American Airlines Launches New International and Domestic Service Today Giving Customers More Flights and More Choices

FORT WORTH, Texas, April 5, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- American Airlines and its regional affiliate, American Eagle, today launched a significant network expansion with new international and domestic service as well as increased flights in existing markets at three of its cornerstone cities – Los Angeles, Miami and New York. These new schedule enhancements, along with new service by oneworld® partners, British Airways and Iberia, will offer customers more travel choices and convenience worldwide.

Today, American launches daily nonstop service between Los Angeles and Shanghai - becoming the first U.S. airline to serve Shanghai nonstop from Los Angeles. Flight AA183 leaves Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) for Shanghai's Pudong Airport (PVG) at 3:10 p.m. and arrives Shanghai at 7:45 p.m. the next day. Return flight AA182 leaves Shanghai at 9:45 p.m. and arrives LAX at 6:40 p.m. the same day.

Across the country, American launches daily nonstop service between New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) and Budapest Ferihegy International Airport (BUD) in Hungary, the aviation hub of Central and Eastern Europe for oneworld partner Malev. Flight AA158 leaves JFK at 6:40 p.m. and arrives Budapest at 9:30 a.m. the next day while return Flight AA159 leaves Budapest at 11:55 a.m. and arrives JFK at 3:35 p.m. American has teamed with oneworld partner Malev to schedule these new flights so customers can make easy connections at American's JFK hub and Malev's Budapest hub. For more information, visit www.aa.com/Budapest.

In addition to American's new Shanghai nonstop, American Eagle will add new nonstop service to the following nine cities today from Los Angeles: Albuquerque, N.M.; Boise, Idaho; El Paso, Texas; Houston – Bush Intercontinental; Oklahoma City; Phoenix; Salt Lake City; Sacramento, Calif. and Tucson, Ariz.. Today's new departures from LAX represent an increase of 28 percent over last winter's figures.

American also will increase nonstop service in two of its important international markets, Miami – Madrid and New York JFK – Barcelona. The airline will increase its Miami – Madrid service from one to two daily flights and will increase its JFK – Barcelona service from seven to 11 weekly frequencies. For more information, visit www.aa.com/Madrid or www.aa.com/Barcelona.

American's international growth continues on May 1 when the carrier will inaugurate its first-ever service between Chicago's O'Hare International Airport and Helsinki, Finland. Flight AA130 will leave O'Hare at 3:40 p.m. and arrive Helsinki's Vantaa International Airport at 8:30 a.m. the next day. Return Flight AA131 will leave Helsinki at 2:10 p.m. and arrive O'Hare at 3:40 p.m. American has teamed up with oneworld partner Finnair to schedule the flights so customers can make easy connections at American's Chicago and Finnair's Helsinki hubs. For more information, visit www.aa.com/Helsinki.

In addition, American will reinstate daily seasonal service in the following markets: Boston – Paris; Chicago – Dublin, Ireland; and New York – Manchester, England.

"Los Angeles, Miami and New York, along with Dallas/Fort Worth and Chicago, form American's network cornerstones and are important international gateways for us and our oneworld partners," said Virasb Vahidi, American's Chief Commercial Officer. "Today's announcement demonstrates our commitment to enhancing the travel experience in these important markets by offering our customers more destinations and schedule options, not only through American's network but through the global network of our valued oneworld partners."

To celebrate the expanded service, American is offering AAdvantage® members the opportunity to earn bonus miles on selected routes. Customers can earn the following:

• Up to 15,000 AAdvantage bonus miles for  round-trip travel between New York and Budapest
• Up to 15,000 AAdvantage bonus miles for round-trip travel between Chicago and Helsinki
• Double miles on new domestic routes to and from Los Angles
• Up to triple miles for travel between Los Angeles and Shanghai
• Double miles for nonstop travel on Iberia between Los Angeles and Madrid and between Miami and Barcelona

For more information, visit www.AA.com/offers.

American customers also benefit from new services announced recently by its oneworld partners, including Iberia's new LAX-Madrid nonstop, which started March 28, as well as its additional Miami-Barcelona nonstop which started March 29. British Airways will launch a new nonstop San Diego – London Heathrow flight June 1.

Last month, American and British Airways joined forces to launch express service between New York and London. In addition to a new east-bound morning schedule from New York, flights depart every hour on the hour between 1 p.m. and 8 p.m. from London Heathrow, and flights depart New York almost every 20 minutes beginning in the late afternoon.

For more information about all these new flights and destinations, visit www.aa.com/nowmore or www.aa.com/LA.

About American Airlines

American Airlines, American Eagle and AmericanConnection® serve 250 cities in 50 countries with, on average, more than 3,600 daily flights. The combined network fleet numbers more than 900 aircraft. American's award-winning website, AA.com®, provides users with easy access to check and book fares, plus personalized news, information and travel offers. American Airlines is a founding member of the oneworld® Alliance, which brings together some of the best and biggest names in the airline business, enabling them to offer their customers more services and benefits than any airline can provide on its own. Together, its members serve approximately 900 destinations with more than 9,000 daily flights to 145 countries and territories. American Airlines, Inc. and American Eagle Airlines, Inc. are subsidiaries of AMR Corporation. AmericanAirlines, American Eagle, AmericanConnection, AA.com, and AAdvantage are trademarks of American Airlines, Inc. (NYSE: AMR).

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The address is http://www.aa.com

SOURCE American Airlines