American Airlines will cease flights to Manchester, Keflavik, and Prague from its Philadelphia hub as sluggish international demand continues to take a toll on its balance sheet.
The Oneworld alliance carrier also said it does not plan to resume flights to Venice until 2022 at the earliest.
Of the three discontinued routes, American Airlines had originally planned to resume flights to Manchester in summer 2021. Prior to the pandemic, the airline operated this route daily with a Boeing 787.
Aircraft normally assigned to these routes will be redeployed to serve destinations in Latin America and the Carribean, where “demand has been more quick to recover”, according to an internal memo shared by @JonNYC.
The memo also noted that the airline plans to resume transatlantic flights from Philadelphia to a dozen other European destinations once there is a rebound in demand and vaccines are more widely available. These cities include Athens, London, and Zurich.
An American Airlines spokesperson confirmed the changes in a statement to Business Traveller:
“We have been adjusting our international schedule since March to match severely decreased customer demand as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Unfortunately, our service to Manchester, Keflavik, and Prague, is no longer sustainable in this current demand environment.
“American will continue to serve our customers through our joint business partners, British Airways and Iberia. Any customers booked to travel from Manchester, Keflavik, and Prague will be contacted and rebooked to fly on one of our partners or offered a full refund.”
The move comes amid an announcement this month that the airline will expand its transatlantic Covid-19 testing trial together with British Airways and Oneworld in an effort to restore confidence in air travel.
