American Airlines first carrier to pull out of Australia after caps cut

American has become the first international airline to pull out of Australia following the government’s decision to lower arrival caps from 6,070 passengers a week to just 3,035. An update to the business’ schedule published this morning, and obtained by Executive Traveller, reveals LA-Sydney flight AA73 would be suspended from 31 August until 29 October. The 787-9 return, AA72, has also been withdrawn from 3 September until 31 October. The developments follow national cabinet’s decision earlier this month to halve the caps in a bid to reduce leakages of COVID out of hotel quarantine. The move was widely expected given American confirmed last week it would be flying 20 empty aircraft from LA to Sydney over the next two months. In April 2021, 45 international airlines operated scheduled services to or from Australia, with international passenger traffic down 96.8% on the corresponding month in 2019. BARA had earlier warned 18,000 Australians would be bumped off flights due to the country’s arrival caps lowering.<br/>
Australian Aviation
https://australianaviation.com.au/2021/07/american-airlines-first-carrier-to-pull-out-of-australia-after-caps-cut/
7/19/21