By: Aviation week network

In a quieter month for new route launches as the northern summer 2025 season reaches its peak, August sees new and returning services from the likes of Wizz Air, Qatar Airways, Flyadeal and AirAsia.

Despite confirming its exit from the Abu Dhabi joint venture and scaling back Middle East flying to avoid “hot and harsh” conditions, Wizz Air has launched a new Saudi Arabia route. Daily flights between London Gatwick and Medina began on Aug. 1, adding a second UK–Saudi connection following the carrier’s March launch of service to Jeddah using the Airbus A321XLR.

“We are so excited to see this new route take off. Being the first airline to provide a direct connection from London to Medina is a special moment for us as we live up to our mission of democratizing aviation,” says Wizz Air UK Managing Director Yvonne Moynihan.

Elsewhere in the Middle East, Qatar Airways and Turkish Airlines are each resuming flights to Aleppo, Syria. Qatar Airways will begin with three flights per week from Aug. 10, increasing to 4X-weekly from Sept. 1. Aleppo becomes the Oneworld member’s second Syrian destination after the earlier resumption of Damascus.

Turkish Airlines is also returning to Aleppo this month, restarting service for the first time since halting operations in 2012 due to the Syrian civil war. The Star Alliance carrier is initially operating three times per week using Boeing 737-900 aircraft.

Elsewhere, Saudi LCC Flyadeal is significantly expanding its international footprint in August, launching four new routes to Pakistan. The airline will begin service from Riyadh to Islamabad, Peshawar and Sialkot, as well as from Dammam to Karachi. Flights will start between Aug. 24 and Aug. 26, operating two to three times per week using Airbus A320s.

The additions more than double the number of Pakistani cities served by Flyadeal, which launched its first routes to the country in February with service to Karachi from Jeddah and Riyadh. Flyadeal, a Saudia Group subsidiary, began international flying in 2021 and now operates to 28 overseas destinations across the Middle East, North Africa, Central Asia and Europe.

In Asia, AirAsia Malaysia is strengthening connectivity from its second-largest hub in Kota Kinabalu with the launch of a new route to Fukuoka, Japan, via Taipei. Daily flights on the Kota Kinabalu–Taipei–Fukuoka routing will begin on Aug. 15, adding to the airline’s expanding presence in Japan and Northeast Asia.

Meanwhile, India’s largest carrier, IndiGo, continues its Central Asian expansion with a new 3X-weekly route from New Delhi to Tbilisi, Georgia, starting Aug. 8. The service is part of a wider push by Indian airlines to tap into fast-growing markets in the Caucasus region and beyond.