American Airlines details plans for its 2 newest long-haul routes, Athens and Tel Aviv

Travel

The Points Guy logo

American Airlines is starting the year by putting two of its newest long-haul routes on sale.

The Fort Worth-based carrier confirmed to TPG that the new service from New York-JFK to both Athens (ATH) and Tel Aviv (TLV) would be available for sale beginning on Jan. 25.

On May 6, 2021, American will takeoff to Tel Aviv, marking the carrier’s return to Israel since it last operated a nonstop flight there in 2016, from Philadelphia (PHL). The once-daily flight will operate year-round and will set the stage for the carrier’s other new Tel Aviv route from Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW), which was postponed until Oct. 31, 2021.

Want more airline-specific news? Sign up for TPG’s free new biweekly Aviation newsletter!

Roughly a month later, on June 2, American will start flying a seasonal daily flight to Athens that will operate through Oct. 30.

Both new long-haul JFK flights will be operated by a Boeing 777-200, featuring 37 seats in fully flat biz, 24 premium economy recliners, 66 extra-legroom Main Cabin Extra seats and 146 standard coach seats. Wi-Fi and seat-back entertainment will be available on all flights as well.

Tel Aviv flights will feature Kosher wines, in addition to Kosher meals available for preorder.

The new JFK flying is part of American’s recently approved Northeast-focused alliance with JetBlue. The tie-up, announced last summer, is a milestone for the two carriers, who last partnered in 2014.

As part of the alliance, both American and JetBlue promised to boost connectivity in the region, with a focus on Boston and New York. JetBlue will provide much of the domestic connectivity to American’s international routes from the area.

Additionally, flyers will have access to reciprocal mileage earning and redemption benefits, though those details haven’t been finalized yet. The two carriers are also working to offer status benefits for elites, regardless of which airline they fly.

Video: Why Spirit Airlines is falling behind (CNBC)

  • Julia Boorstin et al. holding a sign: Anthony Wood, CEO of Roku, joins

    There's a lot of room to keep growing in streaming business: Roku CEO

    CNBC Logo

    CNBC

  • Andrew Ross Sorkin, Barry Sternlicht are posing for a picture: Real estate mogul Barry Sternlicht announced his third special purpose acquisition company: Jaws Mustang Acquisition. This SPAC joins the ranks of well over 200 SPACs that have gone to market in the last year. Sternlicht joined

    Real estate mogul Barry Sternlicht on what the SPAC market might look like in 2021

    CNBC Logo

    CNBC

  • a screen shot of a man: Ari Wald of Oppenheimer and Gina Sanchez of Chantico Global and Lido Advisors share their top trades for the next four years with CNBC's Seema Mody.

    Traders' top picks for the Biden presidency

    CNBC Logo

    CNBC

  • a person wearing a suit and tie smiling at the camera: Robert Teeter of Silvercrest Asset Management says with stocks pushing above their pre-pandemic highs, it's time for investors to moderate their expectations and be more cautious.

    Teeter: Stocks have come a long way since November, and maybe it's time to take a pause

    CNBC Logo

    CNBC

  • a car parked on the side of a dirt road: Sport utility vehicles are all but taking over the automotive market in the United States and the luxury segments are no exception. The Range Rover - which celebrated its 50 year anniversary in 2020 - is one of the originals. It continues to be a strong seller that commands a lot of respect.

    How Range Rover went from off-road beast to status SUV

    CNBC Logo

    CNBC

  • Phil LeBeau wearing a suit and tie smiling at the camera: United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby joined

    United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby on 2021 demand: 'We have real confidence in the long-term'

    CNBC Logo

    CNBC

  • a person wearing a blue hat: CNBC's senior health and science correspondent Meg Tirrell joins Shep Smith to report on where the U.S. is on distributing the vaccine.

    Some cities and states are facing extremely limited vaccine supply shortages

    CNBC Logo

    CNBC

  • a person holding a sign: Brush up on some investing know-how, even though you're young and don't have a ton of money.

    How to invest even when you don't know the first thing about investing

    CNBC Logo

    CNBC

  • a group of people standing in front of a crowd: First-time claims for unemployment insurance were expected to total 925,000 for the week ended Jan. 16, according to economists surveyed by Dow Jones.

    Weekly jobless claims total 900,000, vs 925,000 estimate

    CNBC Logo

    CNBC

  • Christine Lagarde, Steve Liesman are posing for a picture: The European Central Bank kept interest rates unchanged Thursday, as European nations continue to struggle with surging Covid-19 infections and subsequent lockdowns. However, it repeated that it “stands ready” to adjust its tools if the economic situation doesn’t improve. CNBC's Steve Liesman reports on ECB President Christine Lagarde's comments.

    Lagarde: ECB 'stands ready' to adjust instruments as necessary

    CNBC Logo

    CNBC

  • a man holding a sign: Mirabaud Asset Management Chief Economist Gero Jung discusses his expectations for the January ECB Monetary Policy Decision.

