As the world tries to stop the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19), American Airlines announced that they will be suspending some long-haul international flights from March 16 - May 6.
The airline said, "This change is in response to decreased demand and changes to U.S. government travel restrictions due to coronavirus (COVID-19)."
Their plan is to:
- Reduce international capacity by 75% year over year — from March 16 to May 6
- Continue to operate one flight daily from Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) to London (LHR), one flight daily from Miami (MIA) to LHR and three flights per week from DFW to Tokyo (NRT)
- Continue short-haul international flying, which includes flights to Canada, Mexico, Caribbean, Central America and certain markets in the northern part of South America, as scheduled
In addition to the international changes, the airline said it anticipates its domestic capacity in April will be reduced by 20% compared to last year and May’s domestic capacity will be reduced by 30% on a year over year basis.
Here are the areas affected:
- American will suspend all remaining flights to Asia, except for three flights per week from DFW to NRT
- Suspending service from Los Angeles (LAX) to Auckland (AKL) effective March 16, which was slated to end seasonal flying on March 28
- Suspending service from LAX to Sydney (SYD) effective March 16
- American will continue to operate one flight daily from DFW to LHR and MIA to LHR
- Suspending flights from New York (JFK), Boston (BOS), Chicago (ORD), and LAX to LHR gradually over the next seven days to reaccommodate passengers and crew
- LHR, Dublin (DUB) and Manchester (MAN) flights from Charlotte (CLT), Philadelphia (PHL) and Phoenix (PHX) will be suspended faster, as these airports are not approved gateways by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Final eastbound flights from CLT, PHL and PHX will be on March 15; final westbound flights returning from LHR, DUB and MAN will depart March 16
- Continued suspensions in other parts of Europe, as previously announced, including the delayed start of some seasonal routes as well as flights to and from Amsterdam (AMS), Barcelona (BCN), Frankfurt (FRA), Madrid (MAD) and Munich (MUC) Paris (CDG) and Zurich (ZRH) through early May, or later, based on guidance from the U.S. government and customer demand
- Suspending service from JFK and MIA to Rio de Janeiro (GIG) and Georgetown, Guyana (GEO)
- Suspending service from DFW, JFK and MIA to São Paulo (GRU)
- Suspending service from DFW and MIA to:
- Chile: Santiago (SCL)
- Colombia: Bogota (BOG)
- Ecuador: Guayaquil (GYE) and Quito (UIO)
- Peru: Lima (LIM)
- Suspending service from MIA to:
- Brazil: Brasilia (BSB) and Manaus (MAO)
- Colombia: Barranquilla (BAQ), Cartagena (CTG), Cali (CLO), Medellin (MDE) and Pereira (PEI)
