American Airlines will be expanding its services from the United States to Asia next summer. Certain routes to Shanghai and Tokyo will benefit from larger aircraft catering to business-focused travelers.
American Airlines
- IATA/ICAO Code
-
AA/AAL
- Year Founded
-
1926
- CEO
-
Robert Isom
- Country
-
United States
American increasing capacity on flights to Asia
This will result in overall capacity increases across the affected routes, despite frequencies remaining the same. The sectors include:
Photo: Ian Dewar Photography | Shutterstock
The focus on Tokyo increases are important. This, complemented by the carrier’s recently launched New York connection, are a testament to its importance within American’s network. American says:
“Customers will have more access to Tokyo and beyond with larger aircraft operating on all of American’s flights from Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) and Los Angeles (LAX) to Japan. And, with codeshare services operated by American’s partners, customers can easily access more than 30 additional destinations across Japan and East Asia with just one stop.”
We take a look at the Tokyo routes on offer for next summer.
A double connection from Dallas
Next summer – as per this summer – American Airlines will be flying twice daily from Dallas to Tokyo. It offers one daily flight to Haneda Airport and another to Narita. Slot constraints at Haneda likely mean the carrier cannot shift over its complete offer. Two aircraft types will be used on the route, notably the Boeing 777-200 for services to Narita and a Boeing 787-9 on the Haneda sector. Here is a summary of the differences between this year’s August 2024 operation and the plan for next summer.
|
Origin |
Destination |
Aircraft – August 2024 |
Aircraft – Summer 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Dallas Fort Worth (DFW) |
Tokyo Haneda (HND) |
787-8 |
787-9 |
|
Dallas Fort Worth (DFW) |
Tokyo Narita (NRT) |
787-8 |
777-200 |
According to Cirium data, the Boeing 787-8 offered 7,254 monthly seats on each sector in August 2024. Both planes selected for next summer will increase seat capacity.
Photo: Lukas Wunderlich | Shutterstock
Services from Los Angeles
The Boeing 787-8 also presently flies on the Los Angeles to Tokyo sector with AA. Next year, the carrier plans to deploy its Boeing 787-9 on the flight instead, operating twice a day. In August 2024, American offered 14,508 seats on the route, competing against a whopping four other airlines. While Los Angeles may well be the largest US market from Tokyo, it is certainly a challenge competing against so many other well-established players. This includes:
Note that Japan Airlines is also a member of the 
oneworld
Alliance
.
Recent New York entry
At the start of this year, it became clear that American Airlines had come out victorious in the battle with United Airlines to claim Delta Air Lines’ recently relinquished slots at Haneda airport. While United wanted to launch flights from Houston (and hence closing its Houston-Narita route in favour of a Haneda flight), American had hoped to fly from New York JFK Airport
.
Ultimately, the US Transportation Department (DOT) selected AA. At the time, it said:
“The record shows that New York City is the second largest mainland U.S.-Tokyo O&D market, second only to Los Angeles, and the largest such market proposed in this proceeding. Selection of American would add the only U.S. carrier-operated Haneda service from JFK, and offer an additional competitive option for travelers between the largest cities and commercial/financial hubs of the United States and Japan, respectively”
Photo: American Airlines
Flights began on June 28, operating daily with a Boeing 777-200. These are expected to continue next summer, and are bookable on the carrier’s website. However, the American Airlines website does list the Boeing 787-9 as the equipment on offer.