American Airlines and its trans-Atlantic business partner, British Airways, are moving in together at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport.
New York officials announced Wednesday that the airlines will co-locate operations at the airport's Terminal 8 and spend $344 million on upgrades over the next three years. The airlines billed it as a way to enhance service between New York and London, starting in 2022.
"Co-locating with British Airways will allow our customers unprecedented convenience and flexibility between these two world-class cities," American Airlines president Robert Isom said in a statement.
The move will make it easier for arriving passengers to connect to other American Airlines flights, the company said, while also centralizing 14 daily flights to London at the same terminal.
British Airways had been the only non-U.S. airline with its own terminal at New York's premier airport. It will vacate Terminal 7, which will be torn down and rebuilt as part of JetBlue Airways' plan for a new $3 billion terminal on the airport's north side.
The co-location deal is part of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's $13 billion modernization of the airport, which served about 61 million passengers last year. Planned upgrades to Terminal 8 include new gates, improved baggage systems, premium check-in space and expanded concessions and retail options.
"Only four months ago, we announced plans to transform JFK Airport into a state-of-the-art global hub, with new and unified terminals adding 4 million square feet and increasing the airport's capacity by at least 15 million passengers annually," Cuomo said in a statement. "Today, that transformation is well underway with an extraordinary private investment that will turn JFK into a truly modern airport."
JFK isn't alone among American Airlines' hubs undergoing improvements.
American has committed billions of dollars for projects at DFW International Airport, Miami International Airport, Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C., O'Hare International Airport in Chicago and Los Angeles International Airport.
American operates about 100 daily flights at JFK to more than 40 destinations in 15 countries.
