On April 15th at 13:44 local time, the first scheduled flight of Hawaiian Airlines’ Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner took off from Honolulu Airport. 

After just over a month of certification and crew preparation flights, the 787 registered as N781HA entered service under flight HA 12/11 with the Honolulu – San Francisco route.

For the next few weeks, San Francisco will be the only destination for Hawaiian’s Boeing 787s. Beginning May 14th, flights will commence to Los Angeles, and to Phoenix effective May 15th.

The company’s second Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner is already in operation, having arrived in Honolulu from Charleston last April 11th (N780HA).

Avelo Airlines celebrated three years of regular services on April 28th. The carrier, at the time with its only base in Burbank, made its first flight to Santa Rosa (STS) using the Boeing 737-8F2, with registration N802XT.

Currently, Avelo has 7 Boeing 737-700s and 9 Boeing 737-800s, and 10 scheduled routes from/to Burbank.

We review other highlights of the U.S./Canada market during April:

• Aer Lingus resumed flights to Minneapolis after four years.

• Air Canada will operate between Montreal and Seoul.

• Alaska, Breeze, Southwest and Spirit will expand their domestic services.

• American will commence flights to Provo.

• Avelo will have services between Orlando and Miami.

• Delta and its new developments in the USA-Africa market.

• Flair will operate to Guadalajara from Toronto.

• GlobalX incorporates an Airbus A321 freighter.

• jetBlue will add its fifth connection to Europe this month.

• Pacific Coastal began operations between Vancouver and Penticton with Saab 340s.

• PAL intends to offer flights to the United States.

• Porter acquired two new Embraer E195 E-2s.

• Sun Country added aircraft to its fleet for the first time this year.

• Turkish will have services between Istanbul and Denver.

• United Airlines to open new routes from/to San Francisco.

• UPS took delivery of two new Boeing 767-300(F).

• WestJet started operations between Edmonton and Atlanta.

Aer Lingus

After a four-year suspension due to the pandemic, the airline has resumed services between Dublin and Minneapolis on April 29th. Aer Lingus will operate four flights per week on this route with Airbus A330-200s and Airbus A330-300s.

Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday

• EI 89  Dublin DUB 14:30 · 17:05 MSP Minneapolis
• EI 88  Minneapolis MSP 18:55 · 08:35+1 DUB Dublin

Routes to the United States and Canada – Aer Lingus

Dublin

• Boston (BOS): 14 weekly · Airbus A330-300
• Chicago (ORD): 14 weekly · A332/A333
• Cleveland (CLE): 4 weekly · Airbus A321NX
• Los Angeles (LAX): 7 weekly · A332/A333
• Minneapolis (MSP): 4 weekly · A332/A333
• Newark (EWR): 7 weekly · Airbus A321NX
• New York (JFK): 14 weekly · Airbus A330-300
• Orlando (MCO): 4 weekly · A332/A333
• Philadelphia (PHL): 7 weekly · Airbus A321NX
• San Francisco (SFO): 7 weekly · Airbus A330-300
• Seattle (SEA): 4 weekly · Airbus A330-200
• Toronto (YYZ): 7 weekly · A332/A333
• Washington (IAD): 14 weekly · Airbus A321NX
• Windsor Locks Bradley (BDL): 7 weekly · Airbus A321NX

Manchester

• New York (JFK): 7 weekly · Airbus A330-300
• Orlando (MCO): 4 weekly · Airbus A330-300

Shannon

• Boston (BOS): 7 weekly · Airbus A321NX
• New York (JFK): 7 weekly · Airbus A321NX

Air Canada

Seoul, Air Canada’s new regular destination from Montreal.

The company will begin this route effective June 18th, under the following schedule:

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday

• AC 067  Montreal YUL 12:35 · 16:25+1 ICN Seoul

Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday

• AC 068  Seoul ICN 18:00 · 18:30 YUL Montreal

Montreal will be Air Canada’s third destination to/from Seoul (Toronto and Vancouver have a daily frequency).

Air Transat

Following the end of the winter season, Czech Airlines’ Airbus A320-214, registration OK-IOO, returned to Europe.

Between January 31st and April 28th, the aircraft operated for Air Transat as C-GEXI.

According to our database, the A320, which has a 180-seat single-class configuration, mainly served the airline’s international routes to markets such as Cuba, Dominican Republic and Jamaica.

In the short term, the airplane will be back in service with Czech Airlines (CSA).

Alaska Airlines

Effective October 1st, the company will commence four new domestic routes, which will be focused on Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Pasco, Reno and San Diego.

