensive network.
Air Transat is planning a nonstop flight from North America to Tirana, with departures from Toronto Pearson International Airport from June onwards. The service is expected to run twice or three times a week and provide a seasonal escape route to the country's Adriatic coastline.
Turkish Airlines has entered into a codeshare partnership with Air Montenegro to enhance connectivity between Turkey and Montenegro. Under the agreement, Turkish Airlines will place its code on Air Montenegro-operated flights between Istanbul and both Tivat and Podgorica. Air Montenegro will add its code to Turkish Airlines services between the two countries and on selected long-haul routes to Dubai and Baku. Turkish Airlines has also relaunched daily flights between Istanbul and Tirana, Albania.
Maldivian has a new service to Xi'an, becoming its fifth destination in mainland China. The service from Male's Velana International Airport to Xi'an Xianyang International Airport will operate weekly via Bangkok Suvarnabhumi International Airport through to March 1.
Gulf Air will launch two new seasonal leisure routes for summer 2026, adding Malaga, Spain, and Al Alamein, Egypt, to its network. Both routes will operate twice a week, with services to Malaga beginning June 15 and flights to Al Alamein on June 18. The carrier will also begin flying to New York's JFK International Airport from October.
Air Canada has a new long-haul route from Montreal to Catania/Fontanarossa Airport in Sicily from this summer. The three-times-weekly service begins on June 4.
Air Canada will begin winter-season flights from Vancouver to Sapporo, Japan, from December 17 onwards. The carrier says it will operate three flights per week through to March 2027.
Executive Vice President and CCO Mark Galardo said: "With this new service, Air Canada is reinforcing its Vancouver hub as North America's second-largest Pacific gateway, building on strong premium leisure and ongoing travel demand to Japan."
Alaska Airlines has revealed plans for its first long-haul nonstop European flight, launching a four-weekly service to Rome, Italy, this summer. American Airlines has also unveiled a new European flight to its network, with a Philadelphia-to-Budapest service enabling passengers to access Central Europe. The daily flight will begin May 21 and is the only nonstop service from the US to Hungary's capital.
Air China has launched a new nonstop flight between Beijing and Abu Dhabi, the first nonstop service linking the capitals by a Chinese airline. The service will run four round-trips per week and aligns with Air China's expansion of its Middle Eastern network.
Abu Dhabi will remain incredibly busy with new routes this year as Etihad Airways has unveiled routes to Zanzibar, Salala, Palma Mallorca, Damascus, Charlotte, and Baku, among 30 new routes in total across 2026.
Andy Probert is a freelance journalist whose work about global travel news, aviation, business and human-interest features has appeared internationally in print and digital formats.