    Overall ECB growth outlook is prudent, economist says

    CNBC Logo

    CNBC

  • a woman holding a sign posing for the camera: Lidia Treiber, director of fixed income research for Europe at WisdomTree, discusses the impact of the ECB's latest policy decision on fixed income strategy.

    Unlikely to see similar shift in European yield curve as in the U.S., strategist says

    CNBC Logo

    CNBC

  • Seema Mody, Gina Sanchez are posing for a picture: Stocks such as Alphabet, Netflix and Activision Blizzard are leading the S&P 500's record-making rally. Ari Wald of Oppenheimer and Gina Sanchez of Chantico Global and Lido Advisors share which could build on their gains.

    Bet on these record-breaking stocks to continue to rally, traders say

    CNBC Logo

    CNBC

  • a screen shot of a person: Scott Minerd, global chief investment officer at Guggenheim Partners, joins 'Closing Bell' to discuss Biden's impact on stocks as well as where he sees the cryptocurrency market heading.

    Guggenheim CIO expects Bitcoin to drop to the 20,000 level

    CNBC Logo

    CNBC

  • a close up of a screen: CNBC's

    How crypto regulation may fare under the Biden administration

    CNBC Logo

    CNBC

  • Michael Santoli and woman posing for a photo: December has been the deadliest month in the U.S. since the coronavirus pandemic began. Dr. Anthony Fauci has warned about a post-holiday surge in coronavirus infections, saying the darkest days may be ahead of us. Dr. Celine Gounder, clinical assistant professor of medicine and infectious diseases at NYU's Grossman School of Medicine and member of Biden's Covid-19 task force, joins

    U.S. must ramp up Covid vaccine delivery, says Biden task force member Dr. Celine Gounder

    CNBC Logo

    CNBC

  • Julia Boorstin et al. holding a sign: Anthony Wood, CEO of Roku, joins
    There's a lot of room to keep growing in streaming business: Roku CEO
    Anthony Wood, CEO of Roku, joins

    CNBC Logo
    CNBC

  • Andrew Ross Sorkin, Barry Sternlicht are posing for a picture: Real estate mogul Barry Sternlicht announced his third special purpose acquisition company: Jaws Mustang Acquisition. This SPAC joins the ranks of well over 200 SPACs that have gone to market in the last year. Sternlicht joined
    Real estate mogul Barry Sternlicht on what the SPAC market might look like in 2021
    Real estate mogul Barry Sternlicht announced his third special purpose acquisition company: Jaws Mustang Acquisition. This SPAC joins the ranks of well over 200 SPACs that have gone to market in the last year. Sternlicht joined

    CNBC Logo
    CNBC

  • a screen shot of a man: Ari Wald of Oppenheimer and Gina Sanchez of Chantico Global and Lido Advisors share their top trades for the next four years with CNBC's Seema Mody.
    Traders' top picks for the Biden presidency
    Ari Wald of Oppenheimer and Gina Sanchez of Chantico Global and Lido Advisors share their top trades for the next four years with CNBC's Seema Mody.

    CNBC Logo
    CNBC

UP NEXT

Tel Aviv flying has been a bright spot for one of American’s largest competitors, United. The Chicago-based carrier launched a new Israel nonstop from Chicago earlier in the pandemic, and now offers multiple weekly flights from its hubs in Newark (EWR), Chicago (ORD), San Francisco (SFO) and Washington/Dulles (IAD).

In this week’s schedule update, Delta added a second daily flight from JFK to Tel Aviv for the summer season. The new frequency will be flown by the carrier’s Airbus A330-900neo, sporting fully enclosed Delta One Suites and a premium economy cabin.

As such, American will face stiff competition to Israel, though it’s new partnership with JetBlue should help bolster its position in the market.

For now, Israel remains closed to foreigners, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has hinted that the country could open up by the late-March Passover holidays depending on vaccine rollout.

More: Israel: The tiny nation with a rapidly growing airline route map

Flights to Athens, on the other hand, will likely be popular among those looking for Greece vacations.

In Summer 2021, Delta is slated to fly two daily nonstop JFK to Athens flights, while Emirates and United will each fly once daily from Newark, according to Cirium schedules. Of course, timetables could  change depending on vaccine rollout and worldwide COVID-19 case counts.

For its part, American flew once-daily seasonal service to Athens from Chicago (ORD) and Philadelphia (PHL) before the pandemic, and it remains to be seen if either of those will return, in addition to the new JFK flight, as demand recovers.

Schedules for the JFK-TLV flight will be available soon, and the JFK-ATH flight details are as follows, subject to government approval: 

JFK – ATH 4:20 p.m. — 8:50 a.m. +1 day

ATH – JFK 11 a.m. – 3:05 p.m.

Featured photo by FG/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images

SPONSORED: With states reopening, enjoying a meal from a restaurant no longer just means curbside pickup.

And when you do spend on dining, you should use a credit card that will maximize your rewards and potentially even score special discounts. Thanks to temporary card bonuses and changes due to coronavirus, you may even be able to score a meal at your favorite restaurant for free. 

These are the best credit cards for dining out, taking out, and ordering in to maximize every meal purchase.

—

Editorial Disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airlines or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.

Source: Read Full Article