Football season is around the corner and American Airlines is getting ready for droves of college football fans preparing to follow their favorite teams around the country.
American Airlines Group Inc. (Nasdaq: AAL) will add new point-to-point routes for five games this season, including a couple in the Lone Star State, and increase frequency on four other routes.
Airlines often add flights for big sporting matches, and college football is one of the main drivers of those additions. For example, both Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) and Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSE: DAL) added flights for last year's College Football Playoff.
For the upcoming season, American will add some routes in and out of South Bend, Ind., for a few Notre Dame games, but most of the additions are for games in the south and Texas.
Here are some of the accommodations notable to football fans in Texas:
LSU at Texas, game on Sept. 7 (new point-to-point flying): American is adding a route departing from New Orleans at 5:39 p.m. on Sept. 6, and arriving in Austin at 7:20 p.m. A return flight will leave Austin at 7:20 a.m., Sept. 8.
Texas A&M at Clemson, game on Sept. 7 (extra flights added): The amount of returning flights from Greenville-Spartanburg, S.C., to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport will increase from three to four on Sept. 8, following this game.
Alabama at Texas A&M, game on Oct. 12 (new point-to-point flying): American will add a route leaving Birmingham at 6:40 p.m., Oct. 11, and arriving in College Station at 8:36 p.m. The return flights leaves College Station at 7:12 a.m. on Oct. 13. Easterwood Airport in Aggieland is a small airport owned by the university and typically includes a handful of flights a day to DFW and Houston.
Tennessee at Alabama, game on Oct. 19 (extra flights added), and LSU at Alabama, game on Nov. 9 (extra flights added): American is adding additional flights back to its largest hub, DFW Airport, from Birmingham the day after each of these games. Birmingham is about an hour's drive from Tuscaloosa, where Alabama plays its home games.
