A major airline has cancelled all flights to three popular destinations this year – including its longest non-stop flight. American Airlines has dropped one domestic destination and two international destinations from its schedule.
Flights were cancelled to Santa Maria (SMX) in California earlier this year.
In August, the Fort Worth based airline also cancelled flights to Tijuana International Airport in Mexico. However, the most shocking cut of flights was to Doha’s Hamad International Airport (DOH) in Qatar.
The nonstop Boeing 787-9 service out of Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) was cut in March due to tensions in the Middle East and weak financial performance. The 6,798 mile route took 14 hours and 30 minutes and was the longest ever flight to depart from the Philadelphia airport.
However, following the cancellation of this flight, Qatar Airways returned to delivering nonstop services to Doha from Philadelphia on August 1. It is now the sole operator on the route.
American Airlines is not the only carrier to cancel international flights this year due to the conflict between Israel and Iran. The airline stated that the reason for the cancellation of the other routes was due to finances.
The flights to Tijuana International Airport were introduced in 2024, but the company claimed they did not see enough passenger uptake. It was the carrier’s shortest flight with just 290 miles between the two cities.
Despite the cancellation of the particular route, American Airlines continues to fly to nine Mexican cities from Phoenix — Cancun, Los Cabos, and Mexico City as well as others.
The terminated flight to SMX, in California, now means Allegiant Air is the only airline which operates regular flights to and from Las Vegas.
Despite the three cancellations, American Airlines is set to expand its international network in 2027 with an additional seven routes. These destinations will include Porto, Portugal, Vienna, Austria and Reykjavik, Iceland.
This story originally appeared on Express.co.uk
