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Do we just use "A has a date with B" only when A and B are not yet a girlfriend and boyfriend yet and they are trying to have a meeting to see if they like each other?
Or can "A has a date with B" also apply to a couple who has been in a romantic relationship for years?
Can we say "Mike has a date with Mary tonight" when they have been a romantic couple for years?
While I agree with the comments and answers saying that the word date can be used for a pleasant planned encounter by a married couple, in American English the word is often used with a hint of scare-quote intonation, in acknowledgement that its usual place is in courtship (including "first dates").
My wife and I are going on a dinner-and-a-movie "date".
And that awkwardness is what led, I believe, to the new word date-night. Courting couples do not refer to their planned evening-time fun as a date-night.
You can have a romantic date with your spouse.
It's the location and the purpose of the romantic appointment that counts. A date can be anywhere and at any time of day; a cinema, a theatre, a small intimate restaurant or a walk in the woods.
The term "date" does not itself imply novelty, though it is often used that way. The question is whether you will be understood, and a lot of that depends on context and audience. If you are talking to people who know Mike and Mary, you can certainly say they have a date no matter what their relationship might be. As other commenters have noted, it is very common for old married folk and other people in established relationships to go out on dates together. All a date must be is a planned outing with a shared interest and romantic intent. As an example, suppose this were given a context such as "Mike can't go bowling with us tonight because he has a date with Mary." The implication is that (1) Mary is important to Mike (2) Either Mary doesn't bowl, or they want some one-on-one time. The other bowling buddies probably know Mike and that he and Mary are an item. (There is a good idiomatic phrase: to say that a couple are "an item" means that they spend enough time together that they can be considered or included as a unit. If you are going to invite Mary, you probably want to consider Mike too.) If you are trying to convey that the relationship is new and are talking to people who don't know both parties, it is probably best to say it more directly. For example, "Mike has a date with Mary, the woman he met at the concert last week." The other thing to know about the term "date" is that it is a commitment. Mike having a date with Mary means that he has to show up. If he doesn't, that is called "standing her up". Mike would at the very least be in big trouble with Mary. If it is a new relationship, he probably would not get another chance. If Mary got "stood up", all her friends would know it too. That would be very bad for Mike. There is some of that with the term "date-night" noted above. If a married couple have a planned date night and one of them has to cancel it, there had better be a good reason.
A lot of the answers focus on the word "date," and point out (correctly) that established couples also go on dates. I think this is a bit of a new usage, and intentional. But I want to point out the word "has."
When I'm going out with my wife, I'd say "I'm going on a date with [name]," or "[name] and I have a date tonight," or other such statements.
But when you say "[x] has a date with [y]," I would guess that their relationship is new, or even that this is a first date. This might not be 100% accurate, but it would be my first thought. This is because the use of the word "has" suggests some kind of attainment -- maybe [x] finally worked up the courage to ask [y] out, or they're back together, or whatever. But this is somehow surprising.
If I said "I have a date with [wife] tonight," that would imply (to a listener who is like me, I guess), some kind of freshness or excitement -- maybe we reconciled some major argument, or she just got back from a long trip, or whatever. I wouldn't say it for "we got a babysitter and we're gonna go see a movie." In that scenario I would more likely say "we're going out tonight" or even "we're going on a date tonight," but the idea that we would want to, or be able to, go on a date, is assumed.
(YMMV)
