American Airlines is expected to announce at least a handful of new international routes tomorrow. Who doesn’t love a bit of speculation, so let’s go ahead and make our guesses!
Continue reading: American Airlines Teases New International Routes
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DFW-HEL with up to 2 daily flights seems like a lot of capacity even if there are connections on both ends. I’m guessing DFW-BCN for somewhere hot since it seems like the next logical destination to Europe that American could add from DFW. PHL-NAP would be my guess for “somewhere new”, if United can have 2 daily flights from EWR American should be able to make 1 flight work even with a 787.
Before the Covid, AA operated PHL-BUD and ORD-BUD. It would be nice, if any of those services were reinstalled.
I'd be surprised if they launch something like Malaga before the XLRs are on property. I doubt they have the metal for such tertiary cities now.
I think we can all agree that Untied's route teasers are much more fun and thoughtfully created. This American video looked like it was created by interns as a fun project.
Considering America's current international route network which largely consists of London, Paris and Rome services, I wouldn't get my hopes up for this.
Perhaps Philadelphia to Naples, Italy and Nice, France
Dallas to Athens
Chicago to Venice
My guess is one of these destinations being Pisa since one of the patches shows the leaning tower. But it could also be a hint for somewhere else in Italy
I'd be excited to see the Istanbul flights, I think they'd be able to address the vast Turkish population in the US and PHL seems like a great choice for feeding into domestic flights.
Copenhagen could be somewhere “new” and fits with Jon saying possibly Scandinavia (though DFW-HEL would be applicable as well). IST would certainly be interesting. No connectivity beyond there (but neither has CPH). But secondary / tertiary markets are unlikely to have connectivity, and a 788 is probably right-sized for PHL-IST or CPH.
Well if they are seasonal, I wouldn't discard Malaga or Mallorca destination ex-PHL (especially since the Spanish flag was on the sticker of the "fun" boarding pass)
This: "Four routes will likely be to destinations that American currently serves out of other airports, or has previously served; that’s because only one route is being referred to as being to “somewhere new” - is quite a leap.
More likely that the "something new" is a hint to the city (not a reference to whether the route/destination is entirely new to AA). Think Naples - which was originally founded by the Ancient Greeks as "Neapolis" - e.g. "New City"
It's totally annoying that there are no direct AA flights from Los Angeles to Germany
Come on PHX-TPE. Sadly I hold little hope. An acceptable consolation would be Starlux joining Oneworld. Preferably before late December when I fly them.
Don't the döner wrap, beer, kebap meat skewers, and moon (nightlife) emojis suggest Berlin over Turkey?
I would love a return from Philadelphia to Ottawa, which they canceled at the start of the pandemic. I can't redeem any one-world points from Ottawa. That doesn't look likely from the clues though.
Wouldn't be surprised to see them announce KRK - this was supposed to start in 2020 and would fit both ORD and PHL descriptions.
My guesses are:
DFW to Athens (hot)
PHL to Nice (glitzy)
PHL to Istanbul (new)
PHL to Berlin (fun)
ORD is much harder for some reason. I could see any of the following, but I don't see Venice for some reason.
ORD to Milan, Budapest, Vienna, or maybe Krakow or Gdansk given the Polish connection. I think 'classic' may more refer to a classic(al) destination like Budapest or Vienna. But who knows!?
I agree about Nice being a strong possibility. Hoping they bring back ORD to VCE which went away during the pandemic. Pisa would be very convenient for me but I believe it’s a long shot.
AA barely flies to Germany at all for a host of reasons. LA would be the last place they start a Germany flight from
AA does not count Canadian destinations as “international” when it talks about international versus domestic flying. While of course it is an international destination, it is a “domestic” route.
No thanks. They can't get their schedule together as it is. The company screws up flights and doesn't take responsibility for their mistakes. Often stranding customers and refusing to work with them. Leaving them to foot the bill, blaming it on them, and exploit customers for more money. Really bad customer service. I have a nice boycotted them. More people should do this so that they will get their crap together.
Yeah, when I collected all those miles (due to work) I picked the wrong airline but it seemed to make more sense than United at the time. So sad.
AA successfully flew PHL-DBV summer '19. Travel is almost back to '19 levels. Would be worth looking at again.
Isn't this a complete copy of what United did to tease its last big international announcement (I believe the one that included Bergen and Punta Delgada)?
The “new” route I think is PHL to Casablanca Morocco. They were going to start this before the pandemic and I don’t know what could be more “new” than an entire new continent for AA.
