It's Etihad, Alaska Airlines and United Starring in This Week's New Route News

February 24, 2012 at 12:02 PM | by kjb | Comments (0)

Sometimes it�s hard to stay on top of all the new route announcements that come our way, so we�ve complied a little bit of a rundown below. As long as you can afford the fares, this should definitely help add to your passport stamp collection.

· Etihad Airways:
They�re serious about expanding around the globe, as Etihad Airways is already focused on where they can send some of their planes in 2013. They must be really prepared�or just pretty darn excited�because Etihad just announced that they�ll be doing a nonstop flight between Washington, DC and Abu Dhabi starting on March 31 of 2013.

The flights will do their thing thanks to a little assistance from the airline�s fleet of Airbus A340s, and there will definitely be some swanky options for those with the cash to spend. In addition to 200 economy seats there will also be 28 Pearl business class seats and 12 Diamond first class seats. We�re willing to volunteer to serve as some first class diplomats�just let us know.

· Germanwings:
A little low-cost carrier love is now heading back and forth between the UK and Germany, as Germanwings has just launched some new service. Instead of heading to one of the lesser known airports, the latest Germanwings route is heading right into London-Heathrow after departing from Stuttgart, Germany.

The flights will head back and forth via plenty of Airbus A319s. If you don�t want to head into Heathrow there�s always still the option of London-Stansted, as Germanwings has plenty of flights to and from there as well. Just expect a little bit longer of a trip into the city once you're back on the ground.

· United:
The new United continues to build and expand their base out of Newark-Liberty airport, as they�re now planning to head all the way to Turkey. Starting on July 1 the airline will send a Boeing 767 back and forth between Newark and Istanbul, and this will serve as United�s 76th international destination out of EWR. Unfortunately it doesn�t look like they�re celebrating the new route news with any airfare deals, but a nonstop flight all the way to Istanbul is still pretty darn decent.

· Alaska Airlines:
The Eskimo-tailed airplanes are on the move again, as it looks like Alaska Airlines is planning on some new flights for those looking for a little bit of warm weather. This week the carrier started seasonal service between the California cities of San Jose and Palm Springs. Things will run until June 2�because it�ll get too darn hot�but the flights will be back starting up again in October. Alaska Airlines� airline buddies over at Horizon Air will take care of all the flying between the two cities, and they�ll be doing their thing with Bombardier Q400s. Frequent flyer fiends can even score double miles aboard the new route now through March 27.

· Caribbean Airlines:
Nothing is official as of yet, but if all goes well Caribbean Airlines should be heading into London-Gatwick before too long. Airline officials have already applied for a spot at the airport, and it sounds like they�ve received the necessary stamps and seals to fly from the beach to the city all in the same day. It will be a nonstop option right out of Trinidad, but the airline is already thinking about adding all kinds of connection opportunities to allow for plenty of other destinations with just one stop.

The plan is to utilize a couple of Boeing 767-300ERs to head back and forth, but they do have to borrow a couple of planes from LAN. Once things get off the ground, Caribbean Airlines is promising �state of the art cabins� including in-seat power in business class. Let�s just hope a couple of those tech tidbits dribble back into the economy cabin as well.

[Photos: D646 and United]

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