Yesterday we saw United Airlines announce its biggest international expansion in history, as the airline is adding service to 10 new international cities. Ahead of that, the airline teased new routes, so that travelers could guess what would be added… I love when airlines make such a game of this!
Well, it appears that American Airlines plans to announce its new summer 2027 routes tomorrow, and the airline has just dropped a teaser as well. This one seems a bit easier to figure out…
In this post:
American drops hints about new summer 2027 routes
American has taken to social media, to post four pictures of a “menu.” As the caption explains, “this menu isn’t for ordering,” but instead, “it’s for decoding.” The idea is that travelers are supposed to figure out the new destinations based on the menu items, before the formal announcement on Thursday, August 27, 2026.
Below is the menu cover, which makes it clear that these routes will launch in the summer of 2027.
Then below are the three pages of menus, intended to be the clues about new destinations. It’s not clear if each of these represents a new route, or what…
So, what new routes will American announce?
United puts so much effort into its route teasing, though often it’s so complex and detailed that it’s sort of impossible to make any educated guesses. By contrast, American is making this much easier. Presumably there’s significance to the dishes, the prices, and the descriptions.
For example, the “single-patty hamburger” costs $21.27, and is described as “featuring 321 individual pickled red herring strips on an all-American patty. Served with a toasted UIO bun.” You can also “add on 1,776 sesame seeds for $2.15.”
Okay, I’m guessing this is a route that will be operated by the Airbus A321XLR (based on the “321”), and it will be out of Philadelphia (based on the “1,776,” plus the “$2.15” representing the area code for Philadelphia). Ummm, “UIO” is the airport code for Quito, so could American be looking at flying the A321XLR from Philadelphia to Quito? That’s not exactly what I would’ve expected as one of the first long haul A321XLR routes out of Philadelphia, but…
Okay, I’ll let y’all take a stab at the rest of them. 😉
Bottom line
On Thursday, August 27, 2026, American will announce new international routes, launching in the summer of 2027. The airline has today dropped some hints, in the form of a “menu” that can be decoded. By all means get your guesses in, as I feel this is a bit easier to figure out than United’s clues.
Can anyone guess all of American’s new international routes?
West Palm Beach to Sioux City, IA...
Can't be bothered. Either make an announcement, or don't.
Pretty lame compared to UA...I dont know why they ever bothered trying...
El Paso TX, to Lofoten islands Norway
"Pristine" octopus = Pristina, Albania
You heard it here first ;)
Pristina is the capital of Kosovo.
Curious why AA does not add more European routes from DFW.
They don't have the widebodies to spare after retiring a huge chunk of yhem during the pandemic.
Who wants to fly AA to Europe when there are other, better choices?
Direct from DFW? By Who?
PHL-UIO (Quito)
My guesses...
PHL-OSL: Single-patty=single aisle, 321=A31, 1776=Philly, $2.15=Philly area code. UiO = University of Oslo, pickled herring.
PHL-VIE: YLHQQD w/ Caesar shift of -3 spells Vienna. $23=23 districts in Vienna.
PHL-OPO: Pristine Octopus Ravioli with Truffle Oreganata = Porto.
PHL-KEF: Flip the price = 64°N, 21°W. Fish theme.
ORD-NRT: "magnificent" "extra mile" = magnificent mile. Miso/umami = Japan. Already announced.
CLT-BCN: Citrus Lime Thyme = CLT. Sacred Family = Sagrada Familia, $18.82 =...
My guesses...
PHL-OSL: Single-patty=single aisle, 321=A31, 1776=Philly, $2.15=Philly area code. UiO = University of Oslo, pickled herring.
PHL-VIE: YLHQQD w/ Caesar shift of -3 spells Vienna. $23=23 districts in Vienna.
PHL-OPO: Pristine Octopus Ravioli with Truffle Oreganata = Porto.
PHL-KEF: Flip the price = 64°N, 21°W. Fish theme.
ORD-NRT: "magnificent" "extra mile" = magnificent mile. Miso/umami = Japan. Already announced.
CLT-BCN: Citrus Lime Thyme = CLT. Sacred Family = Sagrada Familia, $18.82 = 1882 is when they started building it.
Who do these airlines think they are? Beyonce? Why would they tease the routes? Just announce them at once
@Mat
IKR.
I personally think it's a nice thing to do for us avgeeks interested...certainly not everyone's cup of tea but a thoughtful way to generate interest and hype nonetheless
Got not 1 but 2 people who disagrees to talk about it.
