Airlines launched 143 European routes between May 1st and May 7th, according to Air Service One/The ANKER Report. Given the time of year, it’s no surprise most were leisure-driven and involved Greece, Turkey, Spain, and Italy.

Notable additions included WestJet from Calgary to Rome, airBaltic opening its Tampere, Finland, base with five initial routes, and Kuwait Airways launching Manchester.

Most were literally new: the specific airline hadn't operated them before. But there were exceptions. Resumptions included SAS Stockholm-Warsaw, Finnair Helsinki-Verona, Lufthansa Munich-Menorca, and Ryanair Nuremberg-Vilnius. Ryanair recently reopened its Nuremberg base, although Vilnius utilizes Lithuania-based aircraft.

60% of routes with no direct competition

Based on the week they began, about six in ten routes identified by Air Service One/The ANKER Report had no head-to-head competition, such as SunExpress’ Izmir-Milan Malpensa. Booking data shows that the market had around 28,000 indirect passengers in 2019.

It’s great to see previously unserved markets versus ‘simply’ more choice on existing routes. Of course, that’s not to say they don’t have indirect competition, e.g., from another airport serving the area.

An intriguing exception that bucks the trend is Manchester to Rhodes. Corendon and easyJet both it added in the examined week, joining incumbents Jet2, Ryanair, and TUI. Cirium shows the five-airline market has 266,000 seats for sale this summer, 53% (!) more than the previous record in 2019. Liverpool is keen to get Rhodes and other Greece routes.

Ryanair added the most

As you'd expect, most routes are by ULCCs, LCCs, and other leisure carriers. Ryanair started 26, the most. My favorites are Polish domestic services: Kraków-Olsztyn Mazury (brilliant lakes there); Warsaw Modlin-Szczecin (it previously operated from Warsaw Chopin); and Gdansk-Lublin.

Despite being at the forefront of growth recently, it is perhaps surprising that there is an almost complete absence of new Wizz Air services – though it is, of course, just a one-week period.

Wizz Air began only one: Naples to Tel Aviv. Operating 2x weekly, it competes head-to-head with Ryanair (3x weekly). On Tuesdays and Saturdays, the pair take off within minutes of each other.

Just 6 routes are 1x daily+

Only 4% of routes have a 1x daily or more offering in the week they took off. That is mainly as most are very leisure-driven and summer-seasonal, and, as mentioned, because of the main types of airlines. Notice the nature of the airlines:

• Air Dolomiti (for Lufthansa): Frankfurt-Graz, 10x weekly (frequency in the week it started)
• Air Dolomiti (for Lufthansa): Frankfurt-Innsbruck: 1x daily
• Lufthansa: Munich-Billund: 12x weekly
• Lufthansa: Frankfurt-Stavanger: 1x daily
• SAS: Stockholm-Warsaw: 11x weekly
• United: Chicago-Milan: 1x daily

A special mention must go to Czech Airlines on Prague-Hurghada. It is operated 6x weekly, departs Prague at 00:50, and arrives at 05:05.