Exciting new airline routes from August 2024 and beyond

01.09.2024 - 21:03 / thepointsguy.com / David Neeleman

The airline network planners seemed to be on their summer vacations in August.

After a blockbuster month of route adjustments in July, August was one of the quietest months of the year for network changes. While there were certainly some noteworthy changes — like Breeze Airways' major expansion into New Haven, Connecticut — it was a quiet end to the summer for airline route map news.

If you've also been on vacation like the network teams, keep reading to catch up on everything you might've missed from August 2024.

American Airlines had a very quiet August. The airline filed plans to (re)launch just one route: Philadelphia to Bentonville, Arkansas.

The airline will restore daily service in this market beginning Dec. 19. American last flew this route in April 2020.

The timing of American's filing comes just a few days after Delta Air Lines announced plans to add two new routes to Bentonville from Detroit and Salt Lake City.

Bucking the trend, Avelo Airlines had a splashy August with a few new route announcements. The first is the addition of service to New Orleans. The carrier will fly from New Haven to New Orleans beginning Nov. 14 with twice-weekly flights.

Additionally, the airline expanded once again from its base in Wilmington, Delaware, with new service to the world's busiest airport: Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL). Service starts Nov. 8, with Avelo operating two flights a week on its Boeing 737 jets.

Avelo will (once again) connect Wilmington with three Florida destinations — Daytona Beach, Sarasota and West Palm Beach — beginning in November.

Finally, the carrier will also launch flights from Santa Rosa, California, to Ontario, California, on Oct. 10 and then to Salt Lake City on Oct. 24. Avelo will offer twice-weekly flights on both routes, neither of which is served by another carrier.

Not to be outdone, Avelo competitor Breeze Airways (the brainchild of serial airline entrepreneur David Neeleman) also announced a splashy expansion this month. It includes 18 new routes and five new cities. The airline also announced its first flights from Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR).

But perhaps the biggest story is Breeze's expansion to a brand-new destination: New Haven. From there, Breeze will offer a whopping 10 new routes.

New Haven might be considered a secondary gateway prime for expansion from an upstart carrier. However, Breeze's expansion launches the airline's biggest turf war yet — which is arguably antithetical to the airline's original mission of adding service on routes without any nonstop competition.

Avelo Airlines, the nation's other big airline startup, operates a base in New Haven and flies many of the routes that Breeze is launching. As such, it'll be