These flights will be operated on 76-passenger Embraer 175s.

• Las Vegas (LAS) – Santa Rosa (STS): 7 weekly
• Los Angeles (LAX) – Pasco (PSC): 7 weekly
• Los Angeles (LAX) – Reno (RNO): 14 weekly
• San Diego (SAN) – Las Vegas (LAS): 22 weekly

American

The airline announced it will launch operations to Provo starting October 7th. In line with its website, American will offer two scheduled routes, which will be carried out with 65-seat CRJ-700 aircraft.

Dallas

Daily

• AA 4822  Dallas DFW 10:35 · 12:21 PVU Provo
• AA 4822  Provo PVU 12:51 · 16:41 DFW Dallas

Daily

• AA 4839  Dallas DFW 19:20 · 21:06 PVU Provo
• AA 4840  Provo PVU 05:20 · 09:10 DFW Dallas

Phoenix

Daily

• AA 4918  Phoenix PHX 12:15 · 14:58 PVU Provo
• AA 4918  Provo PVU 15:28 · 16:23 PHX Phoenix

Current routes to/from Provo

Allegiant

• Austin (AUS): 2 weekly · Airbus A319
• Chicago (MDW): 2 weekly · Airbus A320
• Houston (HOU): 2 weekly · Airbus A320
• Las Vegas (LAS): 2 weekly · Airbus A319
• Nashville (BNA): 2 weekly · Airbus A320
• Orlando (SFB): 2 weekly · Airbus A320
• Phoenix (AZA): 12 weekly · Airbus A320
• Phoenix (PHX): 2 weekly · Airbus A320
• Portland (PDX): 3 weekly · Airbus A320
• San Diego (SAN): 2 weekly · Airbus A320
• Santa Ana (SNA): 6 weekly · Airbus A320

Breeze

• Phoenix (PHX): 4 weekly · Airbus A220
• San Francisco (SFO): 4 weekly · Airbus A220
• Santa Ana (SNA): 12 weekly · Airbus A220

Avelo Airlines

The carrier will introduce seasonal services between Orlando and Miami on June 7th. Avelo will operate using Boeing 737-800s, as follows:

Friday

• XP 797  Orlando MCO 21:30 · 22:35 MIA Miami

Sunday

• XP 798  Miami MIA 14:30 · 15:40 MCO Orlando

Avelo will be competing with American and Delta on this route, which currently have 50 and 21 weekly flights, respectively.

Breeze

Starting in June, the company will launch seven domestic routes in the US, including new releases and restarts.

These services will be performed with 108-seat Embraer 190 aircraft.

• Myrtle Beach (MYR) – Scranton (AVP): 2 weekly · June 20th
• White Plains Westchester (HPN) – Portland (PWM): 2 weekly · June 20th
• Raleigh-Durham (RDU) – West Palm Beach (PBI): 2 weekly · June 21st
• Myrtle Beach (MYR) – Akron/Canton (CAK): 2 weekly · June 22nd
• Myrtle Beach (MYR) – White Plains Westchester (HPN): 2 weekly · June 22nd
• White Plains Westchester (HPN) – Jacksonville (JAX): 2 weekly · June 22nd
• White Plains Westchester (HPN) – Norfolk (ORF): 2 weekly · June 22nd

Delta Air Lines

The airline will resume services between New York and Lagos on December 1st after a two-year hiatus.

According to its website, Delta will operate a daily flight on this route with the following schedule:

Daily

• DL 298  New York JFK 15:15 · 07:15+1 LOS Lagos
• DL 299  Lagos LOS 09:15 · 15:10 JFK New York

Furthermore, Delta Air Lines will have other new developments in the U.S.-Africa market:

• New York – Accra will start to be served by Airbus A330-900neo (currently 767-300).

• Flights to CPT and JNB from Atlanta will be operated on Airbus A350s which will offer more business seating capacity.

Delta’s routes

Ghana

• New York (JFK) – Accra (ACC): 7 weekly · Boeing 767-300(ER)

Nigeria

• Atlanta (ATL) – Lagos (LOS): 7 weekly · Airbus A330-200

Senegal

• New York (JFK) – Dakar (DSS): 3 weekly · Boeing 767-300(ER)

South Africa

• Atlanta (ATL) – Cape Town (CPT): 3 weekly · Airbus A350-900
• Atlanta (ATL) – Johannesburg (JNB): 7 weekly · Airbus A350-900

On the domestic sector, Delta Air Lines will commence flights between Minneapolis and Detroit using Airbus A350-900s as of May 23rd.

