Fort Worth-based American Airlines has launched a daily seasonal nonstop service for summer 2017, between Dallas Fort Worth International Airport and two European cities: Rome and Amsterdam.

The airline has also launched a summer nonstop between Chicago O’Hare International Airport and Barcelona.

The new summer service complements year-round service to Rome and Amsterdam from other American hubs and will run through September 30.

Daily service schedule times are as follows:

• DFW to Rome departs DFW at 1:35 pm, and arrives at FCO at 7:15 am the next day.
• DFW to Amsterdam departs DFW at 3:25 pm, and arrives at AMS at 8:15 am the next day.

American vice president Vasu Raja says that Amsterdam, Barcelona, and Rome are popular year-round destinations that see a surge of interest during the peak summer travel season. The new seasonal service will provide U.S. customers with more options to travel to their favorite spots, and give European customers one-stop connections to more than 150 destinations in the U.S., South America, Mexico, and the Caribbean.

The service begins on May 5. Customers flying to Rome on the inaugural flight will travel on a very special plane: Shepherd One, the Boeing 777-200 aircraft that transported Pope Francis during his first visit to the U.S. in September 2015.

Oooh, does this mean you can sit where the Pope sat? Actually, no. The seat used by the Pope was removed from the aircraft and transported to the C.R. Smith Museum in Fort Worth, where it was added to the museum’s collection. But the aircraft is adorned with a commemorative plaque noting the Pope's travels.

Subsequent flights will be operated using other Boeing 777-200 aircraft. No Pope plaque for them.

The new service between DFW and Amsterdam will be operated with a Boeing 767-300. The new service between Chicago and Barcelona will be operated using Boeing 787-8 aircraft.