American Airlines will add second Portugal destination in 2027 with the help of its newest plane
We're still months away from warm weather in much of the country, but American Airlines is already making plans for the summer of 2027.
The Fort Worth-based carrier on Thursday announced its newest European destination, which will launch more than a year from now: Porto, Portugal.
It will be the first time American has flown to the coastal Portuguese city — known, among other things, as the home of port wine.
It'll also be a different type of transatlantic destination for the airline. Until now, American has primarily flown to major metropolitan areas in Europe like London, Athens, Paris and Rome.
But Porto is decidedly a "secondary" European destination, and American will fly there with the help of its newest airplane.
American to send its new XLR plane to Portugal
American plans to fly its brand-new Airbus A321XLR from Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) to Porto Airport (OPO). The city is situated some 200 miles north of Lisbon, the country's capital that American already serves from its Philly hub.
The A321XLR is the long-range, single-aisle plane American debuted in December. It's capable of criss-crossing the Atlantic, and it sports 20 lie-flat Flagship Suites up front in the business-class cabin.
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American sees this smaller, long-haul-capable jet as a way to try out flying to less heavily trafficked cities on the other side of the Atlantic. Among those cities is Edinburgh, which the carrier will launch service to next month from New York.
American's Porto service: What to know
Ameican's Porto flights won't begin until 2027, making this an unusually early route announcement.
"Porto is exactly the type of new market the Airbus A321XLR enables us to serve," the airline's top network planner Brian Znotins said at a company event this week, while teasing additional new summer 2027 routes the airline plans to announce later this year.
Airlines often reveal their new "next-summer" destinations during the late-summer and fall months of the prior year, so this is certainly a head-start.
Expect award space to open up in the coming months, once American opens up schedule for the route. The carrier plans to fly to Porto daily during the summer season.
Booking with points
Travelers without enough cash or AAdvantage miles for a business-class suite can also consider the XLR's premium economy cabin, which features three rows of the recliners arranged in a 2-2 configuration.
You can also book American Airlines flights using points from Alaska Airlines' Atmos Rewards loyalty program as well as via American's partners in the Oneworld alliance like British Airways and Cathay Pacific.
Here's how: Book American Airlines flights with Atmos Rewards points
Portugal flight options grow
American will have company in Porto, an increasingly popular European destination for travelers.
Delta Air Lines is set to launch service to OPO this May from New York with a much larger Boeing 767 aircraft. (Delta has nixed the idea of flying single-aisle jets across the ocean.)
United Airlines serves Porto, the gateway to the Douro Valley region, from its hub at Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR).
TAP Air Portugal also flies to Porto from both Newark and Boston.
Just how much has interest in Portugal surged among travelers? During the first half of this year, total departures from the U.S. to the western European country are set to be up nearly 30% compared to just three years ago, according to data from aviation analytics firm Cirium.
Read more: The US just gained a ton of new flights to this popular European destination
More XLR flights coming
After receiving its first A321XLR planes late last year, American expects to take delivery of 10 additional jets by the end of 2026, the carrier said on its earnings call last week.
On top of these new transatlantic flights, the airline is deploying its newest plane on some of its prime transcontinental routes, such as JFK to Los Angeles and San Francisco as well as Boston to Los Angeles.
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