Four airlines opened five new international routes in September 2026 alone, a burst of expansion that included the first-ever scheduled air link between China and Croatia.
Carriers usually test new international markets one route at a time, watching load factors for months before committing to a second. This month broke that pattern. Riyadh Air, Air China and China Southern all launched or relaunched long-haul service within a three-week window, according to Aviation Week’s route-tracking coverage.
Riyadh Air, the newer of Saudi Arabia’s two national carriers, added two routes on its own. The airline began flying Riyadh to Bangkok on September 2 with three weekly Boeing 787-9 flights, then followed with daily Riyadh–Manila service on September 9, also on the 787-9. Aviation Week notes the Manila route is the largest of the two by seat count, aimed squarely at Saudi Arabia’s sizable Filipino expatriate population.
The more unusual addition came from Air China, which started three-times-weekly Airbus A330-200 service between Beijing and Zagreb, routed through Bucharest, on September 4. Per Aviation Week, the routing “restores Air China’s presence in the Romanian capital and establishes the first scheduled air link between China and Croatia.” Air Service One’s New Route of the Day confirms the schedule as Monday, Wednesday and Friday departures aboard a 265-seat A330-200, and reports Croatian State Secretary Monika Udovičić calling the launch “an important milestone for Croatian tourism.”
China Southern rounded out the month by resuming daily nonstop flights between Guangzhou and New Delhi on September 21, ending a suspension that had lasted since February 2020. Global Times reports the airline is using Boeing 737 aircraft on the route and is now the third major Chinese carrier to restore India service this year, following China Eastern and Air China’s own Beijing–Delhi relaunch in April.
Key Points
- Riyadh Air launched Riyadh–Bangkok (3x weekly, September 2) and daily Riyadh–Manila (September 9), both on Boeing 787-9 aircraft.
- Air China’s new Beijing–Zagreb service via Bucharest, launched September 4 on an A330-200, is the first scheduled air link between China and Croatia.
- China Southern resumed daily Guangzhou–New Delhi flights on September 21 after a suspension dating back to February 2020.
photo credit: unsplash
Taken together, the routes point in different directions for travelers. Riyadh Air’s additions are about building out Saudi Arabia’s ambitions as a long-haul hub, giving travelers new one-stop options into Southeast Asia. The Beijing–Zagreb link opens a small but real door for Chinese tourism into the Balkans, a region that has never had direct scheduled access to mainland China before. And the Guangzhou–New Delhi restart is less about novelty than repair, restoring air links between two of Asia’s largest economies after years of pandemic-era disruption and diplomatic friction.
For travelers watching fares and connections, the practical upshot is more competition on routes that funnel through Gulf and Chinese hub airports, plus a genuinely new nonstop-adjacent option for anyone plotting a trip to Croatia from East Asia.
