100+ new air routes signal a return to adventure in 2023

Plane Talk: Belfast, Bristol, the southwest Balkans and far west Africa are growing fast

New horizon: Ohrid in North Macedonia, soon to be on the package holiday map (Simon Calder)

Crisis, what aviation crisis? This is the week in which international frontiers have clattered shut once more, at least if you happen to be flying in from China without a pre-departure Covid test. But 2023 will see more than 100 new and restored air routes from and within the UK by the summer.

The expansion will dismay those who believe there is too much flying already – including my flight-free colleague at The Independent, travel editor Helen Coffey. But they signal confidence from the airlines that travellers are more determined to travel than ever, with many seeking new horizons.

The southern components of the former Yugoslavia are getting attention, as is the far west of Africa – and British Airways has a surprising new destination in South America.

One encouraging signal is that the majority of the route launches are from airports outside London and Manchester. When airlines were shrinking their networks in response to travel restrictions, they tended to coalesce around Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Luton and Manchester.

But in 2023 other airports are getting their mojo back. Belfast International is benefiting from the return, at scale, of Ryanair; Bristol is getting some tempting new links; and Edinburgh has two new key transatlantic routes. These are the pick of the new year bunch.

Belfast bonanza

The summer season officially gets under way, for the airlines at least, on 26 March – when the departure screens at Belfast International will suddenly be filled with Ryanair departures.

In what would be called a big bang were this not aviation, the Irish airline is taking on easyJet’s dominance of Northern Ireland’s biggest airport. International links to Bergamo, Faro, Girona and Krakow are augmented by domestic routes to Edinburgh, Manchester and Stansted. And that is just day one; 10 more links begin in the following days and weeks. Let the fares war commence.

On 22 June TUI Airways starts flying from Belfast International to Melbourne – the one in Florida, serving Orlando, not Australia. And George Best Belfast City airport gains a really significant connection on 23 April: Lufthansa to Frankfurt, where transfers to the world await.

Greek earnings

Aegean Airlines, one of the few “full service” carriers still flying within Europe, is launching summer flights from Birmingham, Bristol and Newcastle to Athens. Not only does the move provide welcome competition to the Greek capital – it will also allow easier access to islands and regional airports with no direct flights from the UK, and make two-centre holidays easier to organise.

Bristol fashion

Besides the Athens link, Bristol also gains routes to Marseille, Porto and Venice on Ryanair; to Enfidha (Tunisia) on easyJet; to Antalya on the Turkish airline, Corenden; and to Chania and Malaga on Jet2.

Balkanisation

Britain’s two big package holiday companies, Tui and Jet2, are focusing on the southwest Balkans. During a cost of living crisis when the pound is so puny, the very low local costs make them all the more alluring. From early May, Jet2 will flying from Manchester and Stansted to Tivat in Montenegro – a former Yugoslav republic now offering an alternative to more expensive and crowded Croatia.

Rival Tui will link Manchester and Gatwick with Ohrid in North Macedonia (the nation recently rebranded with the directional prefix). St Paul the Apostle airport is the gateway to a superb lakeside district, shared with Albania.

BA way

From 27 March, some lucky British Airways passengers will stay on the Boeing 777 from Gatwick when it lands at St Lucia and take the short onward hop to Georgetown in Guyana. The former British Guiana is the only English-speaking country in South America, with a wealth of natural wonders.

BA’s other intriguing route, launching on 23 April, is to Florence – notorious for weather diversions. Don’t be surprised to find yourself landing at, or taking off from, Pisa if the visibility worsens.

Capital connections

Edinburgh gets two key transatlantic routes: Atlanta on Delta and Calgary on WestJet. Both are big hubs for the respective airlines, giving a vast array of connections. These are two links where inbound traffic could well be stronger than outbound – which bodes well for Scotland’s tourism, since North America is the nation’s richest source market.

African adventures

This winter, Tui has started flying from Gatwick to Dakar, capital of Senegal and the westernmost city in Africa. A six-hour flight takes you to a tropical new world. Some call Senegal an “upmarket Gambia”; I prefer to think of the former French territory as a sophisticated African alternative to the Caribbean, which will thrive in years to come.

To see all the new UK routes in 2023 – and even some for 2024 – the flight analyst Sean Moulton has an online list here.