American Airlines Inaugurates Oakland-JFK Service on March 2

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Jo Murray, 510-238-8430 or 800-492-9786 (pager)rn

OAKLAND, Calif. - A balloon arch in the terminal and a water arch on the tarmac will greet passengers when the American Airlines inaugural flight from Oakland International Airport to JFK Airport in New York departs on March 2.

Flight 287 will arrive at Oakland at 12:22 p.m., and Flight 288 will depart for JFK at 1:15 p.m. American will operate two flights a day, using the 176-seat Boeing 757 aircraft. Airport firefighting units will provide the water arch for the departing flight.

The addition of the American Airlines service will give Oakland five nonstop flights a day to the New York area. JetBlue Airways also operates two nonstops a day to JFK and plans to add two more this spring. Continental Airlines operates one nonstop flight a day to Newark.

American Airlines Flight 288 will depart Oakland daily at 1:15 p.m., arriving at JFK at 9:30 p.m. Flight 272 will depart Oakland at 10:45 p.m., arriving at JFK at 6:58 a.m. Return trips will depart JFK at 8:45 a.m. (Flight 287), arriving in Oakland at 12:22 p.m., and depart JFK at 6:10 p.m. (Flight 273), arriving in Oakland at 9:53 p.m.

"There is a strong demand for additional transcontinental flights from Oakland," said Mike Gunn, executive vice president of marketing and planning at American Airlines. "Soon passengers who have come to appreciate American's exclusive amenities, such as the popular 'More Room Throughout Coach,' will be able to fly an additional route from Oakland."

"We are pleased to see American Airlines responding to the demand for nonstop service between Oakland and the East Coast," said Steven Grossman, director of aviation at Oakland International Airport. "Oakland is the most convenient airport for passengers in the East Bay and North Bay, and it is as convenient to downtown San Francisco as SFO. We also have fewer weather-related delays than other Bay Area airports."

Oakland International Airport served 11.4 million passengers and handled more than 600,000 metric tons of air cargo in 2001. Oakland International has nearly 200 flights a day on 11 domestic and international carriers to 32 nonstop destinations, including the Hawaiian Islands, the New York area, Atlanta and Mexico. The airport is a revenue division of the Port of Oakland.

Oakland International is the only Bay Area airport with a dedicated shuttle bus that meets every Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system train at the nearby Coliseum station. On-airport parking rates are $18 a day in the long-term lot and $15 a day in the economy and overflow lots. For toll-free information assistance on ground transportation and parking services, call 1-888-IFLYOAK (435-9625) or visit the airport's Web site at https://www.oaklandairport.com.