Australia, Canada, South Korea, Italy, Japan, China and Qatar.
Those are just some of the countries that have been added to Dallas Fort Worth International Airport’s global destinations lineup as the airport has bulked up its offerings over the past several years for business and leisure travel.
Thirty-seven international flights have been added at DFW Airport in the past five years. Six have been discontinued, leaving 31 active international flights added during the period. Five additional foreign carriers have begun flying to DFW in that span.
Overall, DFW Airport has service to 223 destinations, including 56 international and 167 destinations within the United States. Fifteen of the 27 passenger airlines that serve DFW are foreign-flagged, and 12 are domestic.
Each international flight adds an estimated $250 million annually to the DFW economy, according to a study by Waco-based economic forecasting firm The Perryman Group.
Last year, DFW Airport accelerated its quest for more international destinations by offering carriers greater incentives to launch nonstop flights to overseas cities. The incentives typically include reduced landing fees and marketing costs for the new service.
The goal is to incentivize airlines to fly longer distances and larger planes, said John Ackerman, executive vice president for global strategy and development at the airport.
The airport board approved a plan that offers $1.50 per available seat mile and a 25 percent bonus if the destination is on the airport’s list of targeted cities.
The airport is specifically seeking more service to Europe, where it had only four nonstop flights before the incentive program helped convince Fort Worth-based American Airlines to add service to Rome and Amsterdam in May. The flight to Rome connects DFW to its largest previously unserved international market.
Direct flights to Berlin, Dublin, Helsinki and Munich in Europe also are on the airport’s target list, as are Auckland, Johannesburg, Melbourne, Nagoya and Nairobi in other parts of the world
The airport also sponsors trade missions out of the country to build partnerships with international airlines, expand the number of international flights for DFW and solidify traffic for existing international flights.
