New European Codeshare Opportunities Also Open Up Under 'Open Skies'

FORT WORTH, Texas, March 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- American Airlines will move three of its London flights from Gatwick Airport to Heathrow Airport in the coming weeks as part of the "Open Skies" agreement between the United States (U.S.) and the European Union (EU) which takes effect March 30.

American previously announced that it will move one of its two daily round trips between Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) and London Gatwick, as well as its daily round trip between Raleigh/Durham (RDU) and Gatwick, to London Heathrow Airport (LHR) on March 30.

In addition, American will be moving its second daily round trip between DFW and Gatwick to Heathrow on April 13. American recently obtained additional take-off and landing slots at Heathrow to make that move possible. This will result in the closure of American's Gatwick operations after 26 years of service. All of American's employees at Gatwick have been offered jobs at the airline's other London locations.

"We want to strengthen our competitive position within the new 'Open Skies' regime, so it makes sense to focus our efforts in London at Heathrow," said Henry Joyner, American's Senior Vice President - Planning. "These changes do not impact the total number of American flights to and from London. We'll operate up to 18 daily departures to Heathrow this summer from seven U.S. airports."

American's London Heathrow gateway cities in the U.S. will be: New York (JFK), Boston, Dallas/Fort Worth, Chicago, Miami, Los Angeles, and Raleigh/Durham.

In addition, while not directly related to the new "Open Skies" agreement, American will continue to serve London Stansted Airport from New York's JFK Airport. American will add a second daily Stansted round trip beginning Aug. 1.

Here are the details and schedules for American's new flights into, and out of, London Heathrow. All times are local:

       1st     Flight                                               Aircraft
     Departure   #     Route      Departs        Arrives              Type

     March 29   50    DFW-LHR    5:20 p.m.   8:25 a.m. Next Day    Boeing 777
     March 30   51    LHR-DFW   10:25 a.m.   2:30 p.m. Same Day    Boeing 777
     March 29   174   RDU-LHR    6:05 p.m.   6:35 a.m. Next Day    Boeing 777
     March 30   173   LHR-RDU   11:00 a.m.   2:25 p.m. Same Day    Boeing 777
     April 13   78    DFW-LHR    7:20 p.m.  10:45 a.m. Next Day    Boeing 767
     April 14   79    LHR-DFW   12:50 p.m.   5:10 p.m. Same Day    Boeing 767

The new "Open Skies" agreement also allows airlines to add new cities within Europe to codeshare relationships with other airlines. Effective April 13 American intends to add 12 new destinations by expanding its existing codeshare agreement with Spain's Iberia Airlines, one of its oneworld(R) Alliance partners. Among the 12 new destinations are Valencia, Seville, Gran Canaria, Brussels, and Lisbon. American flies nonstop between its Miami hub and Madrid, where passengers will be able to easily connect to the new destinations.

About American Airlines

American Airlines is the world's largest airline. American, American Eagle and the AmericanConnection(R) airlines serve 250 cities in over 40 countries with more than 4,000 daily flights. The combined network fleet numbers more than 1,000 aircraft. American's award-winning Web site, 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(R) 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 nearly 700 destinations in over 140 countries and territories. American Airlines, Inc. and American Eagle Airlines, Inc. are subsidiaries of AMR Corporation. AmericanAirlines, American Eagle, the AmericanConnection(R) airlines, AA.com and AAdvantage are registered trademarks of American Airlines, Inc. (NYSE: AMR)

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SOURCE  American Airlines
    -0-                             03/13/2008
    /CONTACT:  Tim Smith, Corporate Communications of American Airlines,
+1-817-967-1577, corp.comm@aa.com/
    /Web site:  http://www.aa.com /
    (AMR)

CO:  American Airlines
ST:  Texas, England, North Carolina
IN:  AIR TRA LEI
SU:

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7794 03/13/2008 14:32 EDT http://www.prnewswire.com