American should concentrate on being on time and on having compartments that are comfortable to sit in for the duration of a flight. Last time I flew AA every passenger on the aisle seats had a leg out into the aisle. That was bad enough but the seats were so close together I could smell the shampoo on the person in front of
Me because his head was about 8 inches from my head. Ugh dreadful experience that left me swearing I'd never fly again. Oh and did I mention that my flight was canceled and I was stuck in texas for 2 days...at my own expense...
I think they should make a better game: Which routes are we killing off without announcing it? Airlines loooove to mention new routes but somehow forget to mention which routes are being discontinued to free up the planes for the new ones.
Correction; the email I received expand your horizons with americans partner Qatar.
Funny that AA wants to join in on the fun that Patrick Quayle, United’s SVP of Global Network Planning and Alliances has announcing new routes. Maybe AA you could have had fun all along when Patrick worked for AA. You lost a good asset. You keep losing good employees. Time to wake and see that your valuable employees are leaving because of piss poor management that starts at the top.
First, AA's international strategy has largely been about connecting the dots of oneworld hubs. That makes me inclined to think Casablanca CMN might be in the mix from PHL, and as I note from comments below, it had been announced prior to COVID. It will provide them better coverage into West Africa than any other alliance partner. QR is great for East and Southern Africa, but not West Africa.
The other thing I note is that much of the speculation is about the PHL hub services, which clearly indicates an effort to rebuild that hub/network.
Okay, now for my further guesses...PHL-LIS? IB likely has a strong FF base in LIS, which provide some natural leverage. Along those lines, somewhere into southern Spain like PHL-Seville?
I also think a guess by a commentator below about DFW-ATH is a clever thought...I've flown AA ATH-JFK/ORD several times the last 2 years and the flights have always been packed. Don't fix what's not broken?
Who knows...we'll see!!
AA needs to strengthen their hub strategy significantly, DL and especially UA has a sizable hub network to and from Europe from majority of their hubs. they should focus on adding routes from Miami and Charlotte. Especially MIA-DUB or MIA-MXP. Not just Dallas.
If AA does launch to IST, I wonder how UAL would respond. Given TK has a hub there, which is Star Alliance, would it be a possibility for UA to launch a competing EWR to IST flight, or would they not bother given their codeshare with TK is pretty weak?
They're definitely going to ITALY, cause I am flying from Philadelphia to Rome next year.
Why is PHL even on the list as an origination point? Philly was an old Allegheny then U.S. Airways hub but AA has not done much with it. That entire city is well past its prime. AA should focus entirely on DFW, ORD, CLT, and DCA.
I think Paris for the Olympics that's why they were doing a stunt like that the rest idk.
We were supposed to fly there before The pandemic hit. Also, Prague and Budapest.
Either philadelphia to chennai (india ) or Chicago to Chennai or the best routes . Coz chennai is the southern gate way of india,
Considering it's a hub and American serves Philadelphia Concierge Key members pretty well, it would be great if we got more international options. Plus AA extracts a price premium flying out of PHL, thus we generate pretty good revenue for them. So screw you, Matt.
“somewhere hot”: DFW-CMN
“somewhere fun”: PHL-AGP (possibly BER/PMI)
“somewhere new”: PHL-CPH
“somewhere glitzy”: PHL-NCE
“somewhere classic”: ORD-MXP (otherwise VCE)
Like it or not, PHL is AA's primary transatlantic hub. They serve LHR, DUB, AMS, CDG, MAD, BCN, LIS, FCO, ZRH, ATH - and now DOH. They have a ton of slots and it's the only city where they can maintain a feeder operation that fills 787s to those cities.
if the flight was cancelled I doubt you were left to your own device unless it was due to weather which is not something the airline can control and that should not reimburse you for. also, no matter your swearing, i am sure you will fly again and most likely AA as well which, by the way, has now a very reliable operation and offer the exact or better pitch in economy than competition in the US. So there is that...
American flew PHL-TXL 4 x a week in Summer 2019, alongside the fiasco that was PHL-BLQ and PHL-DBV. So, PHL to BER isn't technically new, if it is happening, just a new Berlin airport.
Have you not kept up with TSMC’s new fabs? There’s only a matter of time before there will be a PHX-TPE direct flight. I’ll also go out on a limb and say AUS-ICN will happen due to the second Samsung fab.
Where's the JFK to anywhere in Europe! I like the new AA program but the flight network from NYC to Europe is pathetic. I can't go all in on the program 'til the international network improves.
Hey Ben! Nice stuff! I do have some other ideas.
Alright for DFW I think Doha. 1st Qatar does double daily to DFW. Also, Finnair already flies to DFW and with Russian airspace being closed Finnair can only look to the west for traffic.
