Among the oddities of aviation during a pandemic (Anchorage as world’s busiest airport, etc.) here’s another. American Airlines now has a new shortest scheduled airline route in the U.S.—a mere 29-mile hop.
The short flight from Vail, Colorado to nearby Aspen is the result of requirements under the CARES Act that airlines not leave any area with no air service, even when there’s little demand. American is meeting that requirement by flying a 65-seat regional jet from Dallas/Fort Worth to Vail, then to Aspen, to Montrose and back to DFW. Don’t think about Aspen to Vail—you can only do that by flying to DFW and then back to Aspen the next day.
Other carriers are flying similar one-way ‘circle’ routes to meet requirements, but none has a leg as short as this. On a worldwide basis, though, it’s not even in the running for the title—that’s held probably permanently by Loganair’s daily flight in Scotland’s Orkney islands that links two islands, Westray and Papa Westray, with a 1.7 mile flight.
