American Grows Stronger in South Florida

American Airlines, a founding member of the oneworld alliance, along with its regional partner American Eagle continue to grow their schedule in South Florida. This is beyond the schedule additions previously announced for November 2009 at Miami International Airport (MIA).

Effective Feb. 11 from MIA, American will begin a third daily flight to Lima, Peru, and a fourth daily flight to San Jose, Costa Rica. There will be an eighth flight operating twice weekly to San Juan, Puerto Rico. Additionally, American will add a second daily flight from Fort Lauderdale International Airport to Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

In June 2010, a fourth daily flight from MIA to Kingston Jamaica, will be added, and the two daily flights currently operating to San Pedro Sula, Honduras, will see an upgrade in equipment from the current 148-seat Boeing 737 to the 188-seat Boeing 757.

“While we have reduced our broader schedule in response to a difficult economic environment, we continue to find opportunities to enhance our presence in Miami,” said Peter Dolara, American’s Senior Vice President based in Miami. “This November we will operate 276 daily flights, our largest schedule ever since establishing the Miami hub 20 years ago. Our growth is recognition of the support we have received from Miami-Dade County and the community throughout the years and will further solidify MIA’s position as the Gateway to the Americas.”

As previously announced, American Eagle will begin service from MIA to five new destinations Nov. 19: Eleuthera, Governors Harbour, and Treasure Cay in the Bahamas as well as to Charleston, S.C. and Knoxville, Tenn. Also in November, American will increase its flight schedule with one additional daily flight to numerous destinations including Cancun, Mexico, and Montreal; Curacao, Grand Cayman, Providenciales, Punta Cana and Santo Domingo in the Caribbean; Freeport in the Bahamas; Panama City and Guatemala City in Central America; and Medellin and Sao Paulo in South America. In the U.S., service to the following cities will increase by one daily flight: Dallas/Fort Worth, Washington-Reagan, Washington-Dulles, Detroit, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Chicago O’Hare, Norfolk, Va., Phoenix, and Tampa, Fla. Service to New York-LaGuardia will increase with two daily flights for a total of 10 daily.

Also in November, other destinations will see an increase in their weekly frequencies. In the Caribbean – Antigua, Bermuda, La Romana and Santiago, St. Croix, St. Maarten and St. Lucia will all see an increase in service; as will Belize City, Liberia-Guanacaste, and San Salvador in Central America; and Belo Horizonte, Montevideo and Rio de Janeiro in South America; and Marsh Harbour in the Bahamas. In the U.S., flights to Orlando will increase and seasonal service to Eagle-Vail, Colo., will operate four times per week through April 5.

“This is excellent news for MIA and is a testament to the strong working relationship between the airline and the airport,” said Jose Abreu, Miami-Dade County Aviation Director.