PHL could be NRT/HND since I saw a Japanese flag in one of the shots next to the Spanish Flag.
PHL could be Nice since it would see fun and would work out well for the 2024 Olympics in France next year
PHL could be somewhere in Italy for glitzy. Don't really know about that.
ORD could be Zurich. Lots of demand and would most likely be seasonal.
Love to hear your ideas! Love the blog Ben! Cant wait to hear from you!
DFW-DOH
PHL-NCE
PHL-NRT/HND because I saw the Japanese flag in one frame of the video
PHL-CPH
ORD-Somewhere new in Italy/Spain
As a CLT hub hostage oh how I wish AA would add just 1 more long haul flight to what is one of the fastest growing metro areas in the country. Instead we’re stuck with less than a half dozen routes to Europe and nothing else outside the Americas.
I definitely think so since Turkey offers little in terms of connections. It would make sense for United from Denver but aside from that nothing would work.
All good but Im not so sure about IST. Not many connections with TK being dominant there
I'm so uninspired and depressed about AA's long haul network at this point that I'm happy to see ANYTHING new being added.
But only with an aircraft with a suitable suite product, lest anger President Weah in the way Delta pissed off President Sirleaf over flying an inferior product to the most important city in the world.
The Charlotte Metro has actually dropped to only the 16th fastest growing Metro area in the US, and continues to drop since 2019. Plenty of other cities for those planes/routes to be used at. Charlotte already has WAYYYYY more international long haul service than it needs/deserves/could ever support (and that's because it'snchewoerfor AA to use CLT vs most of it's hubs on the East Coast. Period. End of Story). As a DFW captive flyer, I get VERY annoyed that if I need to fly to Zurich or Geneva that I have to go through Charlotte. Fort Worth is #13 in population BY ITSELF. The Charlotte region isn't even in the Top 25 of Population for an MSA.
I'd really like to see more out of MIA. Nearly everything they do now is PHL and sometimes CLT. I get it that those are 'cheaper' airports perhaps, but man, give MIA some love!
Discounting Munich, because not even AA is brazen enough to compete with Lufthansa on their home turf, I would say Prague. Pilsner was invented in what is now Czechia.
I don't know if the demand is there. If there was, LOT would have started a second non-stop a long time ago.
American has tried so hard and so often to break into the NYC and BOS markets, but they get whipped every time by Delta and United. So back to Philadelphia they go- the leftovers
PRG has long relationship with DL, I don’t think that AA will fly there.
In 2019 AA had a daily service in the summer season between PHL and BUD with average LF of 96%. They added a daily ORD-BUD flight for the S2020 season with possibly year round extension and upgraded the old 767 to a 787 on the PHL-BUD service. Unfortunately, both were removed from the route due to the COVID restrictions. i think a PHL-BUD or maybe a ORD-BUD have a good chance against PRG.
My guesses:
Somewhere hot: DFW-ATH. DFW-BCN/DOH also make sense, and have better partner connectivity.
Somewhere fun: PHL-FLN. Hear me out. From what I hear Florianapolis is known for its nightlife, and it’s a focus city for their partner GOL. That being said I have my doubts given that there isn’t that much connectivity from there (which is the main thing AA seems to be going after).
Somewhere new: PHL-CMN. Just a thought, the word “new” could also mean that they’re flying to an emerging/booming city.
Somewhere glitzy: PHL-BAH
Somewhere classic: ORD-DBV/VCE, both are former AA destinations. That or it could be an airport AA doesn’t serve from ORD (but does from other hubs) in which case I’m betting on ORD-MAD. VCE also technically fits this description given that AA flies there from PHL.
TL;DR: I mostly chose OW/partner hubs, although I think that the introduction of the A321XLR will help them expand their route network to secondary cities.
AA can’t fly internationally from DCA. CLT is not a 787 base, at least for now. And AA does not do well in competitive markets like ORD (and LAX, JFK).
Being in the top 20 makes CLT faster growing than many airline hub cities!
Also, AA doesn’t fly from CLT to GVA or ZRH, so I have no idea what you’re talking about. They serve DUB (seasonal), CDG (2 months per year) FRA, LHR, MUC, MAD, and FCO (seasonal).
Dallas to Helsinki sounds realistic and amazing for me cause I have family there. But my dream would be Miami to Narita/Haneda.
