American Airlines to launch daily non-stop flights between Chicago and Delhi, India

American Airlines is to launch a daily nonstop service between Chicago O'Hare International Airport and Delhi, India, on Nov. 15, 2005, subject to government approval.

Delhi is India's capital and third-largest city. The route is nearly 7,500 miles and will be the longest nonstop route in American's growing international network. The airline will fly the route with its 236-seat Boeing 777-200 aircraft.

"This new route is another step in our international growth strategy. Delhi is an important and vital city and India is one of the fastest-growing international markets for both passenger and cargo traffic," said Henry Joyner, American's Senior Vice President-Planning.

In addition to the new Delhi flights, American has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding to negotiate codeshare and frequent flyer agreements with India-based Air Sahara, which operates direct flights to 23 cities in India and is one of the most successful and fastest-growing private sector airlines in the country.

The cooperative agreement, again subject to government approval, will allow American's customers to make easy connections throughout India. American will place its "AA" flight code on Air Sahara flights and Air Sahara will place its "S2" code on American's new service to Chicago and beyond destinations within the United States, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. Members of American's AAdvantage and Air Sahara's Cosmos frequent flyer programs will be able to earn and redeem frequent flyer miles on both airlines' networks.

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