Summer 2011 will bring even more benefits to customers as a result of the enhanced relationship among American Airlines, British Airways and Iberia when, for the first time ever, the airlines’ schedules are coordinated for flights across the North Atlantic – including American’s London express service with 15 flights per day from the New York city area to London.

“Our newly aligned schedule for Summer 2011 reflects our commitment to deliver a superior travel experience for our customers. We are confident that our customers will welcome the enhanced travel options of our new joint product,” said Virasb Vahidi, American’s Chief Commercial Officer. “More convenient departure and arrival times and increased frequencies, in addition to our award-winning inflight service and onboard products, are just a few of the many outstanding customer benefits resulting from the launch of our trans-Atlantic joint business with British Airways and Iberia.”

The new schedule alignment, which begins March 27, means customers traveling between New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) and London Heathrow Airport (LHR) will benefit from more conveniently timed flights during peak periods in the late afternoon and evening. Customers will now have more ways to London – 15 flights a day in total between New York City (JFK/EWR) and London (LHR/LCY) – than ever before.

Previously, the 11 daily flights from JFK-LHR included five flights operated by American and British Airways that left at almost the same time. Now, those flights have been spread out to provide more departures at more desirable times throughout the day. For example, instead of the two morning flights from JFK in which both departed at 8:30 a.m., one will now depart at 8 a.m. and the other at 9:30 a.m., with both still arriving in London on the same day.

In addition to the schedule changes offering more ways to London, there are many other schedule improvements resulting from the joint business cooperation.

From Chicago to London, American and British Airways will now have close to hourly departures from 5 p.m. to 9:45 p.m. local time. Previously there was a three-hour gap in service.

Out of Miami, American and British Airways will now offer three different departure options between 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. Before, only two departure times were available for customers.

In Boston, the new flight schedule allows passengers to leave at 8 a.m. or 9 a.m. local time, still arriving the same day into London. The last flight of the day has been pushed back by more than an hour making it more convenient for customers to get in a full day’s business before leaving for London.

On the other side of the Atlantic, schedules also have been aligned for customers flying to all of these U.S. destinations from London.

Additionally, customers will see new flights to new destinations this spring. Beginning April 5, American launches service from JFK to Budapest, Hungary, and on May 1, it begins a new flight from Chicago to Helsinki, Finland. Iberia begins nonstop service from Madrid, Spain, to Los Angeles on March 28 and Barcelona, Spain, to Miami service on March 29. Also, British Airways will begin service from San Diego to London on June 2.

On April 5, American will also increase service from Miami to Madrid and add a second flight from JFK to Barcelona on four days per week. British Airways will increase from two to three services a week from London’s Gatwick airport to Cancun, Mexico, beginning March 27.