American Airlines just announced its largest trans-Atlantic expansion since 2019, as outlined in an official press release by the airline. Effective from Summer 2024, the carrier will add three new European destinations and increase services to existing European destinations.

Not only this, but American's recent press release also highlighted a plethora of services to Latin America and the Caribbean that will be receiving frequency up-gauges from as soon as this October.

Brand-New Destinations

All three of American's new European destinations will be offered from its Philadelphia (PHL) hub. 

Adding these new routes will bring the carrier to 15 daily nonstop flights to 14 European cities from PHL next summer. This reflects American's largest such schedule from Philadelphia since 2019.

The first of American's brand-new destinations to launch next summer will be Nice, France (NCE) on May 6th. This service will operate daily on the Boeing 787-9. 

[PHL,NCE]

Around one month later, on June 5th, American will launch service to Naples, Italy (NAP). This will serve as the airline's fourth destination in Italy following Rome Fiumicino (FCO), Milan Malpensa (MXP), and Venice (VCE). New service to Naples will run daily on the Boeing 787-8.

[PHL,NAP]

The following day, June 6th, 2024, American will launch service to Copenhagen, Denmark (CPH). This is especially exciting as the carrier has not served the Scandinavian region in quite some time. The route from Philadelphia to Copenhagen will run daily on the Boeing 787-9.

[PHL,CPH]

With Denmark being added to American's route network next summer, this will bring the airline to a total of 11 countries served across Europe.

On an unrelated note, American will be shifting its existing New York (JFK) to Doha, Qatar (DOH) route to Philadelphia as well. This service begins on October 29th with the Boeing 787-9. It's unclear at the moment if this will fully replace Qatar Airways' existing PHL-DOH flight or serve as a complement to it.

Increased European Services

As part of its largest trans-Atlantic expansion since the pandemic, American is also increasing frequencies to its existing destinations in Europe. This includes a brand-new route between its largest hub in Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) and Barcelona, Spain (BCN). Once this service launches on June 5th, it will run daily on the Boeing 777-200ER.

American will also revive its route from Chicago O'Hare (ORD) to Venice, Italy (VCE). Previously offered as a seasonal route, this flight will resume on June 5th, 2024 but this time as a daily service. As it did previously, this service will utilize the Boeing 787-8.

Certain seasonal routes currently served by American Airlines are receiving some slight schedule tweaks next summer but this is arguably for the benefit of travelers. Here's the full list of four seasonal routes that will be resuming earlier in the Summer of 2024:

• Charlotte (CLT) to Dublin, Ireland (DUB) - Resumes on March 5th, 2024 on the Boeing 777-200ER
• New York (JFK) to Athens, Greece (ATH) - Resumes on March 31st, 2024 on the Boeing 777-200ER
• Philadelphia (PHL) to Venice (VCE) - Resumes on April 4th, 2024 on the Boeing 787-8
• Chicago (ORD) to Athens, Greece (ATH) - Resumes on May 6th, 2024 on the Boeing 787-9

In addition to these seasonal route tweaks, American is expanding a bunch of previously-seasonal routes to year-round service:

• Charlotte (CLT) to Madrid, Spain (MAD) on the Boeing 777-200ER
• Philadelphia (PHL) to Barcelona, Spain (BCN) on the Boeing 787-8
• Philadelphia (PHL) to Lisbon, Portugal (LIS) on the Boeing 787-9 (Summer) and 787-8 (Winter)
• Dallas (DFW) to Dublin, Ireland (DUB) on the Boeing 777-200ER (Summer) and 787-8 (Winter)
• Dallas (DFW) to Rome, Italy (FCO) on the Boeing 787-8 and 787-9

Why Wait for Summer?

All of American's new route plans aren't just for Summer 2024. In fact, the carrier is expanding its already voluminous schedule to Mexico, the Caribbean, and Latin America. These route adjustments mainly take effect from the coming Winter 2023, with one exception in October.

It's worth noting that these adjustments and service adds further cement American Airlines' status as the largest airline offering service between the United States and Mexico, the Caribbean, and Latin America. The full route list is below:

• DFW to Buenos Aires, Argentina (EZE) - Expanding to daily service from October 29th on the 787-9
• CLT to Eleuthera, Bahamas (ELH) - Expanding to daily service from February 15th - April 3rd on the CRJ-700
• CLT to Georgetown, Bahamas (GGT) - Expanding to daily service from February 15th - April 3rd on the CRJ-900
• CLT to Marsh Harbour, Bahamas (MHH) - Expanding to daily service from February 15th - April 3rd on the E175
• DFW to Nassau, Bahamas (NAS) - Expanding to two daily flights from February 15th on the 737-800
• DFW to Cozumel, Mexico (CZM) - Expanding to two daily flights from January 8th - April 3rd on the 737-800
• Miami (MIA) to Anguilla (AXA) - Expanding to two daily flights from January 8th - April 3rd on the E175
• MIA to Bridgetown, Barbados (BGI) - Expanding to three daily flights from January 8th - April 3rd on the 737-800
• MIA to St. Maarten (SXM) - Expanding to three daily flights from January 8th - April 3rd on the 737-800
• MIA to Tortola, British Virgin Islands (EIS) - Expanding to three flights on Saturdays from January 8th - April 3rd on the E175

Overall, American has some exciting route plans in store that will be rolling out across its network from later this year through the summer of next year. As the airline continues to take delivery of more Boeing 787s with deliveries expected through the coming years, it goes without saying that those new planes will be instrumental in the growth that the carrier is anticipating.