Transport

American Airlines drops Shannon flights to Philadelphia

Carrier attributes decision to delays in deliveries of new Boeing aircraft

American Airlines is halting flights to Edinburgh and Hong Kong and won’t resume flights to Dubrovnik and Prague. It will fly full schedules to Dublin as soon as it is able.

Aine Kenny
Thu Dec 9 2021 - 21:09

American Airlines will not resume its Philadelphia to Shannon route this summer due to continued delays in deliveries of new Boeing aircraft.

The airline planned to resume transatlantic flights from Shannon in May but issues with the production of Boeing 787 Dreamliners means this will no longer happen.

American Airlines will also drop flights to Edinburgh and Hong Kong, and it won't resume flights to Dubrovnik and Prague. The airline said it will fly full schedules to Dublin as soon as it is able.

A spokeswoman for Shannon Group confirmed that the Philadelphia route will not resume next year.

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“Due to a shortage of aircraft as a result of delayed delivery of Boeing 787 aircraft, American Airlines have been forced to reduce a number of routes they operate worldwide.

“Among these is their Philadelphia to Shannon service. However, Shannon Airport is working with them on restoring this service for 2023.”

The spokeswoman added that other transatlantic services out of Shannon will resume next year, with Aer Lingus flying to New York and Boston, and United flying to Newark.

Internal memo

American Airlines’s chief revenue officer, Vasu Raja, said in an internal memo that up to 13 Boeing 787 planes may not arrive as scheduled.

"Without these wide-bodies, we simply won't be able to fly as much internationally as we had planned next summer, or as we did in summer 2019," Mr Raja said.

Despite the delays, American Airlines said it has “great confidence” in the Dreamliner and will continue working with Boeing on when to expect deliveries.. – Additional reporting: Bloomberg

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