American Airlines, British Airways and Iberia expand codeshare cooperation

FORT WORTH, Texas – American Airlines, British Airways and Iberia, members of the oneworld® alliance, today announced new customer benefits as a result of their trans-Atlantic joint business. All three carriers are expanding the number of routes on which the airlines will codeshare between North America and Europe.

These new codeshare flights offer passengers in the United States, the United Kingdom, Spain, Mexico and many other European countries easier access to more choices and better connections to flights across the Atlantic. The first sales date of the expanded codeshare cooperation is Dec. 20, with most travel beginning on Dec. 28.

With today’s announcement, American will add its (AA*) code to an additional 57 British Airways flights to 16 markets and 4 Iberia flights to 2 markets. British Airways will add its (BA*) code to 42 additional American Airlines flights to 18 markets and 56 Iberia flights to 8 markets. Iberia will add its (IB*) code to 72 American flights in 23 markets and 86 British Airways flights to 24 markets. In total, it adds up to 317 new codeshare routes.

As a result of the joint business, British Airways code will be published on over 2,800 American and Iberia flights serving more than 336 destinations. American Airlines code will be displayed on over 800 British Airways and Iberia flights to 174 destinations, and Iberia will publish its code on more than 350 British Airways and American Airlines flights to 80 destinations. All together, the joint business will serve more than 400 destinations in over 100 countries with approximately 5,200 daily departures.

Members of the three airlines’ frequent flyer programs – Iberia’s Plus, American Airlines AAdvantage® program, and British Airways Executive Club – can earn points or miles on the new codeshare flights, providing customers with the benefits of the enhanced relationship.

“Today’s announcement continues to demonstrate how our stronger relationship with our oneworld partners delivers value to our customers,” said Virasb Vahidi, American’s Chief Commercial Officer. “Expanded codesharing makes it easier and more convenient for our respective customers to travel on the global networks of all three airlines and delivers on our promise of more choices, easier connections and a better overall travel experience.”

Andrew Crawley, British Airways commercial director, said: “When we launched the joint business in October, we said that we would be rolling out more benefits to customers and this introduction of more codeshare flights across our three airlines is exactly that. The feedback we’re getting from customers is very positive already and we will continue to align our policies in order to bring them even more benefits.”

Manuel Lopez Aguilar, Iberia general director, Commercial and Clients, said: “The expanded codesharing that will be in place before the end of the year is another benefit for our customers; this has to be added to the new routes that we will be launching from next spring, which in the case of Iberia are Madrid-Los Angeles and Barcelona-Miami. We could not operate these new routes without the joint business.”

Additional customer benefits of the trans-Atlantic joint business routes include:

Coordinated schedules on joint business routes providing customers with more flight choices and more convenient times
Dedicated support teams for customers transferring at five of the airlines’ hubs: New York JFK, London Heathrow, Madrid, Chicago and Miami
Online check-in and boarding pass printing with either the airline operating the flight, or on the website of the airline used to book the travel
Integrated online flight information on all three airlines’ websites

American, British Airways and Iberia previously announced five new routes beginning Spring 2011 as a benefit of the new joint business. They are: New York JFK-Budapest and Chicago-Helsinki (operated by American Airlines), London Heathrow-San Diego (operated by British Airways), plus Barcelona-Miami and Madrid-Los Angeles (operated by Iberia). Moreover, American will add frequencies from New York JFK to Barcelona and Miami to Madrid for already-existing services. These new frequencies also begin in Spring 2011.

Expanded codesharing markets:

American Airlines on British Airways
American Airlines on Iberia

London/Heathrow (LHR) to/from:

San Diego (SAN), California

London/Heathrow (LHR) to/from the U.S. via Canada:

Calgary International (YYC), Alberta
Montreal/Trudeau (YUL), Quebec
Toronto (YYZ), Ontario
Vancouver (YVR), British Columbia

U.S. Connecting to/from Europe via:

London/Heathrow (LHR) to/from:
Paris/Orly (ORY)
London/Gatwick (LGW) to/from:
Amsterdam (AMS), Netherlands
Bologna (BLQ), Italy
Edinburgh (EDI), United Kingdom
Geneva (GVA), Switzerland
Glasgow (GLA), United Kingdom
Manchester (MAN), United Kingdom
Marseille (MRS), France
Naples (NAP), Italy
Rome/Fiumicino (FCO), Italy
Venice (VCE), Italy

