American Airlines has reduced flights to popular international destinations as well as completely removed some destinations from their 2022 calendar due to an aircraft shortage. The decision by the airline has affected travel to two continents, South America and Europe.
This comes at an interesting point for the company as American travelers are beginning to travel in greater numbers, but in contrast, the airline is unable to fulfill all of their international route obligations.
American Airlines’ Chief Revenue Officer Vasu Raja has placed the blame on Boeing stating that they are, “unable to deliver the 787s we have on order” and that “we deeply regret the impact to our customers as we work through the process to resume deliveries of new 787s.”
This delay has impacted longer flights as Boeing’s 787s have a range well over 6,000 miles, ideal for intercontinental travel.
The cities in South America which are affected are listed below. Note that none of these routes will be completely cut in 2022 by the airline but there will be a significant reduction in flights. Listed alphabetically:
- Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Sao Paulo, Brazil
- Santiago, Chile
Unlike South America, there are five popular European destinations that American travelers will no longer be able to fly to on American Airlines. Also listed alphabetically, the cities include:
- Berlin, Germany
- Budapest, Hungary
- Dubrovnik, Croatia
- Prague, Czech Republic
- Reykjavik, Iceland
American Airlines still will fly to Germany, American travelers can still fly to Munich, Dusseldorf and Frankfurt. But the other countries on the list (Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary and Ireland) aren’t so lucky for American Airlines travelers.
Few details have been provided but it is expected that the frequency of flights to the Asia-Pacific region will also be impacted. Flights to Hong Kong could be discontinued while flights from Seattle to Bangalore, India, will be delayed until fall.