That's a massive W.
Are you really this clueless, or just desperately seeking attention?
Considering how obvious the answer to that question is.
When does the summer schedule start? It could be 10 April for this announcement, but who knows?
Depends on the hemisphere, right? Northern starts June 21st...
(Oh wait, wrong airline—United ended Hemispheres back in 2024.)
Bucharest Romania, Tallinn Estonia and Ulsan Bataar Mongolia.
Gary at VFTW seems adamant about PHL-VIE/KEF/OPO, at least.
https://viewfromthewing.com/american-airlines-will-announce-new-flights-from-philadelphia-to-vienna-and-reykjavik-tomorrow/
PHL-OSL with an XLR (pickled red herring I think indicated Oslo over Quito)
PHL?-VIE (Caesar cipher, as others have mentioned)
Something in Scotland (smoked fish soup). AA already fly to EDI from JFK and PHL, so perhaps from DFW? But smoked fish soup could also be the Caribbean, maybe PHL-KIN
PHL-OPO (Pristine Octopus Ravioli Truffle Oreganata)
JFK-BRU (fries and mayo)
JFK-BFS (Empire Apple is presumably JFK, royal aioli could be...
PHL-OSL with an XLR (pickled red herring I think indicated Oslo over Quito)
PHL?-VIE (Caesar cipher, as others have mentioned)
Something in Scotland (smoked fish soup). AA already fly to EDI from JFK and PHL, so perhaps from DFW? But smoked fish soup could also be the Caribbean, maybe PHL-KIN
PHL-OPO (Pristine Octopus Ravioli Truffle Oreganata)
JFK-BRU (fries and mayo)
JFK-BFS (Empire Apple is presumably JFK, royal aioli could be a royal residence and there’s one outside Belfast)
LAX-EDI (angelic is obvious, EDI is located on Firth of Forth and known for salmon)
Feel like the ink linguine is another Caesar cipher but can’t figure it out.
JFK-NCE (Provence)
JFK-NAP (azure waters)
ORD-Something in Japan (Magnificent Miso sounds like Magnificent Mile? But everything in this section is CLT so maybe CLT-Tokyo)
CLT-NCE (Queen city to somewhere in France)
CLT-BCN (Citrus Lime Thyme and 144 years is how long it’s taken for La Sagrada Família to be built)
MIA-NAP (tropical fruit and gelato, so MIA to somewhere in Italy)
unless "red herring" is a literal red herring trying to distract us lol
Haha yeah, it might be! Maybe it’s HAM as others have posited.
ELP-LHR , 69 daily frequencies on all-Y 777s
My guesses
PHL-OSL
PHL-KEF
PHL-EDI
JFK-VIE
JFK-NCE
ORD-Tokyo
MIA-MXP
And i won't be surprised if all of them are wrong
1) PHL-OSL (red herring, also take Scandi from UA)
2) DFW-MXP (HQ for DFW headquarters, parmesan for Milan - near Parma)
3) DFW-HEL (fiery flavors in DFW, smoked fish + marine HEL - didn't AY used to do 2x daily, maybe taking one of those?)
4) ORD-VCE (riverside - ORD, new city in Italy for AA - also UA doesn't serve this)
5) ORD-NRT (deep layer - deep dish ORD, Miso...
1) PHL-OSL (red herring, also take Scandi from UA)
2) DFW-MXP (HQ for DFW headquarters, parmesan for Milan - near Parma)
3) DFW-HEL (fiery flavors in DFW, smoked fish + marine HEL - didn't AY used to do 2x daily, maybe taking one of those?)
4) ORD-VCE (riverside - ORD, new city in Italy for AA - also UA doesn't serve this)
5) ORD-NRT (deep layer - deep dish ORD, Miso - Tokyo; restating a previously announced route)
6) CLT-LYS (Queen City CLT, escargot from Burgundy)
7) LAX-BCN (144 years of Sagrada Familia. Citrus seems like MIA, but all ready served, so LAX also citrus?)
8) MIA-VCE (Tropical fruit MIA, gelato for Italy - VCE would be next add for MIA, also complements possible ORD expansion)
Bonus) Wine flight option added in Flagship per the initial note on the menu
Who knows what will happen, but this would be a really bold list for AA.
AA has already done ORD-VCE with a 787 in summers. Have taken it.
Lax-bcn is interesting
I wonder if they’d take it over from Iberia (level)
For (6), I am hoping "Queen's" means Queens, i.e., JFK-LYS. Which American actually operated before (in the 90s?).
