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Despite their troubles, American Airlines are still moving forward in the game. This week we heard about new American routes into Europe and the demise of some old favourites. But that’s the business game – supply and demand. And American Airlines know how to play it.

A sudden change of direction

For several months, the America routes between Chicago and Asia have been suffering from a low uptake. So, it comes as no surprise the airline have just announced the end of the Chicago – Beijing route which has lost around $100 million. And it’s safe to say, the same fate could await Chicago – Shanghai and Chicago – Tokyo, which have also been struggling.

However, these routes into Asia are key parts of the AA portfolio, which raises the question, where will they expand if not into Asia? As it turns out, the airline has been exploring other options. American is now scaling up its Europe coverage with nine new routes. These options are seasonal for now, but will they stay so?

Existing AA new European routes

According to the American Airlines website, it has four new seasonal routes currently running:

Philadelphia, PA (PHL) to Budapest, Hungary (BUD) and Prague, Czech Republic (PRG) starting May 4 through October 27, 2018

Chicago O’Hare (ORD) to Venice, Italy (VCE) – starting May 4, 2018

Nashville, TN (BNA) to London-Heathrow (LHR) – starting May 4, 2018, operated by British Airways

Dallas-Fort Worth, TX (DFW) to Reykjavik-Keflavik, Iceland (KEF) – starting June 7th, 2018

The AA new European routes

In addition to these, even more American Airlines new routes are set to drop for next year:

Charlotte (CLT) and Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) to Munich, Germany (MUC) from June 6 to October 26 2019

Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) to Dublin, Ireland (DUB) daily from June 6 through September 28, 2019

Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) to Munich (MUC) June 6 to October 26 2019

Chicago (ORD) to Athens, Greece (ATH) May 3 to September 28 2019

Philadelphia (PHL) to Dubrovnik, Croatia (DBV) 3x weekly flight will run from June 7 to September 27 2019

Philadelphia (PHL) to Bologna, Italy (BLQ) 4x weekly flight from Philly from June 6 to September 28 2019

Philadelphia (PHL) to Berlin’s Tegel (TXL) June 7 to September 28, 2019

Phoenix (PHX) to London Heathrow (LHR) from March 31 to October 26 2019

Philadelphia (PHL) to Edinburgh, Scotland (EDI) daily from April 2 through October 27, 2019

Why so many new European routes with American?

These new seasonal offering are clearly designed for US and European customers looking for summer vacation routes. But that doesn’t mean the routes are all about families off to Paris. The tourist market in the US, is very much connected to visiting countries of origin. And while this is seasonal, is more steered by predictable forces than pure tourism. American’s Vice President of Planning, Vasu Raja, claims the Budapest and Prague offerings may be some of their most popular new routes. With many Americans and US resident’s with family connections in Eastern Europe, the market is strong.

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However, most notable is the a absence of any new routes to Europe from New York JFK. More and more, US customers have come to consider this a business airport. This factor alone shows AA are embracing the tourist dollar now more than ever.