American Airlines, the largest carrier at Philadelphia International Airport, is growing its domestic routes this summer as it works to raise its passenger numbers back to pre-pandemic levels at PHL, writes Emma Dooling for Philadelphia Business Journal.

It also sees an “incredible opportunity” to grow its presence with Philadelphia’s celebration of the nation’s 250th anniversary, the MLB All-Star Game, and matches for the FIFA World Cup in 2026.

“If I think about the next two, three, four, five years out, I think we can sort of be put on the world stage in 2026. … And then when I think about the next few years after that, we will continue our growth as well,” said Lakshman Amaranayaka, American Airlines’ vice president for its PHL hub,

American is also looking at expanding its Landline service, a roundtrip bus route service that connects American Airlines passengers from PHL to Lehigh Valley International Airport in Allentown, Atlantic City International Airport, and Lancaster Airport.

To facilitate its expansion, American Airlines plans to add full-time, permanent staff members starting this summer.

American will operate almost 300 flights from PHL this summer during peak days, including 15 daily flights to 14 European destinations. That’s up by about 35, or 13 percent, of daily departures from last summer.

In May and June, it will add flights to Nice, France; Naples, Italy; and Copenhagen, Denmark, and in June, it will resume daily service between PHL and San Antonio, Texas, through September.

Frontier Airline

Low-cost airline Frontier is adding 10 new destinations in May and will offer 39 locales from Philadelphia International Airport this summer, including new routes to Chicago, Detroit, and St. Louis, writes Ariana Perez-Castells for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

“These new routes span much of the country and represent our continued commitment to growth from PHL,” said Barry Biffle, CEO of Frontier, in a statement.

The goal is for year-round flights, though that could depend on how successful they are, Biffle said.

The new destinations are Knoxville, Tennessee; Portland, Maine; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Detroit, Michigan; Chicago O’Hare, Illinois; Indianapolis, Indiana; Columbus, Ohio; St. Louis, Missouri; Kansas City, Missouri; and Pensacola, Florida.

Two additional routes will also be added in May from PHL to Pittsburgh and Minneapolis.

Find out more specific destination information for American Airlines in the Philadelphia Business Journal. You can read about Frontier’s new destinations in The Philadelphia Inquirer.