11 New Air Routes That Promise Cheap Flights in 2018

27.07.2023 - 18:20 / smartertravel.com / London Gatwick

New air routes by low-fare airlines promise great deals for budget-minded travelers across the globe this year. Here are the 11 most-exciting air routes low-fare lines are launching in the U.S., Europe, and Asia.

Arguably the most eagerly anticipated new routes of 2018 might not fly until early 2019, but you’ll be able to buy tickets in 2018: Southwest airlines’ new flights to Hawaii. Although Southwest hasn’t yet announced specific cities, experts surmise the first flights will be from either Oakland or San Jose to Honolulu.

Service could expand quickly to West Coast cities, other Hawaiian cities, and possibly island-hopping flights. The Southwest Effect could lower fares on other airlines, and Southwest’s policy of two free checked bags would be especially welcome on these routes.

Spirit will add a dozen new air routes from Detroit, Orlando, Seattle, and Tampa this year. Chicago-Seattle service will use the airline’s biggest plane, the A321, on a highly competitive route. But as usual with Spirit, you can expect the usual fees tacked onto everything from baggage and seat selection.

Norwegian Air will continue its aggressive expansion in the U.S., adding two new nonstop U.S. origin cities for London flights: Austin and Chicago. Norwegian will use 787s on both air routes, so these flights will offer premium economy as well as the usual base product. Daily service will begin from Chicago, and three weekly flights from Austin will launch in late March. Other Norwegian Air routes will see increased frequencies.

But it isn’t all rosy on Norwegian. The line announced it dropped flights to Edinburgh from Hartford, Connecticut, citing the fact that Scotland didn’t follow through on its announced plan to reduce or eliminate the onerous British air passenger duty that adds about $100 to the cost of each outbound flight.

Starting April 28, Eurowings will operate nonstop flights from New York to Dusseldorf six days a week. Eurowings, Lufthansa’s low-fare subsidiary, is taking over many of the routes formerly flown by now-defunct Air Berlin. Eurowings will also fly from Fort Myers and Miami to Dusseldorf, and from Las Vegas and Seattle to Cologne. Eurowings’ long-haul planes are A330s, with standard economy seats plus a few premium-economy seats.

Primera is yet another transatlantic low-fare hopeful, starting out this spring with flights from Boston and Newark to Birmingham, London, and Paris. Flights start in April and will use new A321 planes with conventional economy, stretch-economy, and