American Airlines To Africa: New Route To Casablanca

American Airlines To Africa: New Route To Casablanca

MIAMI — American Airlines will be expanding its ever-growing route network into the African continent with an all-new flight to Casablanca, Morocco.

The carrier unveiled its 2020 international schedule today, announcing a myriad of new routes to Africa, Eastern Europe, and Israel.

The biggest surprise is the opening of the carrier’s first-ever African destination. American Airlines (AA) will launch flights from its hub in Philadelphia (PHL) to Casablanca (CMN) on June 4, 2020. The service will be operated by the airline’s Boeing 757.

This new service to Morocco will make American Airlines the first US carrier to offer nonstop service to Casablanca.

“Our customers and team members have been asking when we’re going to start service to Africa, and I couldn’t be more pleased to make this announcement for service beginning in 2020,” said Vasu Raja, American’s Vice President of Network and Schedule Planning.

This new route’s opening can be attributed to Royal Air Maroc joining the oneworld alliance in January 2020. The Moroccan carrier will allow its new American partner to connect the incoming flight from PHL to its vast African network and also feed the new flight with transiting passengers.

“We look forward to working with Royal Air Maroc when they join oneworld in January, which will allow for even more connections further into Africa to places like Marrakech, Lagos, and Accra. This is only the beginning,” said Raja.

Interestingly, AA will operate the seven-hour flight with its Boeing 757-200, which will presumably be replaced by the brand-new Airbus A321XLR aircraft that American Airlines ordered at this year’s Paris Air Show.

Tel Aviv, Krakow, Budapest, Prague


In addition to the Moroccan capital, American Airlines has also unveiled new routes between its hub in Dallas/Ft. Worth (DFW) and Tel Aviv (TLV), scheduled to launch on June 4 next year.

The carrier claims that as demand between the US and Israel continues to grow, three weekly flights will be added to its network from its main DFW hub to TLV onboard brand-new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners.

In addition to Tel Aviv, the carrier’s Chicago hub will also see an increased presence in Eastern Europe, also with the 787 Dreamliner hard product.

Photo: Jakkrit Prasertwit

A new service between Chicago-O’hare (ORD) and Krakow (KRK) is scheduled to launch on September 9, 2020. American Airlines will become the only US carrier to fly into KRK.

And also from ORD, the carrier will fly to Budapest (BUD) on May 7, and Prague on May 8—just ahead of the busy Summer 2020 season.

“American will offer the most premium seats to Eastern Europe of all U.S. carriers next summer, as all of the new flights will be operated by a Boeing 787-8, featuring 20 Flagship Business seats and 28 Premium Economy seats,” said the carrier in a statement.

“There’s strong local demand to Eastern Europe in Chicago, and it’s important that we provide more service for our customers to visit family and friends or explore a new part of the world,” said Raja.

“Chicago has been a great example of trying new things with our network, like seasonal service to Athens that launched earlier this year, and when customers take advantage, it allows us the opportunity to keep growing.”

Even though this announcement is official, American Airlines claims that the new routes are still subject to government approval.

Editor-in-Chief
Commercial Pilot, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Aviation MBA, Globetrotter, AS Roma fan, and in my free time, I fly the Airways Ship.

You cannot copy content of this page