On a side note
The smoked fish soup sounds disgusting
Cullen skink is a Scottish classic, a smoked fish and potato soup. I've had it, and it's delicious.
A lame attempt to be clever, but United does it better with far better production value. AA needs to approach UA's marketing guru(s) and have them name their price to defect.
ICYMI
Patrick Quayle.....the current UA guy, defected from AA.
True
But Quayle also copied AA on their route announcements
Remember Vasu’s old ASMR teaser to Morocco and other routes? Patrick started his videos like that after Vasu
So UA should hire Vasu?
Oh wait, they already did.
Eggplant Provençal -
Miami (never ending sunshine -> sunshine state) - Nice (Provence) ?
Interesting to see it being unveiled so much earlier than we expected- okay, let's get into this.
From the clues, maybe Manchester or Glasgow for Britain, and might we even hope for another SWISS destination, perhaps outside ZRH? We'll see how it goes!
My guesses:
VIE (Caesar Salad → Caesar cipher → YLHQQD = VIENNA)
KEF (pickled herring clue)
BRU (New York Strip + Belgian-style fries/mayo)
another BCN route
UIO or OSL (Quito? UIO is also the abbreviation for University of Oslo)
WTF decodes to "we're a better domestic airline than an international airline." Another example of on again/off again network planning.
It's almost as if Mr. Isom saw with Mr. Kirby did and was like, "oh, hey, we can do 'hype,' too..."
Anyway, is the UIO bun supposed to be Quito? 1776 (and the '215' area code) is probably Philly. So, umm, ur, XLR from Philly to Quito? Welp, that'd be different.
AA's board is seeing "action" . . . for the sake of action. What they are not seeing is a change in financial results. Yet, *they* take no action. For shame.
Myabe the Fish and Chips one is Manchester. Currently no US carrier flies to MAN (only Virgin to/from US), which I find odd.
The regional population of greater Manchester / Liverpool/leeds is almost 8 million yet it’s never supported that many flight. Airlines had a go and failed. BA flew MAN LAX once. That said, with the current dictator in the White House and the way the government is treating its ( former ) allies, airlines should drop services.
Why was it Dolly and not mango Mussolini?
It's not a premium market. The only reason EK QR fly to Manchester is the ginormous south Asia diaspora and EY because of the Manchester city ownership. The only points premium hotel in the north is under construction (W Manchester) opening 2029 at the earliest. As an executive said to me (no ones flying 8 hours for pies). The only premium outside of London in the UK is Edinburgh W and a park Hyatt within an hours drive.
We LGBTQ+es are really taking it on the chin. First Dolly, then Tim Curry. And these things always come in threes, so I'm dreading what tomorrow brings.
US Airways (and post-merger AA) flew PHL-MAN for years. A pharmaceutical company provided a ton of Business Class travel to MAN every week. When they pulled out and mostly shut down their local site, the Business Class traffic went away and AA couldn't sustain the flight anymore.
UIO apparently is also the code for the University of Oslo - paired with the comments on herring there, I think PHL-UIO is the fakeout with the actual add PHL-OSL
Ahh, a fake-out. I like it. (Something, anything to Scandinavia might make Matthew from LALF pleased. He was betting on that with the United new routes. Goose egg.)
Hopefully more interesting than United. Enough with Italy, Spain, and France - gives us Northern and Eastern Europe, or more South America. I'd love: Vienna, Geneva, Berlin, Hamburg, Dusseldorf, Stockholm, Oslo, Riga.
I would love those too. It's wild that decades ago, Hamburg, Berlin, Rhine-Ruhr, and more all had TATL options- and now, literally the most populous city in the EU forces you to route through a connection. Obviously, we understand why FRA works the way it does, it would doesn't exactly do justice to the German capital to have to be routed through in an inconvenient manner.
YLHQQD decodes to the word Vienna using a Caesar cipher.
Smoked fish - KEF
uniting fiery and marine / Fire and Ice
Octopus - OPO (maybe)
Coast and riverside / But OPO is already known.
So 4 new routes
UIO
VIE
KEF
OPO
The rest seems to be adding frequency or from a different hub to an existing destination.
Miso 2.85 - 787
Thats the capacity of their 787. So an extra 787 to Japan?
Citrus prawn 18.82 - BCN
sacred family - Sagrada Familia est 1882.
MAIN seems a bit too vague and I'm starting to get lazy.