American Airlines to Suspend Charlotte-Frankfurt Route

DALLAS - American Airlines (AA) will suspend flights between Charlotte (CLT) and Frankfurt (FRA), Germany, for the rest of this summer. The airline will keep operating flights to Munich (MUC), its other German destination, from CLT.

The Charlotte Business Journal reported that the daily flights were canceled between June 3 and September 6, 2022. The airline had stopped operating from CLT to Europe during the pandemic. The flight to FRA resumed last month, at the end of March 2022, and was due to operate until the end of October.

AA has almost 50 Boeing 777-200 in its fleet. Photo: Brandon Farris/Airways

Airline Comments

Andrew Trull, an AA spokesperson, explained, "We continually evaluate American’s network to ensure we maximize our fleet while matching customer demand. As part of that ongoing process, we are suspending service between Charlotte (CLT) and Frankfurt, Germany (FRA), from June 3 to Sept. 6"

"We’re proactively reaching out to customers scheduled to travel on affected dates to offer alternate travel options," he added.

According to Flightradar24, flight AA704 from CLT to FRA usually takes a little bit less than eight hours. The flight back from FRA to CLT, however, lasts almost nine hours. Both flights are operated using the Boeing 777-200, which can carry 273 passengers.

US Airways, which merged with AA, was based in CLT. Photo: Andrew Henderson/Airways

CLT Hub for AA

AA will still fly to FRA this summer, but only from its main hub in Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW). From CLT, AA also operates another flight to Germany, serving Munich (MUC). Trull said this route will not be impacted by the flight cancellations.

CLT is an important airport for AA, as it was indeed a hub for the former carrier, US Airways. After the merger with AA, the airline kept flying from its CLT hub. According to airlinedata.com, with over 26,7 million seats offered in 2022, it is currently the second most important airport for AA, behind DFW.

AA mostly flies to North America and the Caribbean from CLT, as Europe only represents a little bit less than 2% of AA's seat offer from CLT. London Heathrow (LHR) is the airline's most important European destination from CLT, but AA also flies to Madrid (MAD), Rome (FCO), and Dublin (DUB). Those flights are only operated by Boeing 777-200 aircraft.

With the German route cancellation, AA is trying to maximize its fleet for the summer, focusing on destinations with more demand.

Featured image: AA's Boeing 777-200 can carry up to 273 passengers. Photo: Alberto Cucini/Airways