American Airlines will expand its European route network in 2019 including new services to Germany, Italy and Croatia but also cut capacity into Asia.
The US carrier will start nine new connections into Europe including a daily Airbus A330 flight to Munich from Charlotte Douglas International Airport starting 31 March.
American will also start daily Boeing 787-9 summer seasonal links to Dublin and Munich from Dallas Fort/Worth International Airport and a Boeing 777-200 seasonal flight from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport to London Heathrow.
A daily summer Boeing 787-8 seasonal service will also be operated to Athens from Chicago O’Hare International Airport while from Philadelphia International Airport it will run four-weekly Boeing 767 summer seasonal services to Berlin-Tegel Airport, Bologna Guglielmo Marconi and Dubrovnik and a daily Boeing 757 route to Edinburgh.
Additionally, given the current fuel and competitive environment, American will suspend a service between O’Hare and Shanghai Pudong International Airport from 26-27 October and seek a dormancy waiver from the US Department of Transportation (DOT) for the route authority.
American’s vice president of network and schedule planning, Vasu Raja said: “We remain strongly committed to Asia and will continue to serve the region through our hubs in Dallas/Fort Worth and Los Angeles.
“Our Chicago–Shanghai service is unprofitable and simply not sustainable in this high fuel cost environment and when we have opportunities to be successful in other markets.”
The airline will also reduce service between O’Hare and Tokyo Narita International Airport in Japan from daily to three days per week, effective from 18 December.
“These adjustments to our Asia service are necessary in this high fuel cost environment, but we remain committed to the network we’ve worked hard to build,” said Raja. “As with Shanghai, American will continue to serve Tokyo through our hubs in Dallas/Fort Worth and Los Angeles.”
