New Route of the Day – Americas (21 May 2026): American between Philadelphia and Budapest
American commenced seasonal flights between Philadelphia and Budapest on Thursday 21 May. The 7,185-kilometre service will be maintained daily with the 234-seat 787-8 aircraft. The carrier is the sole operator between the two cities.
Flight AA96 departs Philadelphia at 17:30 local time, arriving in Budapest at 08:10 local time the following morning. The return service, operating as flight AA97, takes off at 10:05 local time, touching back down on US soil at 13:30 local time.
Operations will be maintained until 5 October.
What they said
Jose A. Freig, Vice President – International and Inflight Dining Operations for American, said: “Our customers are increasingly looking for exciting destinations that offer something new and different to what they can experience back home. For some, this is crystal clear waters, for others it is history, culture and a cosmopolitan experience offered by cities such as Budapest. With this new route, our customers in Hungary will also have access to one of our fastest-growing US hubs in Philadelphia, from where they can explore more than 100 destinations in the US and beyond.”
Francois Berisot, the CEO of Budapest Airport, added: “We are proud that years of persistent preparatory work have now yielded tangible results, and we are delighted to welcome American Airlines, one of the United States’ most important carriers, back among our partners. The resumption of the direct flight to Philadelphia is of paramount importance, not only for Hungarian tourism and the economy, but also for Budapest Airport; the Hungarian capital has returned to the map of transatlantic airlines. We are committed to further expanding Budapest’s connectivity and rebuilding the airport’s transatlantic route network, which provided direct access to several North American destinations before the pandemic.”
US flights resume after seven years
American last maintained operations between Philadelphia and the Hungarian capital in October 2019, discontinuing flights due to the Covid-19 pandemic. At the time, LOT Polish Airlines also linked Budapest to the US through New York JFK and Chicago ORD, neither of which have been restored.
With the resumption of this service, American will provide nearly 60,000 seats between the two cities this summer. More than 630,000 passengers travelled indirectly between Hungary and the US in 2025.
This summer also sees Air Canada restoring flights between Toronto YYZ and Budapest, with the Hungarian capital solidifying its North America connectivity. Prior to the pandemic, services between the two were maintained by the carrier’s leisure subsidiary Air Canada Rouge.