Barcelona (BCN), Spain to/from:

Miami (MIA), Florida
Madrid (MAD), Spain to/from:

Los Angeles (LAX), California

British Airways on American Airlines
Iberia on American Airlines

Boston (BOS), Massachusetts to/from:

Paris/Charles de Gaulle (CDG), France

Chicago/O’Hare (ORD), Illinois to/from:

Brussels (BRU), Belgium
Dublin (DUB), Ireland
Helsinki (HEL), Finland
Paris/Charles de Gaulle (CDG), France
Rome/Fiumicino (FCO), Italy

Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW), Texas to/from:

Frankfurt (FRA), Germany
Madrid (MAD), Spain
Paris/Charles de Gaulle (CDG), France

Miami (MIA), Florida, United States to/from:

Madrid (MAD), Spain
Paris/Charles de Gaulle (CDG), France

New York/John F Kennedy (JFK), New York, to/from:

Barcelona (BCN), Spain
Brussels (BRU), Belgium
Budapest (BUD), Hungary
Madrid (MAD), Spain
Milan/Malpensa (MXP), Italy
Paris/Charles de Gaulle (CDG), France
Rome/Fiumicino (FCO), Italy

Boston (BOS), Massachusetts to/from:

London/Heathrow (LHR), United Kingdom
Paris/Charles de Gaulle (CDG), France

Chicago/O’Hare (ORD), Illinois to/from:

Brussels (BRU), Belgium
Dublin (DUB), Ireland
Helsinki (HEL), Finland
London/Heathrow (LHR), United Kingdom
Manchester (MAN), United Kingdom
Paris/Charles de Gaulle (CDG), France
Rome/Fiumicino (FCO), Italy

Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW), Texas to/from:

Frankfurt (FRA), Germany
London/Heathrow (LHR), United Kingdom
Paris/Charles de Gaulle (CDG), France

Los Angeles (LAX), California, United States to/from:

London/Heathrow (LHR), United Kingdom
Miami (MIA), Florida, United States to/from:

London/Heathrow (LHR), United Kingdom
Paris/Charles de Gaulle (CDG), France

New York/John F Kennedy (JFK), New York, to/from:

Brussels (BRU), Belgium
Budapest (BUD), Hungary
London/Heathrow (LHR), United Kingdom
Manchester (MAN), United Kingdom
Milan/Malpensa (MXP), Italy
Paris/Charles de Gaulle (CDG), France
Rome/Fiumicino (FCO), Italy

Raleigh/Durham (RDU), North Carolina to/from:

London/Heathrow (LHR), United Kingdom

British Airways on Iberia
Iberia on British Airways

Barcelona (BCN), Spain to/from

Miami (MIA), Florida, United States
Madrid (MAD), Spain to/from

Boston (BOS), Massachusetts
Chicago/O’Hare (ORD), Illinois
Los Angeles (LAX), California
Miami (MIA), Florida
New York/John F Kennedy (JFK)
San Juan (SJU), Puerto Rico
Mexico to/from London via Madrid:

Mexico City (MEX), Mexico

London/City (LCY) to/from:

New York/John F Kennedy (JFK), N.Y.
London/Gatwick (LGW) to/from:

Orlando (MCO), Florida, United States
Tampa (TPA), Florida, United States
London/Heathrow (LHR) to/from:

Atlanta (ATL), Georgia
Baltimore/Washington (BWI), Maryland
Boston (BOS), Massachusetts
Calgary (YYC), Alberta
Chicago/O’Hare, (ORD), Illinois
Denver (DEN), Colorado
Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW), Texas
Houston/George Bush (IAH), Texas
Las Vegas (LAS), Nevada
Los Angeles (LAX), California
Miami (MIA), Florida
New York/John F Kennedy (JFK), New York
Newark (EWR), New Jersey
Philadelphia (PHL), Pennsylvania
Phoenix (PHX), Arizona
San Diego (SAN), California
San Francisco (SFO), California
Seattle (SEA), Washington
Washington/Dulles (IAD), District of Columbia
Mexico to/from Madrid via London:

London/Gatwick (LGW) to/from:
Cancun (CUN)
London/Heathrow (LHR) to/from:
Mexico City (MEX)