American Airlines will fly the Airbus A321XLR to Amsterdam, Nice, Porto, Reykjavik and Vienna this summer.
American Airlines
American Airlines unveiled its summer 2027 international schedule on Thursday, saying it will offer three new destinations from its European hub in Philadelphia as well as Charlotte-Barcelona and a fourth daily London flight on its profitable JFK-London Heathrow route.
Five of the new eight new routes will be flown with the Airbus A321XLR, further underscoring the increased use of the narrowbody aircraft, with enhanced premium seating, for transatlantic travel. American, the first airline to fly the aircraft, took its first delivery in first took delivery
The new Philadelphia destinations include Porto, Portugal: Reykjavik, Iceland and Vienna. The March 6th startup to Vienna will represent the only Vienna service offered by a U.S.-based carrier. All three routes will be served with the new aircraft, American took its first delivery in October 2025.
This summer, Philadelphia will operate 22 daily flights to 21 trans-Atlantic destinations.
Vienna service will continue through early January 2028. That will make it “easier than ever to visit magical European Christmas markets,” American said.
American hinted at rising temperatures in Southern Europe, noting that “With ‘coolcations’ on the rise, Iceland has quickly risen in popularity with its breathtaking landscapes coupled with lower average summer temperatures.”
At JFK, American’s fourth daily LHR flight will begin March 28th with a Boeing 787. On peak days, American and joint venture partner British Airways will offer 14 daily departures on the route.
A new JFK route will be Nice, France, which begins on May 6th with an Airbus A321XLR. Also, American will add an A321XLR flight to Amsterdam, a hub for Delta partner KLM, on March 28th.
Meanwhile, Charlotte, growing as transatlantic hub, will have summer service to nine transatlantic destinations, with 11 daily transatlantic departures including three to London Heathrow. “The airline continues to advance Charlotte’s position on a global scale with its largest trans-Atlantic schedule” from the city, American said.
The new route to Barcelona will be operated with a Boeing 777-200ER, starting May 27. Charlotte becomes American’s sixth gateway to the Barcelona.
In a press release, American called Charlotte “a connection factory.” Besides Barcelona, European destinations will include Athens, Dublin, Frankfurt, London, Madrid, Munich, Paris, and Rome.
American also reiterated on Thursday that it will begin Boeing 787 Chicago-Tokyo service on March 19. The route was announced in July, while Philadelphia-Porto was announced in February.
American will serve Porto and Vienna for the first time ever, while offering flights to Reykjavik for the first time since 2019. “American is growing to offer new destinations and routes, bolstering our premium global route offerings,” said Brian Znotins, senior vice president of network and schedule planning, in a prepared statement.
American’s announcement on Thursday offered some contrasts to United’s Tuesday announcement of new international routes.
United, which has the premier transatlantic hub in Newark, already offers service to Europe’s top airports, so it was able to announce seasonal service to unique secondary markets, including including Marseille and Luxembourg as well as Ibiza and Valencia, Spain; Terceira, Portugal; Ljubljana, Slovenia, and Olbia and Sicily on Italian islands.
United made the most of its new route announcements on Tuesday, offering a media event at the Newark hub, preceded by an embargoed Monday press conference. It highlighted its September introduction of the A321XLR, which American already flies, as well as its ability to serve the second-tier markets.
United does not serve Vienna because it prefers to let Austrian Airlines, a subsidiary of joint venture partner Lufthansa, operate the EWR-VIE flight.
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