They’ve done ORD-PVG in the past and it just wasn’t a profitable route. It was great for the rest of us because flights were so ridiculously cheap
I’m guessing the beer and the brats is referring to Munich. Somebody suggested they wouldn’t dare compete with Lufthansa there, but if it’s a once daily service on a 788 is it really competing or is it more just getting its OneWorld clientele into East Central Europe? Because, let’s face it, the region is almost surprisingly underserved by the European-based OneWorld carriers.
Sicily is throbbing with tourists post White Lotus. It’s also hot, both temperature and metaphorically. Edinburgh is neoclassical. And AA used to fly there.
DBV was NOT fiasco. It was already announced it was coming back for the following summer before COVID hit.
BLQ was indeed a flop.
The real question is why anyone would want to fly an American carrier unless you absolutely have to (that is, domestic). How you Americans fall for "flagship" and "Polaris" products is amusing.
I just wanted to point out FLN doesn't make sense at all. It could be the somewhere "new", as no US airline currently flies there. However, the smallest plane to be able to make that distance american currently flies is the 787-8. It has a takeoff requirement of 8500 ft, while FLN's longest runway is ~7800 ft. It could make it possibly with reduced loads / shorter range than the MTOW calculated it as. However, if AA were to launch a LATAM destination, it would almost certainly be from MIA. Especially such a new destination that has no Intercontinental flights, with the only non-domestic flight being to Buenos Aires. It could be with an xlr next year, but the season for SA travel is winter and launching it in the same batch as summer seasonal routes seems unlikely and confusing. Still, it'd be launching from MIA, not Philly. Even JFK would make more sense.
CMN is definitely interesting, possibly launching with a 787-8, as that's a Oneworld hub, and Philly is where AA routes a lot of its Atlantic flights + Royal Air Maroc only flies to JFK. DFW-DOH just doesn't make sense right after AA pulled out of JFK-DOH and handed the third daily frequency to its partner Qatar. Qatar already operates two daily flights to DFW so that doesn't make much sense.
Bahrain is interesting but just as unlikely as Monrovia Liberia pretty much. Also there's only one new city that it (or at least no other major US airline) flies to.
DBV and VCE are very possible, MAD as well.
DFW-ATH and BCN are also interesting ideas.
Honestly, that makes it more likely in my opinion. The new could just mean the new Berlin airport.
At least you didn't have them on delta. They're literal pennies now worth exact 1cpp.
I would say Brussels… Beer emoji… and beer is served chilled in Belgium (unlike Germany)
It's odd that BLQ was a flop. It's the only easy way into Florence and Tuscany from the US, and the lack of US carrier competition made me optimistic.
Dang! Some people can name all 50 state capitals. I can tell you where AA flies from PHL. That was the one I missed, and it's a great route!
Maybe you haven't noticed, but no one from PHL cares what anyone else thinks of PHL. It's kind of their thing.
There’s unfortunately zero need for a scheduled direct flight. TSMC has chartered with CI for occasional direct flights and that’s all we’ll get—there’s not nearly enough regular travel frequency generated by the fabs to support scheduled nonstop service, especially when LAX/ONT/SFO connections are plentiful and cheap.
For techno and naughty sxx parties its been and deff is since the 80s, if you are dull and old we can recommend Orleans or Windsor ( just guessed from your 'regis' name)
If Lucky is correct that "somewhere new" means entirely new (for AA) destination (or route), that rules out PHL-BER, as AA flew between Berlin (Tegel) and PHL before, flew it myself in 2019.
AA FA here…. We flew PHL-TXL (Berlin) in 2019. That cannot be “somewhere new”. Rarely does AA fly a transatlantic route that does not feed a OneWorld hub partner. Pre-Covid, PHL to Casablanca was supposed to feed Royal Air Moroc who had just joined One World. I wud put money on that route & the ORD is possibly Krakow which was scrubbed due to Covid.
Well if the choice is a U.S. carrier or say Lufthansa (e.g., on a route where United and LH are the only nonstops), then heck yeah I'm going to take United, with 100% direct aisle access in business, which LH still doesn't have on almost any aircraft.
Finnair's DFW-HEL is only 3x weekly, AA could potentially fill in the other days
It most likely won’t be, Finnair does DFW to HEL, no need for two carriers doing that route.
LOL, So I don't care if some other airline has fully government subsidized seats. Flagship and Polaris keep our money right here in the US.
We should ask Tiffany Gomas for her thoughts.
She’s the ( hopefully former) marketing executive / nut job and of course “ social media influencer” that was disruptive on board an AA aircraft last month.
Floridanaopolis makes literally ZERO since. AA couldn't make Cordoba Argentina work with 2.5 Million people, why would 5X LESS at 500k People work??? Even with a partner. A "Focus City" is NOT a HUB. Actually, only Sao Paulo, Bahia, Brasilia, & Rio de Janiero are official Hubs/Focus for GOL. Just silly.
