50 New Routes Starting In May 2025

The transatlantic market will see a string of new routes launching during May 2025, with the three U.S. majors collectively adding more than a dozen new services to Europe during the month.

Delta Air Lines plans to launch six routes, including Boston-Barcelona, Spain; Minneapolis/St. Paul-Copenhagen; and Detroit-Dublin, as well as expanding its presence in Italy with flights connecting New York John F. Kennedy-Catania, Atlanta-Naples and Minneapolis/St. Paul-Rome Fiumicino.

The route linking Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport and Copenhagen Airport (CPH) will commence on May 22, operating three times per week using Airbus A330-300 aircraft. The 4,266-mi. (3,707-nm) route will become Delta’s second to Denmark’s capital city alongside its summer-season service from New York JFK.

The airline’s decision to introduce the CPH route comes after Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) joined SkyTeam in September 2024 following its departure from Star Alliance. The two carriers now have a codeshare agreement in place, giving Delta passengers access to 50 destinations in northern Europe via SAS' hubs in Copenhagen, Oslo and Stockholm.

United Airlines is also strengthening its European network this month, opening service from New York’s Newark Liberty International Airport to Bilbao, Spain; Faro, Portugal; and Palermo, Italy. Flights will also commence between Denver-Rome Fiumicino; Washington Dulles-Nice, France; and Washington Dulles-Venice.

Additionally, the Star Alliance member’s network growth in May includes a route between Los Angeles and Beijing Capital, becoming the airline’s second to the Chinese capital alongside flights from San Francisco. A fifth-freedom service from Tokyo Narita (NRT) to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, also begins on May 1, operating three times per week using a Boeing 737-800 aircraft.

The move taps into Mongolia’s growing tourism industry, which saw an increase in foreign visitors in 2024, rising from about 650,000 in 2023 to more than 727,000 visitors last year. It also marks another step in United’s plan to expand NRT as a connection point for underserved Asian markets, particularly where demand for nonstop U.S. service is limited.

Meanwhile, American Airlines’ will add daily transatlantic service from Philadelphia to Edinburgh, Scotland, and Milan Malpensa, Italy, in May, alongside a route linking Chicago O’Hare and Naples. JetBlue Airways is also growing its transatlantic network with routes from Boston to Edinburgh and Madrid, while Germany’s Discover Airlines is opening a Frankfurt-Minneapolis/St. Paul connection.

This month also sees Aer Lingus start its second U.S. route using A321XLR aircraft after opening a Nashville, Tennessee, service in April. Flights between Dublin and Indianapolis will launch on May 3, operating four times per week and serving as the only nonstop link between Indiana and Europe. Elsewhere, TAP Air Portugal is set to strengthen its North American presence with the launch of nonstop flights between Lisbon and Los Angeles. Flights will commence on May 16, initially operating three times per week before increasing to four weekly roundtrips on May 25. The route will be served by A330-900neo aircraft.

Los Angeles marks TAP’s eighth U.S. destination, complementing its existing services to Boston, Chicago, Miami, Newark, New York JFK, San Francisco and Washington Dulles. The airline’s decision to add LAX is a strategic move to capture demand on what was the largest unserved city pair between Portugal and the U.S. in 2024, with approximately 71,979 two-way O&D passengers, according to Sabre Market Intelligence data.

Other new routes launching in May include WestJet’s flights between Halifax, Canada, and Amsterdam; Hawaiian Airlines’ service connecting Seattle and Tokyo Narita; and KLM’s flights linking Amsterdam and San Diego.