Where to Next: Predicting Columbus’ Next Direct Flights
Residents and travelers of Columbus often say, “We can’t go anywhere.” With the airline service at Columbus’ John Glenn Airport, people will drive as far as Cincinnati, Cleveland, Indianapolis, or Pittsburgh to have more options for direct flights. However, over the course of the next year and a half, Central Ohioans may finally be pleased by what destinations are offered locally, right in their hometown!
Delta Air Lines
A full-service airline based in Atlanta, named the Most On-Time airline in North America in 2025 (Photo: 4300streetcar).
Starting just this month, direct competitor United Airlines will begin serving Los Angeles to Columbus to compete with American Airlines, leaving Delta behind. Not only will this competition threaten Delta’s presence in Columbus, but it will also lead to an overall increase in the amount of demand to the City of Angeles. Additionally, Cincinnati and Indianapolis already receive this service, proving that it will likely do well in Columbus. Because of this, it is reasonable to believe that Columbus will receive this service by July this year.
Additionally, Delta Air Lines and its regional partners are increasingly growing their presence in Raleigh, North Carolina. While it is too close to their flagship hub of Atlanta, Raleigh is beginning to ramp up Delta operations, and it is officially known as a Focus City. Due to Raleigh’s status in the airline’s network, Cincinnati and Indianapolis also receive this service from Delta’s regional partners doing business as Delta Connection. For this reason, it is also plausible to believe that Raleigh will be added to Columbus’ routes by February of 2027.
Breeze Airways
A newer, low-budget airline that offers an elevated service to its competitors, going as far to call itself the World's Nicest Airline (Photo: Charles).
Myrtle Beach is a vacation destination that many people from the Midwestern United States tend to visit during spring and summer vacations. However, there is a noticeable gap in service from Breeze, an airline with a Focus City in Myrtle Beach, to the Midwest. The closest service to the eastern end of the Midwest is Pittsburgh. However, it seems, as Breeze is introducing more services to Columbus, Myrtle Beach may be one of the next to join, by March of 2027.
The same month, it could be expected that San Diego could also be introduced to Columbus, as it is already served to the nearby cities of Akron and Pittsburgh, the former of which is yet another Focus City. All of this wrapped together shows a noticeable amount of demand to both cities, which is completely untapped.
JetBlue Airways
Another low-budget airline, with a very similar business model as the former. It was even established by the same person, David Neeleman (Photo: 4300streetcar).
The airline does not currently serve Columbus in any capacity. However, according to officials at the Columbus Regional Airport Authority, the authority that governs and manages both airports in Columbus, there are serious considerations that they will begin serving Central Ohio in the near future. Presumably, they will begin with Boston, in June of 2026. This is mostly due to the fact that Boston is the airline’s primary service in Cleveland, with New York joining them at the end of this month. Because New York is beginning to serve Cleveland, it would only make sense that we will also receive service to New York sometime around April of 2027.
American Airlines
Another full-service airline based in Dallas, named the airline with Best Customer Service in 2025 (Photo: 4300streetcar).
Columbus has also been gaining demand to destinations in the Caribbean, and in this case, Punta Cana, a city in the Dominican Republic, is starting to look like a possibility. Firstly, American Airlines already serves a summer seasonal, once-weekly flight to Cancύn, Mexico from Columbus. To add on, Cancύn and Punta Cana are both served from Indianapolis on the same basis. Currently, Columbus’ schedules seem to just match up with those of nearby cities, and it seems that this will be the case once again, leading to the potential commencement of before the summer season in 2027.
Aer Lingus
The flagship airline of Ireland, based in Dublin, awarded Excellence in People & Workplace Culture in 2025 (Photo: 4300streetcar).
Recently, the airline has been receiving deliveries of a special variant of their Airbus A321 aircraft, known as the Airbus A321 XLR, which stands for ‘extra-long range.’ This special variant allows the relatively small aircraft to travel up to approximately 5,400 miles. With this aircraft, the airline is able to deploy it on long flights with light passenger demand. In recent months, the airline has begun service to Cleveland, Indianapolis, and will be starting service to Pittsburgh shortly. With these other services, there is a gap right in the middle, being Columbus. Due to these reasons, it is incredibly likely that Aer Lingus will begin service from Dublin, Ireland, to Columbus in or around June of 2026.
British Airways
The flagship airline of the United Kingdom, awarded for Use of Technology in 2025 (Photo: 4300streetcar).
While speaking with an official at the John Glenn Airport in Columbus, British Airways was mentioned, alongside the fact that the airline was in talks with the Columbus Regional Airport Authority about beginning service to London-Heathrow. While this may seem crazy, it is most definitely possible. To work alongside this, the airline already serves both Cincinnati and Pittsburgh with large aircraft from London. Seeing this, it is not outside of the realm of possibilities that this service begins before 2027.
Icelandair
The flagship airline of Iceland, connecting the nation to the rest of the world, awarded the Four Star Major Airline Award in 2025 (Photo: Mark Harkin).
Although the airline has been just serving larger hubs in the United States, they’ve recently expanded inward to smaller cities, like Pittsburgh, Raleigh, and Nashville. Despite this, I can see their expansion further to smaller cities across the United States, starting from Pittsburgh. If they do well there, more than likely, they will also do well here. For my final prediction, I can see Icelandair starting a service between Reykjavik and Columbus by May of 2027.
Final Predicitons
It is important to remember that this is all speculative. Columbus may or may not receive these services at any given date. However, it is also important to remain positive and optimistic. With that being said, here are my final predictions.
| Airline | Destination | Predicted Date |
|---|---|---|
| Delta Air Lines | Los Angeles | June 2026 |
| Delta Connection | Raleigh/Durham | February 2027 |
| Breeze Airways | Myrtle Beach | March 2027 |
| Breeze Airways | San Diego | March 2027 |
| JetBlue Airways | Boston | June 2026 |
| JetBlue Airways | New York | April 2027 |
| American Airlines | Punta Cana | June 2026 |
| Aer Lingus | Dublin | June 2026 |
| British Airways | London | September 2026 |
| Icelandair | Reykjavik | May 2027 |