American Airlines issued this statement:

OAG, the global authority on air service information, today named the American Airlines hub at Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD) the best-connected U.S. airport and a leading international hub — second only to London Heathrow (LHR) — in its 2018 Megahubs U.S. Index.

American has played a large role in increasing connectivity and offering travelers more options, offering more seats out of ORD this summer than at any other time in the last 10 years. This year, American has or will launch service to 18 new destinations, including top international cities Venice, Italy (VCE), and Vancouver, British Columbia (YVR), and popular domestic cities like Charleston, South Carolina (CHS), and Honolulu, Hawaii (HNL).

To celebrate, American is announcing four new destinations to Florida in time for spring break 2019.

• From February 16 to September 5, 2019 American will operate Saturday service to Key West (EYW) using Embraer E175 aircraft.
• From March 9 to September 5, 2019 American will operate Saturday service to Panama City Beach (ECP) on Bombardier CRJ700 aircraft and Pensacola (PNS) and Destin-Fort Walton Beach (VPS) on Embraer E175 aircraft.

Last month, American announced that beginning May 3, 2019, it will launch ORD’s first-ever service to Athens, Greece (ATH) operated on the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner. The announcement of the new Florida routes and ATH service, brings American to 23 new destinations served out of ORD in 2018 and thus far in 2019 further increasing ORD’s connectivity.

The OAG report also noted that American’s hubs at Charlotte International Airport (CLT) and Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) placed third and fourth respectively among U.S. airports.

Photo: American Airlines.