Air Travel: AA’s New Latin America Routes, Lufthansa’s Third Texas Gateway

This week in air travel, American Airlines announced plans to fly to a number of new destinations in Latin America as part of its newly announced winter schedule, and Lufthansa launched new service to Austin, Texas

As part of American’s new winter schedule, the airline is set to launch a new direct, daily flight to Georgetown, Guyana, from New York City’s JFK Airport on December 18. American is the only U.S. carrier to fly directly to the capital city of the emerging South American ecotourism destination, having begun service out of Miami last November. Operated on Boing 737-800 aircraft with 160 seats, including 16 First Class seats, the new flight will depart JFK at 6:00 p.m. and arrive in Guyana at 12:40 a.m. The return flight will leave Guyana at 1:35 a.m. and arrive in New York at 6:29 a.m.

In the Caribbean, American will launch new service to St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands out of Dallas – Fort Worth and Chicago O’Hare on December 21. Both flights will operate on Saturdays, with the Fort Worth flight running year-round and the Chicago flight running seasonally. Tourism officials say the increased airlift coincides with the return of a number of hotels on the island this winter, including the Ritz-Carlton, St. Thomas, which is reopening with a newly renovated resort experience. 

In Mexico, American is adding two new destinations to its network: Huatulco and Acapulco. The new flights, which the airline will fly out of Dallas – Forth Worth, will begin December 21, marking the only nonstop service out of Fort Worth. On December 18, the airline will also add an additional daily flight between Phoenix and Chihuahua, complementing its existing daily service from Fort Worth. 

In Europe, this week Lufthansa launched new service to Austin, Texas, out of its Frankfurt hub. The move marks the third gateway for the airline in Texas. Operated on an Airbus A330-300 in a three-class cabin configuration, the new service flies five times weekly on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

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