From the Glasgow Evening Times.
AMERICAN Airlines today axed its direct flights from Glasgow to Chicago.
The airline is understood to be restructuring its UK and Ireland operations and has decided to ditch the summer service which ran to O’Hare International Airport.
It only relaunched this year’s seasonal service from Glasgow to Chicago on May 2. The flights, which took eight hours, were expected to operate daily until September 30, but today the firm pulled the plug on the route.
The news comes just days after hundreds of passengers faced huge delays in Glasgow and Chicago after two flights were cancelled.
An American Airlines flight from Chicago was due to arrive at Glasgow Airport on Monday morning.
Leslie Peden, the airline’s UK sales director, insisted in February that the service was attracting enough interest and was increasingly successful.
However, airline sources say passenger uptake on the transatlantic route, has not been as good as expected.
They claim American Airlines does not have a large a sales presence in Scotland and it was difficult for it to attract corporate travellers.
Glasgow Airport bosses BAA Glasgow, today said they would like to concentrate on all-year-round routes to the USA and were in talks with other airlines about potential routes to the USA.
A spokesman said: “We are disappointed at the loss of this summer service to Chicago.
“However, we are in discussion with other carriers interested in operating year round from Glasgow to major cities in the US, and we are hopeful of making progress in the weeks ahead. The US remains an important tourism market.”
No-one from American Airlines was available to comment on the flights.
Publication date 03/08/06
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