American to Introduce Routes to the Caribbean and Hawaii and Make Winter Schedule Changes to Atlantic and Pacific Routes

Globe Newswire 2-May-2018 10:15 AM

FORT WORTH, Texas, May 02, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- American Airlines customers will have new options to escape the cold with more seasonal and year-round flights to the Caribbean and Hawaii starting this winter.  An overview of these new flights is as follows:

• From ORD:  Daily winter seasonal service to HNL and four new routes to the Caribbean: AUA, GCM, NAS, PLS
• From MIA:  Seven additional daily frequencies to the Caribbean and one new route to the Caribbean: BGI, CUR, FPO, POP, POS, SDQ, UVF and new route SVD
• From CLT:  Two new routes to the Caribbean: ELH, MHH
• From DFW:  One new route to the Caribbean: AUA 

Additionally, American will move one of its Miami International Airport (MIA)–London Heathrow Airport (LHR) flights and instead operate a Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW)–LHR frequency. Through its Atlantic Joint Business, British Airways will add a third frequency between MIA–LHR.

Finally, American will seek a dormancy waiver from the U.S. Department of Transportation to discontinue its service between Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD) and Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK). The airline also announced it plans to remove the nonstop ORD–PEK service from its schedule in October.

Caribbean and Hawaii
American is the first U.S. carrier to serve St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVD) with the introduction of year-round Saturday service from MIA. American's sun-seeking customers will also have more opportunities to reach their favorite Caribbean destinations, including new flights to Aruba (AUA) from ORD and DFW; to Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands (GCM); Nassau, The Bahamas (NAS); and Providenciales, Turks and Caicos (PLS) from ORD. Customers will also gain new access to Eleuthera (ELH) and Marsh Harbour (MHH) in The Bahamas from Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT). In addition, American will add an extra frequency from MIA to seven Caribbean destinations it currently serves today.

Beginning this winter, American will also introduce new winter seasonal nonstop service to Honolulu (HNL) from ORD on a Boeing 787-8.

London
American and joint business partner British Airways together will provide more capacity to their LHR hub from American's hubs at DFW and MIA. Beginning Oct. 28, American will move one of its two MIA–LHR flights to DFW–LHR using a Boeing 777-300ER, and British Airways will add its third MIA–LHR frequency using a Boeing 747-400.

"Customers across Europe will benefit from larger-capacity aircraft between LHR and MIA, and the DFW–LHR frequency will continue to provide great connecting opportunities through American's centrally located hub," said Vasu Raja, Vice President of Network & Schedule Planning. "By better leveraging the networks of our joint business partners we are laying the foundation for American to grow its long-haul international network more profitably in the years ahead."

Simon Brooks, British Airways' Senior Vice President of Sales for North America, said, "We are thrilled to have this partnership with American Airlines for over seven years now. We continually work with our joint business partners to ensure customers have the best travel experience, and this schedule change delivers on our promise to provide more options."

Customers will continue to choose to fly on either American or British Airways through codeshare on all DFW–LHR and MIA–LHR flights as part of the joint business.

Asia
American will seek a dormancy waiver from the U.S. Department of Transportation for its service between ORD and PEK, and plans to remove the nonstop ORD–PEK service from its schedule in October. The last westbound flight will be Oct. 20 and the last eastbound flight will be Oct. 22. Customers already holding reservations after these dates will be reaccommodated on other flights, and can continue to reach PEK through American's hubs at DFW and Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). American intends to seek access to operate services at Beijing's new international airport when it opens next year.

"American is operating more seats from Chicago this summer than in the past 10 years, and we are excited to continue to grow in this important hub," said Raja. "However the current fare environment severely limits our ability to successfully compete between Chicago and Beijing. We remain committed to China and anticipate that moving to the new Beijing airport in the future will improve the viability of the route through the additional connectivity in conjunction with our codeshare relationship with China Southern in the long run."

About American Airlines Group
American Airlines and American Eagle offer an average of nearly 6,700 flights per day to nearly 350 destinations in more than 50 countries. American has hubs in Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, Phoenix and Washington, D.C. American is a founding member of the oneworld alliance, whose members and members-elect serve nearly 1,000 destinations with 14,250 daily flights to 150 countries. Shares of American Airlines Group Inc. trade on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol AAL. In 2015, its stock joined the S&P 500 index. Connect with American on Twitter @AmericanAir and at Facebook.com/AmericanAirlines.

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