American Airlines has announced new routes and destinations in Europe and South America for Summer 2026. The Fort Worth, Texas based carrier will launch service to Budapest, Hungary and Prague, Czech Republic along with new routes to popular, existing destinations.
American Launches Service to Prague and Budapest
Beginning May 21, 2026, American Airlines will launch summer seasonal service to Václav Havel Airport Prague (PRG) and Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport (BUD). American will operate the route daily using Boeing 787-8 aircraft from its hub at Philadelphia International Airport (PHL).
Brian Znotins, American’s Senior Vice President of Network and Schedule Planning, said this about the new routes:
“Customers continue to tell us that Europe is where they want to go each summer and these new routes make it even easier to cross the Atlantic in 2026. We are excited to grow our network to new destinations like Prague and Budapest.”
With the addition of these routes, American will serve 20 transatlantic destinations from Philadelphia next summer. As part of the airline’s growth at the airport, passengers can enjoy a new Admirals Club and Flagship Lounge that recently opened at the airport.
New Routes to Existing Destinations
In addition to launching seasonal service to Budapest and Prague, American Airlines is adding new summer seasonal routes to some of Europe’s most popular destinations. The carrier will launch daily service between Dallas-Ft. Worth (DFW) and Athens (ATH), using a Boeing 787-8 aircraft, as of May 21, 2026. This will be American’s fifth nonstop route to Athens.
American will also add a seasonal flight between DFW and Zurich (ZRH) as well as expanded service between DFW and Buenos Aires (EZE). This is being done to accommodate travelers heading to the World Cup. The Zurich flights will operate daily on a Boeing 777-200 while the Buenos Aires flights will be 4x weekly on a 787-8. Flights will operate between May 21 and August 4, 2026.
Finally, the carrier will launch daily, year-round service between Miami (MIA) and Milan (MXP) using a Boeing 787-8 aircraft. This will be the only nonstop flight between the two cities and compliments Americans route between Miami and Rome (FCO) that launched this year.
All flights on the new routes will go on sale as of August 11, 2025.
American Expands Premium Offerings to Tokyo
Travelers looking to head to Japan will have more premium options next summer as American will increase premium seating capacity to Tokyo (HND) from DFW and Los Angeles (LAX) by more than 45% next summer.
The airline will begin flying its Boeing 777-300 between DFW and Tokyo beginning on March 29, 2026. On the same day, the airline will move to 2x daily service between Los Angeles and Tokyo using Boeing 777-200 aircraft.
Having just visited Tokyo with American’s OneWorld partner Japan Airlines, I’m not sure why anyone would choose the former over the latter if the pricing is equal. However, Japan is currently one of the top tourist destinations so the demand for capacity is certainly there.
Summary
American Airlines has announced an expanded summer schedule which sees the carrier add two new destinations and four new routes. Two of those routes will help connect travelers from around the globe headed to the World Cup. In addition, the airline is expanding its premium offerings to Tokyo from its hubs in Dallas and Los Angeles.
