A few days ago, American Airlines announced some new long haul international flights that will be launching in 2024. This is fairly exciting, given just how lackluster American’s long haul network is. We knew this announcement was coming, as the airline teased it a day prior.
I wanted to provide an update to note that the schedules for these routes have now been published, and these flights are bookable.
American Airlines’ summer 2024 transatlantic expansion
American Airlines has revealed that it will add five new summer seasonal transatlantic routes in 2024:
- As of May 6, 2024, American will fly daily from Philadelphia (PHL) to Nice (NCE) using Boeing 787-9s
- As of June 5, 2024, American will fly daily from Philadelphia (PHL) to Naples (NAP) using Boeing 787-8s
- As of June 5, 2024, American will fly daily from Dallas (DFW) to Barcelona (BCN) using Boeing 777-200s
- As of June 5, 2024, American will fly daily from Chicago (ORD) to Venice (VCE) using Boeing 787-8s
- As of June 6, 2024, American will fly daily from Philadelphia (PHL) to Copenhagen (CPH) using Boeing 787-9s
If you’re curious about the logic for these routes, you can see the below interview with Brian Znotins, American’s VP of Network Planning.
Below I’ll go over the exact details of each of these routes. As mentioned above, these flights are now bookable (keep in mind American’s schedule only opens 331 days in advance).
American’s Philadelphia to Nice route
As of May 6, 2024, American Airlines will launch daily summer seasonal service from Philadelphia to Nice. The flight will operate with the following schedule:
AA746 Philadelphia to Nice departing 9:00PM arriving 11:00AM (+1 day)
AA747 Nice to Philadelphia departing 1:00PM arriving 4:35PM
The 4,085-mile flight is blocked at 8hr eastbound and 9hr35min westbound. American will use a Boeing 787-9 for this route. This represents a new destination for American, and this will be American’s only route to Nice.
American’s Philadelphia to Naples route
As of June 5, 2024, American Airlines will launch daily summer seasonal service from Philadelphia to Naples. The flight will operate with the following schedule:
AA780 Philadelphia to Naples departing 7:05PM arriving 10:00AM (+1 day)
AA781 Naples to Philadelphia departing 12:35PM arriving 4:45PM
The 4,495-mile flight is blocked at 8hr55min eastbound and 10hr10min westbound. American will use a Boeing 787-8 for this route. This represents a new destination for American, and this will be American’s only route to Naples.
American’s Dallas to Barcelona route
As of June 5, 2024, American Airlines will launch daily summer seasonal service from Dallas to Barcelona. The flight will operate with the following schedule:
AA192 Dallas to Barcelona departing 6:50PM arriving 11:15AM (+1 day)
AA193 Barcelona to Dallas departing 1:10PM arriving 5:00PM
The 5,195-mile flight is blocked at 9hr25min eastbound and 10hr50min westbound. American will use a Boeing 777-200 for this route. This represents an existing destination for American, and the airline also flies to Barcelona from Chicago, Miami, New York, and Philadelphia.
American’s Chicago to Venice route
As of June 5, 2024, American Airlines will launch daily summer seasonal service from Chicago to Venice. The flight will operate with the following schedule:
AA42 Chicago to Venice departing 8:20PM arriving 12:20PM (+1 day)
AA43 Venice to Chicago departing 2:50PM arriving 6:30PM
The 4,669-mile flight is blocked at 9hr eastbound and 10hr40min westbound. American will use a Boeing 787-8 for this route. This represents a route resumption for American, as American previously operated this route in 2019. Furthermore, American also flies to Venice out of Philadelphia.
American’s Philadelphia to Copenhagen route
As of June 6, 2024, American Airlines will launch daily summer seasonal service from Philadelphia to Copenhagen. The flight will operate with the following schedule:
AA744 Philadelphia to Copenhagen departing 9:10PM arriving 11:10AM (+1 day)
AA745 Copenhagen to Philadelphia departing 2:00PM arriving 4:40PM
The 3,948-mile flight is blocked at 8hr eastbound and 8hr40min westbound. American will use a Boeing 787-9 for this route. This represents a new destination for American, and this will be American’s only route to Copenhagen.
My take on American Airlines’ new routes
I’m happy to see American add somewhat interesting new international routes. With the exception of Latin America, American is by far the weakest of the “big three” US carriers when it comes to long haul international flying. The airline is so heavily focused on its domestic network, and the airline also currently has a shortage of long haul aircraft.
I constantly watch in amazement as United announces flights to all kinds of interesting destinations, while American adds very little. I’d say these new routes are by no means groundbreaking, though they’re better than nothing, and seem like safe bets.
American isn’t exactly doing anything unique here, and is really just catching up with competitors. Delta and United both fly seasonally to Nice, United flies seasonally to Naples, and Delta flies seasonally to Copenhagen. Something tells me we’re now going to see Delta add service to Naples, and see United add service to Copenhagen.
Bigger picture, American’s strategy just seems all over the place. While Philadelphia has long been a transatlantic gateway for American, the airline was recently focusing on New York. However, with the JetBlue Northeast Alliance having ended, the airline is now reversing course there.
Bottom line
American Airlines has revealed the details of its transatlantic expansion for the summer of 2024. The airline will add new routes from Philadelphia to Copenhagen, Naples, and Nice, which I’d consider to be pretty cool. American will also add service to Barcelona out of another gateway (Dallas), and will resume flights from Chicago to Venice. These new flights are now bookable.
What do you make of American’s new transatlantic flights?
