It’s not uncommon for an airline to promote international flights with photos or iconic imagery from the destination, like the Eiffel Tower for a flight to Paris, the Colosseum for a flight to Rome. However, some basic fact-checking should probably be done first.
This week, American Airlines used some beautiful imagery of a castle to promote its new flight to Prague in the Czech Republic.
The only problem is that the castle the airline used in its advertising is actually located nowhere near Prague.
American Airlines Launches New Flight to Prague
Earlier this month, American Airlines officially announced a new flight from Philadelphia to Prague, along with a new flight to Budapest, Hungary.
“Customers continue to tell us that Europe is where they want to go each summer and these new routes make it even easier to cross the Atlantic in 2026,” American’s Senior Vice President of Network and Schedule Planning said in a statement earlier this month. “We are excited to grow our network to new destinations like Prague and Budapest and offer even more premium travel experiences on our flights to Tokyo.”
The new flight will begin in May of 2026, but the airline has already begun advertising the new flight.
American Airlines Begins Advertising Prague Flights
After American Airlines announced the new flight to Prague, it immediately began advertising the route across multiple channels, including a full database e-mail blast, which was captured in a screenshot by Gary Leff of View From the Wing.
“Vacation in Prague: Wander through Prague’s timeless beauty with castles, cafés and cobblestone streets,” the advertisement reads.
Those words accompanied a photograph of Český Krumlov Castle, which is undeniably beautiful. However, it isn’t in Prague, as the language suggests.
In fact, it isn’t even particularly close to Prague.
An Embarrassing Mistake
As Leff pointed out, the castle is actually located in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic.
“American’s marketing of ‘Prague’s timeless beauty’ and Prague’s ‘castles and cobblestone streets’ do not show either. Instead, that’s Český Krumlov Castle complex overlooking the Vltava River, with the town’s historic center and signature red-tiled rooftops,” Leff wrote for View From the Wing.
Further, Leff pointed out that the ad makes even less sense, considering Prague isn’t even the closest or most convenient airport to the castle, and American already operated a flight to a city that is just as close to the castle as Prague.
“Prague isn’t even the closest airport to Český Krumlov, since Linz (with good air connections via Frankfurt, train from Vienna, and plenty of low cost carrier service especially seasonally) is much closer. (Salzburg is just as straightforward a journey though it’s a few kilometers farther away. Munich is about half an hour farther away – American already offered equally convenient service to Český Krumlov!),” Leff wrote.
More than that, there is a castle in Prague that would have made much more sense for American Airlines to use in its marketing.
“If American wanted an image of a castle for their Prague service, then maybe use… Prague Castle? That’s the most the most significant Czech monument. It’s one of the city’s main landmarks, visible from much of central Prague, and the office of the President of the Czech Republic. And it’s actually in Prague!” Leff wrote.
Clearly, Southwest should have verified the location of the castle in the marketing before rolling it out.
