FORT WORTH, Texas – American Airlines, which is in the midst of building a new $1.3 billion, 55-gate terminal at New York’ s Kennedy International Airport, today announced that it will introduce daily nonstop service between JFK and Tokyo on April 19.

Tokyo will become American’s 19th international destination from JFK. The airline will fly the route with 223-seat Boeing 777s, its newest international aircraft, with the longest range in its fleet.

"American is deeply committed to the New York market and has seen the Kennedy-Tokyo route as an important, long-term strategic opportunity for quite some time," said Mike Gunn, the airline’s executive vice president of marketing and planning. "With our build-up of service throughout the Northeastern U.S., the availability of additional 777 aircraft, and sufficient slot capacity at Tokyo’s Narita Airport, this is a perfect time to begin the service.

"We believe our JFK-Tokyo flights will play a key role in strengthening New York’s tourism industry and bringing new business opportunities to the region," Gunn said.

In conjunction with the inaugural of the service, plans are being developed for a high-level trade mission of key state and local civic and government leaders to promote tourism, trade and business development in New York. Tokyo and New York City are Sister Cities.

American currently operates nonstop to Tokyo from Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth and San Jose, Calif. Earlier this month, the airline discontinued its Seattle-Tokyo and DFW-Osaka services, and ended San Jose-Taipei service last September, because of weak economic conditions in those markets. However, American anticipates much stronger traffic demand on the JFK-Tokyo route, especially in light of the many steps it has taken to strengthen and enhance its overall route network in the eastern U.S.

Additionally, American announced that it will introduce a second nonstop flight on its DFW-Tokyo route three days a week with 777 aircraft, starting June 1.

American has advanced the first construction phase of the JFK terminal project by six months, and the entire project by nine months. This means that phase two, a mid-field concourse with 17 gates now under construction, will be completed in June 2003, instead of December 2003. The entire project, with 2.2 million-square-feet of space in three concourses on three levels, is now expected to be completed by September 2006.

When it’s finished, the new terminal will be the largest and most advanced at JFK with 55 gates for jets and commuter aircraft. Its main passenger check-in area will be large enough to hold Giants Stadium, and there will be a new international arrivals facility capable of handling more than 2,400 passengers an hour. Overall, the building will accommodate 14 million passengers per year.

Here are the schedules for the new JFK-Tokyo and DFW-Tokyo flights (all times are local):

FROM JFK TO TOKYO (starting April 19)

Flight 167 Departs 11:50 a.m. Arrives 2:15 p.m. (the next day)

FROM TOKYO TO JFK (starting April 20)

Flight 168 Departs 6:40 p.m. Arrives 6:20 p.m. (the same day)

FROM DFW TO TOKYO (starting June 1)

Flight 175 Departs 1 p.m. Arrives 4:10 p.m. (the next day)

Operates Monday, Thursday and Saturday

FROM TOKYO TO DFW (starting June 3)

Flight 176 Departs at noon Arrives 9:20 a.m. (the same day)

Operates Monday, Thursday and Saturday