New International Routes Launching in September 2025

September 2025 brings a cluster of new long-haul and international routes, several of them firsts for the city pairs involved. Scandinavian Airlines is opening the first nonstop link between Scandinavia and South Korea, Icelandair is flying further east than ever before, and carriers from the Gulf, China and India are adding services that reflect shifting alliance ties and the continuing closure of Russian and Pakistani airspace to some operators. The main launches are set out below.

SAS: Copenhagen to Seoul Incheon

SAS is due to start flying between Copenhagen and Seoul Incheon on 12 September 2025, the first scheduled nonstop service between Scandinavia and South Korea. The route will be flown with Airbus A350-900s seating 300 passengers: 40 in business, 32 in premium economy and 228 in economy. SAS plans four weekly flights in the autumn, dropping to three a week over the northern winter, with late-evening departures timed to feed connections from its European network.

The route follows SAS's move from Star Alliance to SkyTeam on 1 September 2024. Korean Air is a founding SkyTeam member, so Seoul gives SAS a partner hub at the far end and gives Korean Air passengers a one-stop link into the Nordic countries.

Hawaiian Airlines: Seattle to Seoul Incheon

Also from 12 September, Hawaiian Airlines is scheduled to fly between Seattle-Tacoma and Seoul Incheon. Hawaiian is now part of Alaska Air Group, which completed its acquisition of the carrier in September 2024, and the route is the first step in the group's plan to offer 12 nonstop international destinations from Seattle by 2030. The service will operate five times a week with Airbus A330-200s carrying 18 business and 260 economy seats, with Boeing 787s due to take over later.

KLM: Amsterdam to Hyderabad

KLM is adding Hyderabad as its fourth Indian destination, after Bengaluru, Delhi and Mumbai, from 2 September. The three-times-weekly service, on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays, uses Boeing 777-200ERs with 35 World Business Class seats, 24 Premium Comfort seats and 229 economy seats. Hyderabad is a major technology and pharmaceutical centre, and KLM becomes one of only a handful of European airlines to serve it directly. The flight connects at Schiphol with KLM and Delta services to North America.

Icelandair: Reykjavik Keflavik to Istanbul

Icelandair launches Istanbul on 5 September 2025 with four flights a week, its most easterly destination to date. The route is flown by Boeing 737 MAX 8s with 160 seats (16 business, 144 economy), and the flight time is about five and a half hours. Schedules are timed to connect with Turkish Airlines at Istanbul Airport, giving Icelandair passengers onward links to Asia, the Middle East and Africa, and giving Turkish Airlines a connection to Iceland and, via Keflavik, to North America.

Etihad Airways: Taipei and Peshawar

Etihad is opening two of the ten new routes it announced for 2025. A daily Abu Dhabi to Taipei Taoyuan service starts on 7 September using Boeing 787-9s, the first direct link between Abu Dhabi and Taiwan. On 29 September the airline adds Abu Dhabi to Peshawar with Airbus A320-family aircraft, initially five times a week. Peshawar serves a large population in north-west Pakistan with strong family and employment ties to the UAE.

China Eastern: Shanghai Pudong to Barcelona

China Eastern has scheduled its first nonstop Shanghai Pudong to Barcelona flights from 26 September 2025, four times a week with Airbus A350-900s. Chinese carriers can still overfly Russia, which European airlines have been barred from doing since 2022. That allows shorter routings between China and Europe and gives Chinese airlines a cost advantage in these markets.

IndiGo: Mumbai to Tashkent and Almaty

IndiGo is adding nonstop flights from Mumbai to Tashkent in Uzbekistan from 1 September and to Almaty in Kazakhstan from 2 September, each four times a week. The airline already serves both cities from Delhi. Flights between India and Central Asia have been lengthened since April 2025, when India and Pakistan closed their airspace to each other's airlines, and IndiGo had paused Mumbai services to the region because of the resulting range constraints.

What the launches show

Three patterns stand out. First, alliance changes are shaping networks: SAS's arrival in SkyTeam made Seoul a natural addition, and Alaska Air Group is using Hawaiian's widebody fleet to give Seattle a long-haul network that Alaska Airlines alone could not offer. Second, airspace closures continue to influence who can compete on routes between Europe and Asia, favouring Chinese and Gulf carriers over European ones. Third, Gulf and Indian airlines are pushing into secondary markets such as Peshawar, Hyderabad and Central Asia, where demand has outgrown connecting options.

What has happened since

• SAS Seoul: The first SAS flight to Seoul departed Copenhagen on 12 September 2025 as planned. SAS later announced a 50% capacity increase on the route for summer 2026, scheduling five weekly flights from 20 May 2026 and six a week from 1 June 2026.
• China Eastern Barcelona: The route launched in late September 2025 with an A350 carrying a cabin theme inspired by Antoni Gaudí's buildings and Shanghai's Bund.
• Etihad Peshawar: Etihad scheduled the route to increase to daily flights from 22 November 2025.