Airport Love

Virgin America seeks gates at Dallas Love Field for new direct flights

Virgin America is looking to join the post-Wright Amendment world of Dallas Love Field. On March 5, the California-based airline announced plans to add new daily direct flights from Dallas to New York, Washington D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago.

Virgin hopes to secure two Love Field gates that will be up for grabs in October when American Airlines merges with US Airways. The timing coincides with the expiration of the Wright Amendment, which restricted flights from Love Field since 1979.

"As the last major airline launched in the U.S., we've seen firsthand what happens when new entrant airlines have a chance to come into markets where a few big airlines dominate — service improves and fares drop," Virgin America president and CEO David Cush said in a statement.

If successful, Virgin America would move operations currently at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and offer the following nonstop flights beginning in October:

DAL to New York's LaGuardia Airport (four round-trip flights a day)
DAL to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (four round-trip flights a day)
DAL to Los Angeles International Airport (three round-trip flights a day, expanding to four in 2015)
DAL to San Francisco International Airport (three round-trip flights a day, expanding to four in 2015)

In early 2015, Virgin would introduce two daily flights to Chicago O'Hare.

"Dallas is a major economic center, and as such, it deserves more business-friendly flight competition from the airport closest to the Central Business District," added Cush. "The opportunity to expand our low-fare, upscale service in Dallas allows us to not only spur fare competition for local consumers, but also provide business travelers with more choice and consistent flight options."

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Down Under News

American and Qantas step up winter flights from DFW to Australia

American Airlines

Awww look, the two planes are hanging out.

American Airlines and Qantas are enhancing service on flights from DFW to Brisbane, Sydney, and Melbourne. Qantas will increase operations to daily services between Dallas Fort Worth (DFW) and Melbourne, Australia (MEL), starting December 3 through the end of January 2026.

Qantas will also operate all of its services between Dallas Fort Worth (DFW) and Sydney, Australia (SYD) on its A380 aircraft from January.

“American is proud to partner with Qantas to increase travel options for customers to Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne this winter,” says American’s Vice Chair and Chief Strategy Officer Steve Johnson in a statement.

It's the fourth consecutive year that American and Qantas formed a Joint Business partnership to expanding connectivity between the U.S. and Australia, New Zealand, and the South Pacific. After launching service between DFW and MEL in 2022, daily service operated by Qantas in December and January between these two hubs will allow for one-stop connections from across the U.S. to Melbourne. Ohhh, one-stop but not nonstop.

They'll also bring back American Airlines flights from DFW to Brisbane, a popular winter flight that was introduced in 2024. Service will start on October 25.

American recently introduced its newly designed Boeing 787-9 aircraft featuring 51 Flagship Suite seats and 32 Premium Economy seats, available on all flights between DFW and BNE. Customers can purchase a Flagship Suite experience on this route now.

American and Qantas offer networks connecting North America with Australia, New Zealand, and the South Pacific from these key gateways: DFW, Los Angeles (LAX), New York (JFK), San Francisco (SFO), and Vancouver, Canada (YVR), with connections to more than 200 other airports across North America.

The four major gateways in Australia and New Zealand are Auckland (AKL), Brisbane (BNE), Melbourne (MEL), and Sydney (SYD) with connections to nearly 70 destinations.

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