American ups the ante on the Caribbean

The Caribbean is already a market American Airlines all but owns. Now, it’s poised to become even stronger. While Miami International Airport (MIA) is launchpad for legions of flights to South and Central America and the Caribbean Basin, its American’s inland hub passengers that look to benefit most from this latest expansion, notably Chicago O’Hare (ORD), Charlotte (CLT) and to, a lesser degree, Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW). Here’s the lineup of new routes: Chicago O’Hare– Aruba (AUA) will be a seasonal winter route. It gets off the ground December 22, while Dallas/Fort Worth – Aruba will be a Saturday-only, year-round affair. This nonstop starts December 22. READ: Our ratings for American Airlines Also in line for Saturday-only service starting December 22 are three other nonstops out of Chicago O’Hare and one from Miami: ORD-Grand Cayman (GCM), ORD-Nassau (NAS), ORD-Turks and Caicos (PLS) and MIA-St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVD). American lays claim to being the first U.S. airline to serve SVD. American will fly full-sized jets on each of those routes, predominately Boeing 737-800s. Regional jets bearing the American Airlines logo will make Saturday-only, year-round roundtrips from Charlotte-Douglas International Airport. An Embraer E175 will fly from CLT to Marsh Harbor (MHH) in the Bahamas and a smaller CRJ-700 from Charlotte to Eleuthera (ELH), also a Bahamian port-of-call. These flights too begin December 22. READ: American to simplify fleet with $US12bn 787 order. Of course the reason December 22 is the start date for all these flights is that winter is “high season” in the Caribbean when leisure flyers from colder climes up North head South to sunshine. December is also (ostensibly anyway) the end of the high season for hurricanes. Last year storms wreaked unprecedented havoc in the Caribbean. A note if you’re planning to fly from Europe to the Caribbean: Beginning October 28 American cuts the number of London Heathrow (LHR)-Miami flights from two to one. WATCH: Spectacular cross-wind landings. Not to worry, however. At the same time, American’s oneworld and joint-venture partner British Airways adds a third-daily MIA-LHR nonstop, this with a venerable (and fast-vanishing) Boeing 747-400.