American Airlines is kicking off summer travel at Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) with two inaugural flights launching to Edinburgh (EDI) and Milan (MXP) ahead of Memorial Day weekend. American and PHL Airport hosted an event to mark the new routes, complete with Scottish and Italian food and traditional entertainment for our customers to enjoy ahead of the two historic flights.
“As Philadelphia’s Hometown Airline, we are always looking to enhance the travel experience for our loyal customers — this year, that looks like two new and exciting European getaways and the long-awaited completion of our new Admirals Club and Flagship Lounge just in time for summer,” said American Airlines Vice President of PHL Operations Lakshman Amaranayaka. “Preparation for summer has been underway for months to ensure our aircraft, facilities and equipment are ready, and our team members are well-positioned to serve our customers traveling from PHL more than 120 destinations worldwide.” 
With a continued focus on making travel more seamless and enjoyable for its customers, American and its 10,000 PHL-based team members stand ready to serve our customers and deliver a safe, reliable and successful summer travel season.
By the numbers:
- American will operate more than 1,780 flights from PHL between May 23 and May 28 for the Memorial Day holiday weekend.
- The airline will operate more than 35,200 flights from PHL this summer between May 16 and Sept. 2.
- That’s part of more than 715,000 flights systemwide over the course of the summer — which comes out to five flights a minute.
- American expects to serve more than 55 million packages of Biscoff® cookies and 240 million beverages on board its flights this summer.
European getaways
New service to EDI and MXP will operate daily on a Boeing 787-8 aircraft through October. American returns to Edinburgh for the first time since 2019, having started service to the Scottish capital in 2015. Additionally, new seasonal service to MXP joins three popular Italian summer getaway destinations offered exclusively by American at PHL, including Naples (NAP), Rome (FCO), and Venice (VCE). This summer, customers can take advantage of American’s nonstop service from PHL to 17 daily flights to 16 European destinations.
Elevated lounge experience
Also new this summer, eligible AAdvantage® members, oneworld® and customers traveling in premium cabins will be one of the first to enjoy a luxury experience at the recently open Flagship® and Admirals Club® lounges at PHL’s A-West Terminal. This space offers premium amenities such as a full-service bar, handcrafted dishes, as well as a warm and inviting aesthetic.
State-of-the-art service on American
Flights from Milan and Edinburgh to the U.S. will be operated with a modern aircraft offering customers a premium experience, including lie-flat Flagship Business Class and Premium Economy seats, state-of-the-art interiors, live TV streaming, high-speed Wi-Fi and a curated collection of inflight entertainment options that includes more than 1,500 movies, TV shows, audio and lifestyle offerings.
Flight schedule*
| Origin | Destination | Departure Time | Arrival Time | Aircraft |
| PHL | EDI | 7:15 p.m. | 7:10 a.m. (+1 day) | Boeing 787-8 |
| EDI | PHL | 11:35 a.m. | 1:40 p.m. | Boeing 787-8 |
| Origin | Destination | Departure Time | Arrival Time | Aircraft |
| PHL | MXP | 9:30 p.m. | 11:20 a.m. (+1 day) | Boeing 787-8 |
| MXP | PHL | 1:20 p.m. | 4 p.m. | Boeing 787-8 |
*Flight times subject to change and account for Daylight Savings.
“Thank you to American for your continued partnership and commitment to growing transatlantic service at PHL, offering our passengers more choice into our two largest Transatlantic markets in Italy and the United Kingdom,” said Philadelphia International Airport CEO Atif Saeed. “Milan was previously our largest unserved European market, while the flight to Edinburgh is returning to PHL for the first time since 2019.”
Enhancing the customer experience
American has already added more boarding time on domestic flights to make the airport experience simpler and more straightforward. Additionally, the airline had its best-ever bag handling performance over the first four months of 2025, and offers the first checked bag free for eligible AAdvantage® credit cardholders traveling on domestic American Airlines-operated itineraries.
The airline is gearing up for its launch of free Wi-Fi in 2026, powered by Intelsat and Viasat and sponsored by AT&T, and currently offers more aircraft equipped with high-speed satellite Wi-Fi than any other carrier in the world.
Learn more about summer travel on our Newsroom.
