Taylor Rains Dec 9, 2021 at 8:10 pm

American Airlines at JFK Wangkun Jia / Shutterstock

  • American Airlines drops five international markets while waiting for delayed Dreamliner planes.

  • The airline is reducing cities in Europe and Asia and reducing frequencies to destinations in the Asia-Pacific region.

  • While American is taking down some cities, it is adding an international market in the Middle East.

American Airlines is reducing its international network as Boeing delays delivery of its Dreamliner jets.

In an internal memo that Insider saw, American announced that it is removing five international routes from its summer 2022 flight schedule because it won’t have enough aircraft. According to the memo, up to 13 Dreamliners are said to be in the company’s fleet by this winter, but Boeing has failed to deliver the wide-body aircraft, causing the airline to cut down several markets.

“Despite this setback, we will take steps to control what we can and deliver the best possible airline to our customers,” said Vasu Raja, American chief revenue officer, in the memo. “We will do our best to minimize the damage these aircraft delivery delays have done to our long-haul portfolio while reassuring our customers that they will be booking summer trips from the New Year.”

The following cities will not be included in the summer network next year:

Edinburgh, Scotland: This route has not been flown since 2019, but when it was operational the airline reportedly used a Boeing 757 with 176 seats The point type. However, the plane was retired in 2020 after the pandemic began and American has yet to come up with an alternative option.

Shannon, Ireland: Like Edinburgh, flights to Shannon were suspended in 2019 and a Boeing 757 was used. The airline announced in September that it would seasonally return to the city on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner from Philadelphia, although the delivery delay has halted plans.

Hong Kong: Flights to Hong Kong from Dallas / Fort Worth were suspended after the pandemic broke out as travel to the area was blocked. The 12,875km flight was the airline’s longest route, but now that it’s suspended, Seattle to Bangalore will take the title when it finally takes off.

Prague, Czech Republic: Flights from Philadelphia to Prague started in summer 2018 with a Boeing 767 and flew seasonally in 2019. The airline discontinued the route in December 2020 in order to reallocate the aircraft used for the transatlantic flight and put them on routes to Latin America and the Caribbean, according to an internal memo.

Dubrovnik, Croatia: American operated a Philadelphia to Dubrovnik route in the summer of 2019, but it was canceled in 2020 due to COVID-19. American was the first airline in the US to connect the country with Croatia in the past 10 years, so Easy flying.

In addition to the cut routes, American is also reducing its frequencies to Shanghai and Beijing in China and Sydney, Australia, and delaying the start of its much-anticipated flight from Seattle to Bangalore, India, Raja said in the memo.

However, American has interspersed more positive news in its announcements. From June 2022, the airline will fly from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport to Hamad International Airport in Doha, Qatar. American’s Oneworld partner, Qatar Airways, has already planned up to three daily flights to its home country for next summer. according to his website.

“We are excited to welcome our oneworld partner and our friends from American Airlines to our home airport in Doha, which was recently voted the best airport in the world, and has connections to numerous business and leisure destinations in the region and beyond” Qatar Airways Chief Commercial Officer Thierry Antinori said in a press release.

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