American Airlines, the world’s largest airline, is planning another big expansion to the Caribbean, will launch two new Caribbean destinations – Dominica and Anguilla from Miami International Airport this Winter.
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Starting on December 8, direct flights to Dominica’s Douglas-Charles Airport and Anguilla’s Clayton J. Lloyd International Airport will be available twice a week, on Wednesdays and Sundays. With these additional flights, American will be able to serve 35 Caribbean cities.
Embraer E175 aircraft for Caribbean
American Airlines will fly both flights with AA3579 Embraer E175 aircraft. There are 76 seats on these flights, with 12 first-class seats, 20 extended legroom economy seats, and 44 economy seats. There are no middle seats in the 1-2 arrangement in first class and the 2-2 layout in the economy.
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Two weekly flight connecting Miami and Dominica
American Airlines will begin two weekly flights between Miami and Dominica on December 8, 2021. On Wednesdays and Saturdays, the 1,415-mile trip will depart Miami at 11:00 a.m. and arrive in Dominica at 3:21 p.m. The same aircraft from Dominica to Miami will leave Dominica at 4:24 p.m. and arrive in Miami at 6:55 p.m.
Two flights in a week from Anguilla
On the same day, the airline will begin two weekly flights between Miami and Anguilla. On Wednesdays and Saturdays, the 1,221-mile trip will depart Miami at 10:50 a.m. and arrive in Anguilla at 2:49 p.m. The flight will leave Anguilla at 3:40 p.m. and arrive in Miami at 5:53 p.m.
Juan Carlos Liscano, Miami Vice President of Operations, remarked in an American Airlines release announcing the airline’s new flights from Miami: “We’ve carefully expanded our route network to give consumers more options for new destinations, allowing us to satisfy better demand for travel to Miami, the Caribbean, and Latin America. We are happy to continue to enhance our footprint at our Miami hub as American’s largest international gateway, achieving pre-pandemic flight levels this year.”
The additional flights are part of American Airlines’ ambitious expansion plan to solidify its foothold in Miami further. It faces increasing competition from low-cost rivals such as Spirit and Southwest, which are also trying to connect to Caribbean locations.
In recent months, American Airlines has considerably expanded its flight network from MIA following the pandemic. The carrier faces increased competition from new entries into the market like JetBlue, Southwest, and Spirit.
With plans to introduce additional service to several Caribbean destinations, American Airlines has great international ambitions in Austin, Texas. There will be new daily flights from Austin to San Juan, Puerto Rico, starting on October 7.
The company also announced new routes from Miami to San Andres Island, Colombia, and Chetumal, Mexico, which will begin in December. American will begin thrice-weekly service to Cancun, Mexico, on the same day.
Additionally, in November, Austin will begin offering additional non-stop flights to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, and Nassau, the Bahamas. Both routes will run four times per week, starting on November 2.
“We added extra flights from Austin earlier this year, and our consumers want more,” said Brian Znotins, American’s Vice President of Network Planning. “We’re excited to provide our consumers with even more ways to reconnect with family, friends, and coworkers. We’re making it easier than ever to link Austin to the rest of the globe, thanks to our partners.”
Despite a rise in passengers, MIA’s foreign travel is still down from last year’s levels. According to the Miami Herald, 1,090,347 individuals flew internationally through MIA in May, down 40% from the same month last year.
With these new routes, American will have more than 340 daily flights to more than 130 non-stop destinations from MIA by the end of the year, more than any other airline.
According to many media reports, American Airlines, along with a few other US airlines, are scrambling to acquire pilots and other airline personnel in order to satisfy the rise in travel demand fueled by stable vaccination rates as the US emerges from the pandemic.
