American Airlines : Launches New Service to Three European Cities from Dallas Fort Worth and Chicago

'Amsterdam, Barcelona and Rome are popular year-round destinations that see a surge of interest from our customers during the peak summer travel season,' said Vasu Raja, vice president - Network Planning. 'Our new seasonal service will provide U.S.-based customers with more options to travel to their favorite spots and will provide our European customers with one-stop connections to more than 150 destinations in the U.S., South America, Mexico and the Caribbean.'

Customers flying to Rome on today's flight will travel on 'Shepherd One' - the Boeing 777-200 aircraft that transported Pope Francis during his first visit to the U.S. in September 2015. The aircraft is adorned with a commemorative plaque noting the Pope's travels. The seat used by Pope Francis was removed from the aircraft and transported to the C.R. Smith Museum in Fort Worth, where it was added to the museum's collection. Subsequent flights will be operated using other Boeing 777-200 aircraft.

The new service between DFW and Amsterdam will be operated with a Boeing 767-300. The new service between Chicago and Barcelona will be operated using Boeing 787-8 aircraft.

American is in the midst of a historic fleet renewal program that includes spending $4.1 billion on new aircraft this year alone, including 13 new Boeing 787s.

DFW-FCO

AA 240

Departs DFW at 1:35 p.m.

Arrives at FCO at 7:15 a.m. (next day)

Aircraft: Boeing 777-200

DFW-AMS

AA 220

Departs DFW at 3:25 p.m.

Arrives at AMS at 8:15 a.m. (next day)

Aircraft: Boeing 767-300

ORD-BCN

AA 40

Departs ORD at 10:05 p.m.

Arrives at BCN at 1:40 p.m. (next day)

Aircraft: Boeing 787-800