FOR RELEASE: Monday, Oct. 21, 2002
American Applauds U.S. Government Negotiators for Reaching an Aviation Agreement With Hong Kong

FORT WORTH, Texas – American Airlines today applauded negotiators with the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Transportation for reaching a liberalized bilateral aviation agreement with the government of Hong Kong. The new agreement broadly expands commercial opportunities for U.S. passenger and cargo carriers and paves the way for the DOT to approve American’s application to codeshare with its oneworld partner, Cathay Pacific.

"The codesharing will allow American to serve the Hong Kong market and deepen our relationship with Cathay Pacific, a key partner in the global oneworld alliance," said Don Carty, American’s chairman and chief executive officer. "All of this will mean a broader range of services for travel between the U.S. and Asia. It will also bring us closer to achieving our goal of providing customers with seamless connecting services to the complete oneworld network by codesharing with all of our alliance partners."

American plans to place its code on Cathay flights to Hong Kong from New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco, and beyond Hong Kong to key destinations throughout Southeast Asia. These would include such points as Singapore; Bangkok, Thailand; and Kuala Lumpur and Penang, Malaysia. Cathay would place its code on American services to several key points beyond its U.S. gateways. The two carriers already have a reciprocal frequent flyer program.

Carty said the introduction of the American Airlines brand in Hong Kong could also lead at some future point to American offering its own service between the U.S. and Hong Kong.