Air Service One – Bitesize Analysis of the Day – 2nd April 2026 – European flag carriers: route changes at hubs

If you had to guess which European flag-carrier would be adding the most new routes to their network from their main hub(s) this summer, your first guess would probably not be Finnair.

But according to AIR SERVICE ONE analysis of Cirium schedules data, the Helsinki-based carrier is planning to add 11 new routes to its network this summer, while dropping only one. Four of these routes have already launched during the first week of the summer season (to Catania, Florence, Luxembourg and Stavanger) with Valencia service set to start this weekend.

Last summer’s winner in this analysis was SAS – Scandinavian Airlines from Copenhagen Airports A/S. The airline has continued to grow there this summer but not as quickly as Finnair at Helsinki Airport. Most, but not all, airlines have added more routes than they have dropped. Very few have not dropped any routes at all.

For those eagle-eyed readers wondering why Croatia Airlines and TAROM are not shown, the Zagreb-based carrier has not started any new routes from Zagreb this summer, nor has it dropped any. The Romanian flag-carrier has added no new routes from Bucharest OTP and dropped just one, a domestic route to Satu Mare which ended on 18 March.

Of course, given the current situation regarding jet fuel prices and potential future availability, some of the routes scheduled to start later this summer may be deferred, so a repeat of this analysis at the end of the summer period may produce a different ranking.