Long haul flights can be a huge money maker for airlines, especially the premium and business class fares. But American Airlines, while still the largest flight operator in the world, has gradually removed many long-haul destinations from its hubs in New York (JFK), Miami, and Philadelphia, as well as from Chicago O’Hare, Dallas-Forth Worth, and Los Angeles.
As recently documented by Simple Flying, there have been more than two dozen airports in Europe, South America, and the Middle East that have lost American direct long-haul service over the past two decades. While many of the destinations are still available through code shares for American fliers, there are questions as to American’s future outlook for these sorts of markets. Many had been served by the airline’s Boeing 757-200 and Boeing 767-300ER aircraft, which have since been retired.
Cities in Europe that American has dropped service in the last 20 years include London Gatwick, Moscow Domodedovo, Manchester, Bologna, Shannon, Dubrovnik, Helsinki, and Brussels. In South America, the list includes Recife, Salvador, Brasilia, Cordoba, La Paz, Belo Horizonte, and Curitiba. And in the Middle East and Asia, American has ceased direct long-haul service to Beijing Capital Airport, Hong Kong, Osaka Kansai, and Doha.
With the Airbus A321XLR now in service as of November 2024—and American having an order of 40 units—there has been speculation that the A321XLR could be an option for future long-haul service to some of these markets. Recently, United has announced upcoming international destinations for the A321XLR to locations including Toulouse, France; Luxembourg; Ibiza and Valencia, Spain; Amsterdam; and Dublin.
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