American Unveils New Routes, Including Dallas-Seoul

DALLAS -- (TheStreet) -- American Airlines (AAMRQ.PK) said it will add four new international routes in 2013, three of them enabled by joint ventures with partners across the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

The routes will connect American's Dallas hub to Seoul and Lima, its Chicago hub to Dusseldorf and its hub at New York Kennedy to Dublin.

American, which is operating under bankruptcy court protection, has said it will expand international flying as its costs decline and its fleet expands, although the newly announced routes do not involve new aircraft.

"We have said that as part of our business plan we plan to diversify our mix of flying and to increase our mix of international flying," said Virasb Vahidi, chief commercial officer, in an interview. "We are focused on leveraging our partnerships with our joint venture partners and Oneworld partners, connecting our hubs to their hubs."

While the Dallas-Seoul flight doesn't connect to a partner's hub, it does take advantage of American's trans-Pacific immunized joint venture with Japan Air Lines, which enables the two carriers to jointly discuss pricing and scheduling and to share revenue. The flight aboard a Boeing 777-200 will begin in May. Vahidi noted that it falls within American's strategy of connecting premium business markets -- Seoul is one of the top 10 global premium markets.

Seoul is an important hub, but not within Oneworld. Korean Air is a Skyteam member while Asiana is a Star member. In fact, Korean already flies Seoul-Dallas five times a week. Vahidi said American will have interline agreements with both carriers on select routes, enabling issuance of tickets on one another's flights.

The Dallas-Lima flight will be operated under an immunized joint venture with Oneworld partner Lan Peru, offering service to a city where both carriers already have a major presence. American serves Miami and Los Angeles from Lima. Vahidi said American can become a bigger player in the important Japan-Peru market, given its Tokyo-Dallas flight. The flight aboard a Boeing 757 begins in April.

The Chicago-Dusseldorf flight aboard a Boeing 767-300 will connect to Oneworld member airberlin's hub, and will be operated under the trans-Atlantic joint venture with British Airways and Iberia, as will the JFK-Dublin flight. Vahidi noted that Dublin may be known as a leisure market, but is in fact "important for high-value business customers." He said British Airways is resuming service to Dublin and will have a sales and marketing presence in the city.

American also announced new regional routes, flown by American Eagle, from Dallas and Chicago to Columbia, Mo., and from Dallas to Beaumont, Texas and Fargo, N.D.

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-- Written by Ted Reed in Charlotte, N.C.

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