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Towards the end of last week, American Airlines announced that it would add five new routes to its transatlantic schedule for summer 2025, but the airline didn’t let us know what the flight times would look like. and the routes weren’t yet open for bookings.
Well, now the routes have been loaded to aa.com and we can see what the schedules look like.
American Airlines new seasonal routes to Europe
Charlotte – Athens
Commencing 5 June 2025, American Airlines will offer a daily flight between Charlotte (CLT) and Athens (ATH) for the summer season and this is what the schedule currently looks like:
AA326 CLT 19:00 – 12:20+1 day ATH (Daily)
AA325 ATH 12:00 – 16:30 CLT (Daily)
The route will be operated by a Boeing 777-200ER aircraft.
Chicago – Madrid
From 30 March 2025, American Airlines will fly a daily service between Chicago (ORD) and Madrid (MAD) for the summer season and this is what the schedule currently looks like:
AA126 ORD 22:15 – 13:20+1 day MAD (Daily)
AA125 MAD 16:35 – 18:50 ORD (Daily)
The route will be operated by a Boeing 787-8 aircraft.
Related: Iberia Premium Lounge Velazquez Madrid Terminal 4S review
Miami – Rome
On 5 July 2025, American Airlines will begin to offer a daily flight between Miami (MIA) and Rome (FCO) for the summer season and this is what the schedule currently looks like:
AA52 MIA 19:35 – 11:55+1 FCO (Daily)
AA53 FCO 13:50 – 19:25 MIA (Daily)
The route will be operated by a Boeing 777-200ER aircraft.
Philadelphia – Edinburgh
From 23 May 2025, American Airlines will offer a daily service between Philadelphia (PHL) and Edinburgh (EDI) for the first time since 2019 (so, technically, this isn’t a ‘new’ route) and this is what the schedule currently looks like:
AA278 PHL 19:05 – 07:00+1 day EDI (Daily)
AA279 EDI 11:35 – 14:00 PHL (Daily)
The route will be operated by a Boeing 787-8 aircraft.
Philadelphia – Milan
Philadelphia will be getting a second seasonal route to Europe from 23 May 2025 when American Airlines launches a new daily service to Milan (MXP) for the summer season, and this is what the schedule currently looks like:
AA298 PHL 21:15 – 11:20+1 day MXP (Daily)
AA299 MXP 13:35 – 16:40 PHL (Daily)
The route will be operated by a Boeing 787-8 aircraft.
Thoughts
As the booking window doesn’t currently let us see the airline’s plans past the first week in August, it’s hard to know just how significant these new route additions are.
The northern hemisphere summer season (for airlines) runs from the end of March through to the end of October, so even if all of these routes run until the official end of the season, most of them will not have operated for the full 7 months.
In fact, one route will only operate for, at most, 4 months, and if the past is anything to go by, that may be a generous estimate.
American Airlines has a history of operating some of it summer season European routes until the beginning of September or the beginning of October, and given that four out of five of these routes will not launch before the end of May, we may see one or two of them only operating for 2 or 3 months.
Yes, it’s nice to have new route options, but it would be nicer if the routes had a good-size travel window, so let’s see how things pan out.
Another thing to look out for is the Business Class cabin that will be offered on these routes.
Several American Airlines 787-8s and 777-200s still have the Concept 8 seated fitted to their Business Class cabin, and while this seat is a considerable improvement on the Premium Economy and Economy Class offerings on the aircraft, it’s also the worst wide-body Business Class seat that American Airlines offers (American Airlines 777-200ER Business Class review).
The good news is that it looks like the 777-200s scheduled to operate the new routes to Athens and Rome are expected to be aircraft with the excellent Super Diamond seat from Collins Aerospace as the seat maps do not show any rear-facing seats in the cabin.
The bad news is that all three of the routes which will feature the 787-8 Dreamliner currently display seat maps with the Concept 8 seats.
There’s a chance that because several aircraft will be operating these routes, things may change, so make sure you check the seat maps before you book to see exactly what type of seat you’re booking.
Bottom line
Over the weekend, American Airlines has loaded its systems with its new seasonal summer routes to Europe so all five are now open for bookings. Be aware, however, that American Airlines has an odd definition of ‘summer season’, so don’t expect to be able to book all of these routes from April through the end of October.
Let us know if any of these routes are tempting you into a booking and/or of you spot any good deals.
Related: American Airlines 777-300ER Business Class review (transatlantic)
I did a quick check on business class award pricing on the CLT-ATH and American is pretty much charging Skymiles prices. For a route that just started I’d hoped for a little saver space but they’re really gouging people from the get go.
We’re reaching the point where Saver Business Class Awards are becoming so rare on transatlantic flights that they may as well not exist any more.