Milan Bergamo Airport

The expansion takes the number of routes offered from the Italian airport to five.

Three new bases will open in Greece alongside the expansion of existing bases in Italy and France.

Blue Air will compete with Hungary’s Wizz Air on a city-pair basis.

Wizz Air’s plans to open a new base in Palermo come as the Sicilian airport’s largest operator Ryanair prepares to increase its presence.

Peak summer season 2021 passenger numbers could reach 70% of 2019 levels, Ryanair Group CEO Michael O’Leary predicts.

More destinations are set to be added to the Ukrainian LCC’s network this summer.

The Italian start-up has outlined plans to fly domestic routes this summer.

Wizz Air has announced plans to strengthen its operations in Romania next year with new routes to Germany, increased frequencies and an additional aircraft.

Amid growing competition on Italian domestic routes, Ryanair is planning to grow its network in the country while at the same time preparing to reduce operations in its home market of Ireland.

The ULCC has postponed the launch of its first base in Russia, blaming ongoing COVID-19 travel restrictions in Europe.

Routes analyzes some of the services returning as well as new routes being launched. This week we look at Qatar Airways resuming Lagos; Wizz Air’s first Italian domestic routes; and American Airline adding Daytona Beach flights.

Romanian carrier Blue Air will grow its network at home and in Italy later this year.

A new player is set to enter the market between Milan and Dakar in October as competition between the two cities begins to heat up.

Hungarian carrier Wizz Air is already planning to expand its first Russian base before it even opens.

Milan is one of the most well-connected and easily accessible cities in the world. We take a closer look at the Italian aviation market, ahead of the country hosting World Routes 2020.

This week: Air Premia to become South Korea’s second Dreamliner operator; Vietjet to expand with A321XLR; investigation opened into Air Nostrum fleet renewal; Ryaniar increases London Southend presence; Iberia and Spring Airlines to codeshare and more.

World Routes has been handed over to Milan for 2020.

This week: Milan Bergamo welcomes TUIfly Belgium’s latest route; AA expands Dominican Republic service; Connect Airways names CEO; Avianca Argentina halts flights and more.

This week: El Al to resume its Tel Aviv – Manchester route; Oman Air adds European destination; and Ernest Airlines continues Ukraine expansion.

This week: China Eastern’s first A350-900; Lufthansa to reduce capacity growth; Chile court approves LATAM agreements; Air France-KLM CEO; United inaugurates new services and more.

Ryanair is set to enter the Jordanian market from next month as the Irish low-cost carrier further expands its operations in the Middle East.

Ryanair first introduced flights into Prague in November 2007 and currently offers at least daily flights from Brussels Charleroi, Dublin and London Stansted. The launch of the base will support the introduction of new daily flights to Bergamo and Rome in Italy and will boost annual capacity by around 100,000 to 625,000 seats.

Ryanair has more than quadrupled its capacity offering from Central and Eastern Europe over the past ten years with an average annual rise of 38.9 per cent between 2006 and 2015, according to schedule data from OAG. This has been to combat the emergence of Wizz Air, which over the same period has established itself as the largest carrier in these emerging markets.

Although low-cost carrier Wizz Air has a major base in Budapest it believes there is sufficient demand to offer schedules from Debrecen, despite being just two hours away from the capital city by road.

Košice International Airport is among the fastest growing airports in Europe. It achieved a 50 per cent increase in passenger traffic in 2014 compared to the previous year, also recording its strongest charter season in its history, and a 13 per cent increase in aircraft movements for the year.