Travel Between Miami and The BVI Just Got Easier

*_{American Airlines will fly into the Terrence B Lettsome Airport starting June 2023.}*

Traveling these days can be an adventure, but that doesn’t necessarily make it easy. Cancelled flights, missed connections, crowded airports and airplanes can make flying stressful. But on the upside, airline travel takes us to new places and familiar ones, we get to see friends and loved ones, and enjoy new sights and cultures. Here in the BVI, traveling to the US has also been a process, one that requires taking a commuter flight to San Juan, Puerto Rico, or a ferry to St. Thomas, both relatively easy, but not necessarily convenient.

So it was with delight that I learned that American Airlines is starting direct flights between the BVI and Miami starting June 2023. As a frequent traveler between the BVI and the US, it is great to have a new option for flying between The BVI and Miami.

The new seasonal flight, operated daily by Envoy with an Embraer E175 aircraft, starts June 1, 2023 and will run through the summer, restarting again in November.

“We are proud to operate as the leading airline in South Florida, offering our customers an unrivaled network in the Caribbean and Latin America with service from the Miami hub to more than 70 destinations in the region,” said Juan Carlos Liscano, American Airlines Vice President – Miami.

“This year demand has remained strong for Miami travel, and we’re looking forward to further growth in 2023 with a new and unique destination in the Caribbean that our customers love – the British Virgin Islands,” he continued.

Referring to a time when American Airlines operated American Eagle commuter flights between the BVI and San Juan, Minister of Communications and Works, Kye Rymer said, “We are very happy to welcome back American Airlines to the British Virgin Islands. This venture to have direct flights between Miami and the British Virgin Islands will make it significantly easier, faster and more affordable for persons from around the world to come to the British Virgin Islands, which is one of the must-visit tourist destinations in the world. Our residents will also benefit from convenient connections for business and leisure travel to dozens of destinations across American’s route network.”

As of this point American says it will operate one flight daily: departing Miami at 10:25 am and arriving at the BVI’s Terrence B. Lettsome Airport at 1:30pm; departing the BVI at 2:30 and arriving in Miami at 5:30pm.

Will direct flights make the BVI less exclusive? I don’t think so. The BVI will always be special, a place of unparalleled beauty and gracious people. It is never likely to be a hub for mass tourism. It does, though, give visitors and residents another option for getting to the BVI. That should be a good thing.