The best new international flight routes
With the recent announcement that American Airlines is going to begin going Down Under in December, we decided to round up some of the newest and most noteworthy international flight routes between the U.S. and the rest of the world. This curated list highlights marquee flights that have launched within the past month or so, or are set to launch soon. Some are seasonal, so get 'em while they're hot — or rather while it's hot out — and others are here for the long haul.
AMERICAN AIRLINES
Los Angeles (LAX) — Sydney (SYD): Daily flights begin December 19 on a Boeing 777-300ER.
Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) — Beijing (PKE): Daily flights began May 7, Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners began making the journey on June 2.
ICELANDAIR
Chicago (ORD) — Reykjavik (RKV): Flights take off four times per week starting March 16, 2016 on Boeing aircraft and connect onward to Europe.
TURKISH AIRLINES
Istanbul (IST) — San Francisco (SFO): Flights began April 13 and started making daily trips on May 11 on Boeing 777-300ER.
QANTAS AIRLINES
San Francisco (SFO) — Sydney (SYD): As of December 20, Qantas will revive the route that hasn't run since 2011. Service on theBoeing 747-400 will initially start on "peak days," boosting to six days per week in January 2016.
SEASONAL
AMERICAN AIRLINES
The carrier is currently running 11 temporary, seasonal routes between its U.S. hubs and international destinations. A sampling:
Boston (BOS) — Paris (CDG) (through September 30)
Chicago (ORD) — Helsinki (HEL) (through August 18)
New York (JFK) — Rome (FCO) (Through October 24)
CHINA EASTERN AIRLINES
Los Angeles (LAX) — Chengdu (CDE): Flights take off three days per week from June 30 — Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays — through October 24, 2015, and stop in Nanjing [NKG]).
DELTA AIRLINES
The airlines introduced an impressive 22 seasonal flights to European destinations for this summer, all of which are running through to the end of August/early September, with some extending into October or even November. Most flights originate in the airline's hubs of Atlanta (ATL) or New York (JFK). Service includes:
Italy
Seven daily direct flights from the U.S. to cities including Pisa, Venice, Rome and Milan.
New York (JFK) — Istanbul (IST) through September 7
Atlanta (ATL) — Barcelona (BCN) through October 1
New York (JFK) — Prague (PRG) through October 24
Not to be left out of shuttling U.S. travelers to Europe this summer, Icelandair is running seasonal service from Anchorage, Halifax, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Orlando and Portland.
United beefed up its already-formidable global flight network with three seasonal direct flights from the U.S. cities to European destinations. All run daily from June 4 to September 23. The routes are:
Newark (EWR) — Venice (VCE)
Chicago (ORD) — Dublin (DUB)
Washington (IAD) — Paris (CDG)