Those who live in a smaller city are well used to transfers before any international vacation or work trip.
With certain U.S. cities serving as hubs for those going to a certain destination, Americans flying to South and Central America will often pass thorough Miami while West Coast cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco are almost always a stopover for those heading toward Australia and New Zealand. (Although Qantas Airways (QUBSF) -) is preparing to launch a 16-hour flight from New York to Sydney in 2025.)
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Amid both lower demand and competition from multiple airlines looking to run the same routes, the reverse decision of offering more long-haul flights out of smaller cities does not always pan out as the airline anticipated. As first reported by travel website the Points Guy, American Airlines (AAL) -) has made the choice to cut its last international flight out of Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
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Cut is 'part of a continuous evaluation of our network,' airline says
"As part of a continuous evaluation of our network, American Airlines has made the difficult decision to discontinue service between Seattle (SEA) and London (LHR)," American Airlines said in a statement to the news outlet. "[....] We're proactively reaching out to impacted to customers to offer alternate travel arrangements."
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Now that the airline has announced plans not to resume the Seattle-London route it had last year in the coming summer, American Airlines will not have any flights leaving the U.S. from the city. It will continue to run 25 flights a day to London from other U.S. cities while partner airline British Airways will run the flight out of Seattle.
Competitor Delta Air Lines (DAL) -) also runs a year-round route from Seattle to London so, most likely, the move comes down to insufficient demand amid an abundance of options. Like most large airports, London's Heathrow Airport also limits the number of slots for each airline — American Airlines will be redirecting one of theirs to a second flight to the city from Miami set to launch on April 1, 2024.
Will a new route to Dallas compensate for lost international hub?
And over in the domestic market, American Airlines also announced plans to launch a new route between Dallas, Texas and Oregon's Redmond — this will be a seasonal route running between May 6 and Oct. 6, 2024 on a 150-seat Airbus A320 (EADSF) -).
The small Oregon town has been seeing a spike in tourists in search of mountain landscapes and hiking trails in the summer. It is also a five-hour drive from downtown Seattle and is part of a wider regional focus on the area that has not necessarily panned out when it comes to international flights.
"When we start looking at new destinations specifically, we look at the data," Redmond Municipal Airport Zachary Bass said in a statement. "'Where are people flying to from Redmond?' We know a lot of people are making connections through Dallas already. We can present that to the airline and say 'Hey, these many people are already going, right? Let's put a direct in and see how it works.'"
