American Airlines Will Be The First To Fly Into Port-au-Prince

American Airlines says it will resume regular scheduled service into Port-au-Prince, Haiti on Friday, the first carrier to do so. Commercial airliners stopped flying into the airport when a magnitude 7.0 earthquake hit the island nation January 12th.

The first flight will depart from American's hub at Miami International Airport at 6:40 a.m. EST, arriving at Port-au-Prince at 8:35 a.m. EST. "All of us at American Airlines and American Eagle have been eager to restore our normal operations into Haiti," said Peter Dolara, American's Senior Vice President – Mexico, the Caribbean and Latin America. "These flights serve as major milestones toward helping the country rebuild. With commercial air service restored, we can better connect loved ones and provide consistent transportation to and from Haiti."

American will offer three daily nonstop flights – two from Miami International Airport and one from Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport. In addition, American will offer one flight from New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport four times per week. American will operate flights into Port-au-Prince's Toussaint L'Ouverture International Airport with its Boeing 737 and 767 aircraft.

Starting March 12, American Eagle will begin new service into Haiti from its San Juan, Puerto Rico, hub. The airline will offer a daily nonstop flight as well as two flights through two cities in the Dominican Republic – Santo Domingo and Santiago. American Eagle will operate its ATR-72 aircraft on flights into Haiti.

"We have begun our journey to recover from the catastrophic earthquake, but with support from companies like American Airlines, we hope it won't be nearly as long," said Ralph Latortue, Consul General of Haiti in Florida for the Southern U.S. "We are very grateful to American Airlines and American Eagle for their continued commitment to Haiti. Not only are they the first passenger airlines to return to Haiti, they were the first commercial airlines to start bringing relief supplies to help our people."

FMI: www.aa.com