American adds routes from JFK; With new AA terminal as backdrop, Mayor Michael Bloomberg rolls out $6M welcome wagon as way to generate, keep tourists

With its new terminal at Kennedy Airport now essentially complete, American Airlines has announced plans to add two more destinations reachable on its system from that Queens airport: Milan and Barcelona, Spain.

The new terminal also served as a backdrop yesterday for an announcement by Mayor Michael Bloomberg of a $5.7-million program to boost tourism with new ads and 50 street marketers who will approach tourists in the city with advice on places to see.

"This new and engaging welcome campaign will help us continue to grow the tourism industry, even as the rest of the country has experienced a decline in international tourism," Bloomberg News quoted the mayor as saying.

Also in attendance was American chief executive Gerard Arpey, who said the airline would assist the campaign with $4.5 million worth of billboard ads in its terminal.

American's additions of service to Milan and Barcelona, beginning May 1, are part of an ongoing schedule adjustment that has kept departures about the same but placed increased emphasis on new destinations, especially international ones.

American previously announced adding, starting Oct. 28, London's Stansted Airport as a destination from Kennedy.

The event yesterday also marked completion of the $1.1-billion expansion and refurbishment of what is now called Terminal 9 but will be renumbered 8 when the old Terminal 8 is demolished, said American spokesman Ned Raynolds. The new 1.5-million-square-foot terminal has 36 gates.

Since the start of the year, American has added nonstop service from metropolitan area airports it serves to Cincinnati; Louisville, Ky.; Minneapolis/St. Paul; Flint, Mich.; Las Vegas; and St. Kitts and St. Lucia in the Caribbean, said airline spokesman Tim Smith.

American and its Eagle commuter unit have 244 daily departures from this region to 59 nonstop destinations, 26 of which are international.

The departures include 122 from LaGuardia, 91 from Kennedy, 22 from Newark Liberty and nine from the Westchester County Airport in White Plains.