LOL, no way AA is flying from South Florida to Japan. DFW is the clear Pacific Hub for a reason. Toyota, NTT, Kubota, 7-Eleven, Canon, & NEC all HEADQUARTERED in DFW along with major operations from another 170 Japanese companies. There is a long history and tradition between Texas, specifically North Texas, and Japan.
I flew on AA to Switzerland last year or the year before. Maybe they took away the flight. Whatever. And yes, CLT is fast growing, but mainly as a Western European stop over and an East Coast hub. It will never have as many long haul flights as other hubs because it's a spoke city, but a true destination. People fly through there, not to there.
Why can't you take a train or bus over to Philly? Y'all New Englanders Crack me up. Y'all realize that the grounds of DFW airport are bigger than Manhattan, and that the DFW Metro area is nearly TWICE as big as the entire state of Connecticut. We all drive 2 hours to get to the airport here. Y'all can have a bit of travel to travel too.
Something happened called COVID. Then another thing called SUPPLY CHAIN DISRUPTIONS. Then another thing called AIRCRAFT MANUFACTURERS. AA will bring back routes as they get new planes and it makes since. They are paying off debt, completely changed the loyalty game, have the youngest fleet in operation of any US airline. Facts.
I hope there will be more routes to Asia. For example, from Miami to Tokyo or from LA to Seoul.
They dropped Philadelphia to Munich several years ago. They only fly charlotte to Munich. And it’s flies not flys.
KIN is Kingston, which is in Jamaica, not Africa. Agree, though, don’t see it happening.
Though the airport has zip code 22335, 22391 is kind of the middle of nowhere Hamburg. But it is indeed a zip code in the greater Hamburg area.
I would say Istanbul, because it is much needed routes which not only connects Turkish community in USA but also connects European travelers since IST becomes a big hub to European Airlines/countries.
Let’s not forget the 7 slots AA lost at JFK because they “forgot” about them. They could have flown to some great places with those slots. But, good thing they had the NE alliance with a cheapO carrier
I am guessing Nice from Philly. I am really hoping Naples is the Italian stop but it could also be a return to Florence.
If only it was Brussels, Belgium...
US Airways used to operate the PHLBRU route and it would make OneWorld so much more attractive to Belgian, Dutch and travellers from Northern France.
AA has more slots at JFK than it can currently use… so what would the additional 7 add to the mix? The NEA actually funneled traffic to AA’s long haul biz at JFK.
AMS, CDG, FRA, BCN, FCO, DUB, MXP, MUC, LIS, ATH, VCE, and ZRH would all beg to differ.
Why are we not flying to Poland KRK.I could understand due to Covid back in 2020 we had the route.Poland is blooming and we’re not flying there.I am very disappointed that you did not keep up with the route
I don't know if I would say WAY bigger. Phl is not that much bigger than Dallas. In addition, Chicago, Dallas, and DC metro areas are bigger than PHL.
There has been a considerably growing presence of UA in Europe in the past years and AA will, perhaps, have to get creative for new European markets.
UA has been strong in investing in Iberian Peninsula, per example and due to strong American demand, with airports such as PMI, OPO and AGP, not that often seen in international long haul.
Two noticeable open markets exist for long haul links to the US in the same iberian regional area that yet to get a link to US, both airport of 10 M passenger and of a strong European demand (albeit somewhat seasonal) : a strong case in VLC and FAO. SVQ perhaps also, although a smaller airport. FAO in particular is the sole airport in Portugal not to have connections to the US and, given the growing demand of Americans in Portugal, it's quite surprising as TP, per example, channels thousands from FAO through their hub in LIS to the US.
There has been a considerably growing presence of UA in Europe in the past years and AA will, perhaps, have to get creative for new European markets.
UA has been strong in investing in Iberian Peninsula, per example and due to strong American demand, with airports such as PMI, OPO and AGP, not that often seen in international long haul.
Two noticeable open markets exist for long haul links to the US in the same iberian regional area that yet to get a link to US, both airport of 10 M passenger and of a strong European demand (albeit somewhat seasonal) : VLC and FAO. SVQ perhaps also, although a smaller airport. FAO in particular is the sole airport in Portugal not to have connections to the US and, given the growing demand of Americans in Portugal, it's surprising as TP, per example, channels thousands through their hub at LIS
KRK is, in fact, a noticeable possibility of investment with a very relevant demand.
Why? Just so they can exhibit an airline even worse than what we have in Europe?