American Airlines’ first international Airbus A321XLR route will connect New York-JFK and Edinburgh
American Airlines is returning to a route it had not served since 2018.
American Airlines has announced that its first international Airbus A321XLR route will connect New York John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) and Edinburgh Airport (EDI), a route that the airline has not served since 2018, when it still had Boeing 757s in its fleet.
On October 30, 2025, American Airlines said that its first international A321XLR route will launch on March 8, 2026, with the long-range narrowbody flying between JFK and EDI. The seasonal service will run until October 24, 2026.
The JFK-EDI route will complement the airline’s Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) to EDI seasonal itinerary that it launched on May 23, 2025. The PHL-EDI connection is scheduled to begin on March 28, 2026, and end on October 24, 2026, according to the carrier.
Brian Znotins, the Senior Vice President of Network and Schedule Planning at American Airlines, said that after a successful summer serving EDI from PHL, the airline “is excited to offer a second route to give travelers more access to one of their favorite destinations.”
“With the game-changing Airbus A321XLR now in our fleet, we could not be more excited to connect the Big Apple with Auld Reekie.”
During the summer 2025 season, American Airlines flew the PHL-EDI itinerary daily, operating the flights with Boeing 787-8, at times 787-9, aircraft. The JFK-EDI connection will also be a daily flight, American Airlines said, which will enable “convenient schedule options for travelers blending leisure and business.”
Furthermore, with British Airways, which is American Airlines’ Atlantic Joint Business partner, customers will be able to connect to other British, Italian, or even Spanish destinations from EDI.
Tickets on flights between JFK and EDI are going to be on sale from November 3.
Cirium’s Diio Mi showed that American Airlines last flew between JFK and EDI in 2018, operating the seasonal route, which ran from 2015 until 2018. The carrier's Boeing 757-200s were fitted with 176 seats: 16 business and 160 economy class seats, which included seats that offered extra legroom.
American Airlines’ A321XLRs have 20 business class (Flagship suite), 12 premium economy, and 123 economy class seats, welcoming up to 155 travelers. The type’s suites were unveiled in September 2022, and then, the airline said that the A321XLR was scheduled to arrive in 2024.
The airline had already informed its stakeholders that its A321XLR would enter commercial service on December 18, operating flight AA 3 from JFK to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). The cross-country route has a great circle distance of 2,151 nautical miles (3,983 kilometers), while JFK and EDI are separated by a great circle distance of 2,829 NMI (5,239 km).
American Airlines welcomed its first A321XLR, registered as N303NY, on October 22. One of its other A321XLRs, N300NY, is currently stored at Ostrava Leoš Janáček Airport (OSR), due to delays related to its cabins.
Rytis Beresnevicius
Comments ()