While I’m not necessarily opposed to a summer holiday, I do have a soft spot for travel in autumn and winter. Give me crisp cold air, red and yellow falling autumn leaves and the excuse to order a hot chocolate with marshmallows over sweltering sightseeing any day.
Not to mention the milder climate, fewer queues and, sometimes, lower fares thanks to less demand after the summer. Luckily, travellers with similar tastes will soon have new options.
Here’s what’s on the horizon this autumn and winter for new flight routes to and from Europe.
Air Canada: Toronto-Tenerife and Montréal-Tenerife
Air Canada will launch the only non-stop flights between North America and Tenerife this autumn with weekly services from Toronto starting on 25 October. The service will operate twice weekly on Thursdays and Sundays, with return flights on Mondays and Fridays.
There will also be flights to the largest of the Canary Islands from Montréal on Saturdays with return flights on Sundays starting 31 October.
Air France: Return to the Maldives and Dominican Republic
According to AeroRoutes, Air France will return to the Maldives from 18 December with twice-weekly flights from Paris Charles de Gaulle to Malé. The seasonal service is scheduled until 7 March 2027.
The airline will also increase its Dominican Republic service, increasing its Paris to Punta Cana flights to three times a week.
Discover Airlines: Morocco and Finnish Lapland
Lufthansa Group’s Discover Airlines is expanding to Scandinavia by adding a new route to Ivalo in Finnish Lapland. From mid-December to mid-April, the airline will fly from Munich to Ivalo, once a week, every Wednesday.
The leisure carrier is also expanding its network with two new destinations in Morocco. In late October, new routes will launch from Frankfurt to Agadir and from Munich to Fès, making it the only direct connection from Munich to the latter historic royal city.
easyJet: 13 new winter routes from the UK
British low-cost airline easyJet will be adding 13 new routes to its network this autumn and winter from 10 UK airports, including its first service to Nuremberg in Germany.
Inaugural easyJet flights to Nuremberg will start on 2 November from Manchester, every Monday and Friday. While starting on 19 November, passengers will be able to fly from London Gatwick on Thursdays and Sundays, as well as from London Luton on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays starting on 23 November.
The carrier is expanding to Morocco with a new route from London Luton to Rabat starting on 5 November. Passengers can also board an easyJet flight to Rabat from London Southend on Thursdays starting on 3 December. Also from London Southend, there will be twice weekly flights on Mondays and Fridays to Egypt’s Sharm El Sheikh from 4 January.
A new Budapest route from Bristol and Belfast will launch on 17 November on Tuesdays and Saturdays, while from Liverpool, starting from 19 November, passengers will be able to fly to Budapest on Thursdays and Sundays.
In Scotland, Edinburgh to Tromsø flights on Mondays and Thursdays begin from 30 November, which will be easyJet’s first direct route to the northern Norwegian city. From Glasgow, flights to Kraków in Poland on Mondays and Fridays will start on 13 November.
The winter expansion also includes two weekly Manchester to Vienna flights on Mondays and Fridays starting on 19 November. EasyJet is also launching its first international route from the Isle of Man with a new weekly service on Saturdays to Geneva starting on 19 December.
Eurowings: Germany to Spain, Austria, Kosovo and Egypt
In June, German low-cost carrier Eurowings announced new additions to its winter schedule.
“From the end of October, travellers will benefit from additional direct connections from Berlin, Cologne/Bonn, Hamburg, Hanover and Stuttgart,” the carrier said, adding that the schedule will soon be announced.
New earmarked routes include flights from Berlin and Hamburg to Jerez de la Frontera in Spain, while from Cologne/Bonn there will be new flights to Klagenfurt in Austria and to Pristina in Kosovo.
Eurowings said twice-weekly routes to Cairo from Stuttgart are on the horizon. There will also be flights from Hanover to the Egyptian capital starting in November, alongside a new winter route from Hanover to Alicante in Spain.
Finnair: Helsinki-Melbourne (via Bangkok) and Lapland flights
Finnair will launch its first-ever flights to Australia on 25 October with a daily service from Helsinki to Melbourne via Bangkok.
The Nordic carrier is also expanding its winter programme with direct flights to Finnish Lapland from Central Europe during the winter season. The initiative is earmarked to run twice-weekly flights from Brussels and Zurich to Kittilä, and from Paris to Rovaniemi.
ITA Airways: Rome-Santo Domingo
ITA Airways is debuting in the Caribbean this winter with direct flights launching between Rome Fiumicino and Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic. Starting on 30 November, the schedule will begin with one weekly flight on Mondays. The service will then increase to two weekly flights, with the addition of Sundays.
Lufthansa: Frankfurt-Kuala Lumpur and Allegris expansion
From 25 October, Lufthansa will launch direct flights from Frankfurt to Malaysia’s capital city Kuala Lumpur.
Meanwhile, passengers flying from Munich will be able to experience Lufthansa Allegris, the German carrier’s first-class cabin offering. The premium cabins will be available on new routes to Singapore, Washington D.C. and Cape Town.
Singapore Airlines: Singapore-Madrid via Barcelona
Singapore Airlines will launch a new route to Madrid via Barcelona on 26 October. The five-time weekly service will mark the carrier’s 15th European destination and second destination in its Spanish network.
Soltour: Spain-Europe flights
Spanish tour operator Soltour is looking ahead to the final month of 2026, especially the four-day long weekend from 5-8 December, which coincides with the Constitution Day and Immaculate Conception public holidays.
The programme is based on direct flights from regional Spanish airports to European destinations. Routes will include flights from Almeria to Strasbourg, Asturias to Ljubljana, Zaragoza to Venice, Murcia to Cologne, as well as direct connections from Palma de Mallorca to Budapest, and operations from Badajoz and La Rioja to Prague.
There will also be connections to Istanbul from cities such as Alicante, Seville and Bilbao.
SWISS: Bengaluru flights
SWISS is adding the Indian city of Bengaluru to its route network this winter. The airline will also roll out its SWISS Senses experience on flights to Johannesburg and Shanghai, which will offer passengers upgraded cabins and enhanced in-flight comfort on the long-haul routes.