American Airlines has launched new winter services to St. Thomas with the arrival of flights from Chicago and Dallas-Fort Worth Saturday.
Flights from Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport will service Cyril E. King International Airport on Saturdays through April 4. Flights from Dallas-Fort Worth will also begin Saturday and will operate year-round on Saturdays, according to a news release from the V.I. Department of Tourism.
Utilizing Airbus 319 planes with a 128-seat capacity, American Airlines Flight 1109 will depart Chicago at 9:20 a.m. and arrive on St. Thomas at 3:59 p.m. The return service, AA Flight 1109, will depart St. Thomas at 5 p.m. and land in Chicago at 8:34 p.m.
The Dallas-Fort Worth service, on Boeing 757s with 176 seats, will depart Dallas-Fort Worth on AA Flight 1237 at 8:55 a.m. and land on St. Thomas at 3:40 p.m. AA Flight 1251 will depart St. Thomas at 1:51 p.m. and arrive in Dallas-Fort Worth at 5:32 p.m.
“American Airlines is pleased to provide nonstop service to the beautiful island of St. Thomas from these important hubs,” said Alfredo Gonzalez, American’s managing director for the Caribbean. “We would like to thank the U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Tourism, the Virgin Islands Port Authority and other agencies for working seamlessly with us to make these flights possible.”
Tourism Commissioner Joseph Boschulte welcomed the news from American Airlines.
“We are delighted to inaugurate these flights which open up and enhance the very important Chicago and Texas markets,” Boschulte said. “We are very happy with the deepening of our partnership with American Airlines and look forward to working with their team to bolster airlift to our territory this winter and beyond.”
American is also adding a third daily flight between Miami and St. Thomas. The flight, which began last week, operates as a “same-day turn,” departing Miami International Airport at 8:35 a.m. and arriving at Cyril E. King International Airport at 12:14 p.m. The return service departs St. Thomas at 1:06 p.m. the same day it arrives, landing in Miami at 3:11 p.m.
American will also extend Charlotte-St. Croix flights during the holiday period and will serve the island with thrice weekly flights from Miami over the summer, the Tourism announcement said.
