American Airlines commercial chief Nat Pieper says the carrier is eyeing new long-haul markets.
The Oneworld alliance carrier will not return to Doha, the main hub of partner Qatar Airways, after suspending flights in March due to the Iran war, American confirmed on 6 June. The decision is part of the “optimisation” of American’s “network and fleet”.
Pieper, speaking with FlightGlobal at the IATA AGM in Rio de Janeiro, says the airline will announce a new long-haul market soon with the Boeing 787 aircraft freed up from the Doha route.
His comments came the same day that Philippine Airlines unveiled plans to join Oneworld in 2027.
American has moderated capacity growth as jet fuel prices have soared. The airline will shrink in the second quarter and has cut growth in the second half of 2026 by as much as two percentage points to 4-6% compared with last year.
The capacity reductions include removing “marginal” off-peak domestic flights, and the suspensions of Doha and Tel Aviv flights, American chief financial officer Devon May said in April. Flights to both Middle Eastern cities were suspended in March due to the conflict.
American was planning to resume Doha flights in January 2027, Cirium Diio schedules show. The airline began service to the Qatari capital in 2022 from New York’s JFK airport and moved the flight to its Philadelphia hub in 2023.
Tel Aviv flights are scheduled to resume in January 2027.
The combination of capacity reductions and resilient demand has American management confident in their forecast of a roughly 10% unit revenue increase in the second quarter.
American has not provided financial guidance for the second half of 2026.
The post American plans new long-haul market after Doha exit first appeared on FlightGlobal.