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08/08/2019

American Airlines Increases International Presence, Makes First Entrance Into Africa

Updated August 14 at 9:45 a.m. CT.

Airline expands global network with flights to Casablanca, Tel Aviv and Krakow beginning next summer

American's growing network

Learn more about the new destinations announced for summer 2020 using this interactive map.

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Have you heard?

Watch and listen to Vasu Raja, Vice President of Network and Schedule Planning, reveal the summer 2020 international schedule on Instagram. For the full effect, make sure to have your headphones on.

FORT WORTH, Texas — American Airlines has the cure for the end-of-summer blues: new routes for next summer. Today, American unveiled its summer 2020 international schedule, which includes the following new service:

  • Philadelphia (PHL) to Casablanca, Morocco (CMN) begins June 4
  • Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) to Tel Aviv, Israel (TLV) begins Sept. 9
  • Chicago (ORD) to Krakow, Poland (KRK) begins May 7
  • ORD to Budapest, Hungary (BUD) begins May 7
  • ORD to Prague, Czech Republic (PRG) begins May 8

Furthering frontiers: Africa

When American begins service to Morocco next year, it will be the airline's first entrance into the African continent. American will be the only U.S. carrier with nonstop service to Casablanca, which will be operated three times per week on a Boeing 757.

"Our customers and team members have been asking when we're going to start service to Africa, and I couldn't be more pleased to make this announcement for service beginning in 2020," said Vasu Raja, American's Vice President of Network and Schedule Planning. "We look forward to working with Royal Air Maroc when they join oneworld® in 2020, which will allow for even more connections further into Africa to places like Marrakech, Lagos and Accra. This is only the beginning."

Returning to Tel Aviv

As demand continues to grow between the U.S. and TLV, American is adding three weekly flights from DFW, its largest hub. These flights will serve customers throughout the U.S. and allow many customers to make only one stop, rather than the previous two stops that were available, to TLV. And as the tech industry continues to grow in the market, American will provide the most efficient routing to U.S. tech cities like Austin, Texas, and San Jose, California, in addition to one-stop service to 33 new cities in the U.S.

Expansion in Eastern Europe

American's Midwest hub, ORD, has seen significant growth and now offers more domestic and international seats today than it has in more than a decade. Next summer, the growth continues with three new destinations in Eastern Europe, including American's first flight to KRK and new service to PRG and BUD, which American began flying to seasonally from PHL in 2018. American will offer the most premium seats to Eastern Europe of all U.S. carriers next summer, as all of the new flights will be operated by a Boeing 787-8, featuring 20 Flagship Business seats and 28 Premium Economy seats.

"There's strong local demand to Eastern Europe in Chicago, and it's important that we provide more service for our customers to visit family and friends or explore a new part of the world," said Raja. "Chicago has been a great example of trying new things with our network, like seasonal service to Athens that launched earlier this year, and when customers take advantage, it allows us the opportunity to keep growing."

American will be the only U.S. carrier providing service to KRK, BUD and PRG from ORD.

New flights will be available for purchase Aug. 12, with the exception of TLV, which will be available for purchase Oct. 10.

Hub City Airport Code Frequency Aircraft Season
DFW Tel Aviv, Israel TLV 3x/week 787-9 Year-round, starting Sept. 9, 2020
PHL Casablanca, Morocco CMN 3x/week 757 June 4–Sept. 8
ORD Krakow, Poland KRK 5x/week 787-8 May 7–Oct. 23
ORD Prague, Czech Republic PRG 5x/week 787-8 May 8–Oct. 24
ORD Budapest, Hungary BUD 4x/week 787-8 May 7–Oct. 24

All routes subject to government approval.

Tell Me Why: "More things to come in our long-haul system"

In a special two-part episode of Tell Me Why, we are talking to Vasu Raja, Vice President of Network and Schedule Planning about our historic summer 2020 announcement. Tune in to Part 1 where Vasu explains how we're going to enter back into Tel Aviv, why Eastern Europe works so well from ORD and why we're calling Morocco the gateway to Africa.

Want to hear the second half of the podcast? Be sure to subscribe to the Tell Me Why podcast on iTunes or Google Play.

About American Airlines Group
American Airlines offers customers 6,800 daily flights to more than 365 destinations in 61 countries from its hubs in Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, Phoenix and Washington, D.C. With a shared purpose of caring for people on life's journey, American's 130,000 global team members serve more than 200 million customers annually. Since 2013, American has invested more than $28 billion in its product and people and now flies the youngest fleet among U.S. network carriers, equipped with industry-leading high-speed Wi-Fi, lie-flat seats, and more inflight entertainment and access to power. American also has enhanced food and beverage options in the air and on the ground in its world-class Admirals Club and Flagship lounges. American was recently named a Five Star Global Airline by the Airline Passenger Experience Association and Airline of the Year by Air Transport World. American is a founding member of oneworld®, whose members serve 1,100 destinations in 180 countries and territories. Shares of American Airlines Group Inc. trade on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol AAL and the company's stock is included in the S&P 500. Learn more about what's happening at American by visiting news.aa.com and connect with American on Twitter @AmericanAir and at Facebook.com/AmericanAirlines.

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