The carrier currently offers this route with Airbus A320, Boeing 737-900, Boeing 757-300, CRJ-700 and CRJ-900 aircraft.

Daily (Airbus A350 schedule)

• DL 1456  Minneapolis MSP 20:50 · 23:33 DTW Detroit
• DL 2258  Detroit DTW 08:22 · 09:19 MSP Minneapolis (eff May 24th)

Flair

The Canadian low cost will add a new route to Mexico from Toronto. These operations, which will begin on September 13th, will be twice a week.

Monday and Friday

• F8 2660  Toronto YYZ 13:10 · 16:30 GDL Guadalajara
• F8 2661  Guadalajara GDL 17:15 · 23:55 YYZ Toronto

Current Flair Airlines routes from Mexico

Cancún

• Calgary (YYC): 3 weekly · Boeing 737 MAX 8
• Edmonton (YEG): 3 weekly · Boeing 737 MAX 8
• London (YXU): 2 weekly · Boeing 737 MAX 8
• Montreal (YUL): 5 weekly · Boeing 737 MAX 8
• Ottawa (YOW): 3 weekly · Boeing 737 MAX 8
• Toronto (YYZ): 10 weekly · Boeing 737 MAX 8
• Vancouver (YVR): 5 weekly · Boeing 737 MAX 8
• Waterloo (YKF): 1 weekly · Boeing 737-800
• Winnipeg (YWG): 1 weekly · Boeing 737 MAX 8

Puerto Vallarta

• Edmonton (YEG): 2 weekly · Boeing 737 MAX 8
• Toronto (YYZ): 3 weekly · Boeing 737 MAX 8
• Vancouver (YVR): 6 weekly · Boeing 737 MAX 8

San José del Cabo

• Vancouver (YVR): 2 weekly · Boeing 737 MAX 8

GlobalX

Last April 23rd, GlobalX Airlines took delivery of its eighth Airbus A321 configured for freighter operations.

The 22-year-old plane, registered N435GX, is currently in Miami, having arrived from San Antonio, where it was prepared for its incorporation to the company.

Airbus A319

• N285GX: 21 years

A320

• N276GX: 18 years
• N278GX: 21 years
• N279GX: 16 years
• N281GX: 18 years
• N282GX: 18 years
• N289GX: 17.5 years
• N291GX: 16.5 years
• N628VA: 17.5 years
• N630VA: 17 years
• N837VA: 13.5 years

Airbus A321

• N277GX: 19 years
• N966AD: 21 years

Cargo (A321)

• N1438: 23 years
• N410GX: 24 years
• N412GX: 23 years
• N413GX: 23 years
• N414GX: 21 years
• N435GX: 22 years
• N636WT: 22.5 years
• N989CM: 22 years

Hawaiian

Following the addition of the two Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners, we review the Hawaiian Airlines fleet:

• Airbus A321neo: 18
• Airbus A330-200: 24
• Airbus A330-300: 3
• Boeing 717-200: 19
• Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner: 2

Hawaiian’s fleet average is 12 years.

jetBlue

The first flight of the season will depart on May 22nd to Edinburgh.

Operations will continue through the summer, with the last service scheduled for September 30th. JetBlue will offer one daily frequency with Airbus A321neo aircraft seating 138 passengers.

Daily

• B6 73  New York JFK 21:12 · 09:30+1 EDI Edinburgh
• B6 74  Edinburgh EDI 12:30 · 15:06 JFK New York

Edinburgh will be jetBlue’s fifth destination in Europe after Amsterdam, Dublin, London (Gatwick and Heathrow) and Paris.

Pacific Coastal Airlines

The carrier expanded its capacity on the Vancouver – Penticton route as of April 28th.

In accordance with our database, Pacific Coastal Airlines started operations between the two cities with the 34-seat Saab 340s, when it previously used its Beech 1900Ds configured for 19 passengers.

Daily

• 8P 1301  Vancouver YVR 07:55 · 08:47 YYF Penticton
• 8P 1302  Penticton YYF 09:20 · 10:15 YVR Vancouver

Daily

• 8P 1307  Vancouver YVR 16:10 · 17:02 YYF Penticton
• 8P 1308  Penticton YYF 17:35 · 18:30 YVR Vancouver

PAL

Recently, the Canadian airline filed an application for approval and expects to begin flying to the U.S. in June.

Boston and Newark would be the destinations, in both cases from Halifax.

