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Routes: Mexico City + Toronto + Bangkok + Accra + Belfast + Dubai + Latin America

Air Canada will put a new 787-9 onto its Los Angeles-Toronto route. (Image: Air Canada)

Air Canada will put a new 787-9 onto its Los Angeles-Toronto route. (Image: Air Canada)

In international route news, new options to Mexico City are coming; west coast travelers can soon fly the newest version of the 787 to Toronto; an Asian carrier will end U.S. flights; South African Airways adds a  new stop from Washington;  United plans year-round service on a European spoke from its Newark hub; Delta trims its Dubai schedule; and United expands Latin American options.

Business travelers heading to Mexico City will have several new options in the months ahead. September 3 is the target date for American Airlines to start flying to MEX from Los Angeles twice a day, replacing Alaska Airlines’ single flight in the market. Alaska will code-share on the AA flights. JetBlue will add a pair of routes to MEX on October 1, with daily flights from both Orlando and Ft. Lauderdale. And Southwest is due to kick off daily Houston Hobby-Mexico City service October 15.

Air Canada just started to take delivery of new 787-9s — the larger version of the Boeing Dreamliner — and it will put one into service this winter between Toronto and Los Angeles. The daily 787-9 service to LAX is scheduled to begin January 28, replacing a 767-300ER.

Thai Airways is set to end its U.S. service October 25, when it discontinues its four 777  flights a week between Bangkok and Los Angeles via a stop in Seoul.

South African Airways this week started service between Washington Dulles and Accra, Ghana, adding the African city as an intermediate stop on its IAD-Johannesburg route. The IAD-Accra flights operate four times a week; the other three days, the SAA service still stops in Dakar, Senegal. The airline uses a two-class A340-600 on the route.

Got business in Northern Ireland? United’s seasonal service from its Newark hub to Belfast is going to operate year-round instead of seasonally. Earlier this year, United suspended service on the route during the winter months, but in 2016 it will operate three flights a week during the slow period (January 6-March 11).

Delta will cut back its Atlanta-Dubai schedule on October 1, reducing the 777-200LR service from daily to five times a week. The airline’s Tuesday and Sunday departures from ATL will be dropped.

United will expand its Latin American code-sharing partnership with the Avianca Group on August 8, putting the UA code on TACA Peru flights from Lima to Cuzco, Arequipa and Piura, Peru; and on Aviateca flights from Guatemala City to Flores, Guatemala. Meanwhile, Avianca in Brazil has joined United’s Star Alliance, adding 15 new destinations in Brazil to the group’s global network.

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