PAL’s fleet consists of 19 Dash 8 between its different versions:

• DHC-8-100: 2
• DHC-8-300: 5
• DHC-8-400: 12

Southwest

Effective June 4th, Southwest Airlines confirmed the addition of three new routes, which will be operated with Boeing 737-700 jets.

• Baltimore (BWI) – Richmond (RIC): 14 weekly
• Nashville (BNA) – Cincinnati (CVG): 7 weekly
• Nashville (BNA) – Greenville (GSP): 7 weekly

Spirit

The carrier will launch several domestic connections between June and July.

Spirit Airlines will have the following schedule:

• Baltimore (BWI) – San Jose (SJC): 4 weekly · June 5th
• San Jose (SJC) – Portland (PDX): 7 weekly · June 5th
• San Jose (SJC) – Los Angeles (LAX): 14 weekly · June 5th
• Baltimore (BWI) – Sacramento (SMF): 3 weekly · June 6th
• Newark (EWR) – Chicago (ORD): 7 weekly · July 10th
• Newark (EWR) – Kansas City (MCI): 7 weekly · July 10th
• Boston (BOS) – Kansas City (MCI): 7 weekly · July 10th

Sun Country Airlines

During April, the company incorporated aircraft to its fleet for the first time this year.

These Boeing 737-800s are currently in Everett (PAE), awaiting entry into service.

Ferry flight

• N856SY: Istanbul (SAW) – Shannon (SNN) – Bangor (BGR) – Everett (PAE)
• N852SY: Bergen op Zoom (WOE) – Shannon (SNN) – Bangor (BGR) – Everett (PAE)

Sun Country Airlines’ current fleet consists of 56 Boeing 737-800 jets.

Turkish

Turkish Airlines will inaugurate flights to Denver with Airbus A350-900 aircraft effective June 11th.

The airline will have three services per week from/to Istanbul, and in mid-July is scheduled to add a fourth frequency.

Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday

• TK 201  Istanbul IST 13:55 · 17:40 DEN Denver
• TK 202  Denver DEN 19:35 · 16:25+1 IST Istanbul

According to its website, the inaugural flight will be performed on a Boeing 777-300(ER).

Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Newark, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington are Turkish’s current connections in the United States.

United

Montreal, United’s new San Francisco destination.

In accordance with its website, as of July 1st, the company will offer a daily operation on this route using Boeing 737 MAX 8s seating 166 passengers.

Daily

• UA 2857  San Francisco SFO 23:00 · 07:25+1 YUL Montreal
• UA 2858  Montreal YUL 08:30 · 11:46 SFO San Francisco

At present, United Airlines’ routes from Montreal are Chicago, Newark and Washington (IAD).

On the other hand, the airline will start two new domestic routes to/from San Francisco beginning August 19th:

• Detroit (DTW): 13 weekly · Airbus A319
• St. Louis (STL): 13 weekly · Airbus A319

WestJet

At 06:56 local time on Monday, April 29th, WestJet’s inaugural flight from Edmonton landed in Atlanta. Services will be once a day on 132-seat Boeing 737-700 airplanes.

Daily

• WS 1902  Edmonton YEG 00:45 · 07:06 ATL Atlanta
• WS 1029  Atlanta ATL 09:05 · 11:54 YEG Edmonton

WestJet international routes from/to Edmonton

Mexico

• Cancún (CUN): 2 weekly · 738/7M8
• Puerto Vallarta (PVR): 2 weekly · Boeing 737-700

United States

• Atlanta (ATL): 7 weekly · Boeing 737-700
• Las Vegas (LAS): 12 weekly · Boeing 737-700
• Los Angeles (LAX): 7 weekly · Boeing 737-700
• Minneapolis (MSP): 9 weekly · 737/738
• Nashville (BNA): 2 weekly · Boeing 737-700
• Orlando (MCO): 1 weekly · Boeing 737-700
• Phoenix (PHX): 4 weekly · 737/7M8

With respect to new incorporations, in addition to the previously mentioned Sun Country Boeing 737 and GlobalX’s Airbus A321(F), there were several acquisitions between other U.S. airlines:

• Alaska (x2)

• Delta (x7)

• Frontier (x2)

• Hawaiian

• jetBlue

• Porter (x2)

• Spirit (x3)

• United

• UPS (x2)

*It is not new from the factory.

Porter was the only Canadian company to add new planes during April.

To review the reports we have published in April:

• Latin America
• Europe
• Asia and Oceania
• Africa and Middle East
• Dubai deep dive: How Emirates runs its megahub
• China-Australia flights approaching pre-pandemic levels

Cover photo: Michael Rodeback – JetPhotos (Provo, United States).