FORT WORTH, Texas.- American Airlines will resume service into Port-au-Prince, Haiti, beginning Friday, Feb. 19. 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. This flight marks the first commercial passenger aircraft into Haiti since the earthquake that devastated the country on Jan. 12.

“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.”

American has proudly served Haiti since 1971 and employs more than 100 people in Port-au-Prince. Since Jan. 13, just one day after the earthquake, American Airlines and American Eagle will have flown 30 missions into Haiti, transporting relief workers, medical personnel, more than 400,000 pounds of humanitarian aid and evacuating more than 700 people. These special relief flights, which are not a part of normal passenger operations, have been coordinated in conjunction with relief organizations including the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Yele Haiti and Airline Ambassadors International.

In conjunction with the Haitian government and international construction firm Odebrecht, American immediately began the process of repairing its airport facilities. Odebrecht’s team, along with 30 American employees who became assistants to the construction team, worked around the clock in order to repair the airline’s Port-au-Prince terminal so that within six weeks American could resume commercial service.

Thanks to the efforts of American’s AAdvantage members, more than $1.4 million has been donated to the American Red Cross for Haiti relief since Jan. 14. American has been collaborating with the American Red Cross to provide aid to earthquake victims. AAdvantage members can earn a one-time award of 250 bonus AAdvantage miles for a minimum donation of $50 or 500 bonus miles for a donation of $100 or more to the American Red Cross through March 31. Donate now at www.AA.com/DisasterRelief.

For the fifth consecutive year the trade magazine Mercado’s readers select American Airlines as the most admired airline in 2009, with a positive evaluation of its diverse products and services for the Dominican market.

The evaluation included a survey of 700 people who gave American a score of 50.4 percent, with more than 31.8 percent ahead of the distant second, preserving its position in the airlines category.

“We feel very proud and appreciate the results of this important survey in Mercado Magazine. This acceptance by the Dominican public confirms our commitment of 35 years with the community to provide them the best travel experience,” said Oliver Bojos, American general manager for the Dominican Republic.

Mercado readers selected American due to its extensive routes system, with more than 3,400 daily flights around the world.

In 2009 American’s Frequent Traveler Program AAdvantage® benefited more than 85,000 local affiliates with new and diverse mile accumulation programs, as well as its customer assistance centers and its support of sports, social and artistic causes.

The largest ultra

Low cost carrier (ULCC) serving the Caribbean and Latin America

Is looking for service-minded people
who have what its take to go above and beyond!!

General Manager Airpot Services-SDQ

Santo domingo, Dominican Republic

For more details and to submit english CV online at
www.spiritair.com

Punta Cana.– JetBlue will begin offering daily nonstop flights, year round, between Punta Cana and New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, making golf vacations that much more convenient.

On May 8, the company will begin offering nonstop, Saturday flights between Punta Cana and Boston’s Logan International Airport.

To celebrate the new routes, JetBlue is offering these flights at $99 each way if booked by February 1 for travel between May 8 and June 12.

Into its 20th year flying to Santo Domingo, Martinair announced it would increase its flights to six a week. Martinair has transported half a million European tourists over the past 10 years, and more than 10 million kilograms of air cargo. Joris Wels, executive vice president of Martinair Holland announced that the airline is strengthened after Air France and KLM aviation group purchased the majority of Martinair shares.

Martinair says that in the next years it will be adding six new A330-300 to its fleet. Martinair recently celebrated its 20 years flying to the Dominican Republic from Amsterdam. Martinair has flights to Dominican airports with stopovers in Cuba and the Netherlands Antilles. Martinair offers connections through Schiphol Airport of Amsterdam, named the best airport in Europe in 2009.

“Spirit Airlines advances by providing its customers the additional convenience of accessing its extremely low fares through its affiliate travel ticket office in Santiago, said Rich Lowry, Spirit Director of Distribution and Sales Strategies. “Flyers now have the option of visiting our Spirit office in Santiago and purchasing our appreciated and recognized low fares.” ? ?

“After 5 years of collaboration with Spirit Airlines we cannot deny our continuous satisfaction in offering Ultra Low Cost airfares to our clients and their families. Now that Spirit also flies to Santiago daily, we’re pleased to learn that here also everyone will be free from overpriced airfares and now that it costs less to fly, there’s going to be more money left to party,” said Martha Diaz, General Manager of the agency Aviasol.

British Airways is launching a five-times-a-week service on 26 October with fares starting at £621 return. “The fact that, until now, we only had charter flights coming to the island contributed to the country’s mass-market reputation,” says Esther Smith of the Dominican Republic Tourist Board.

According to Smith, new scheduled flights mean that more upmarket operators “are adding us to their programs, along with some of the new five-star resorts and hotels.”

Thomas Cook Signature, BA Holidays and Hayes & Jarvis now offer trips to the Dominican Republic, featuring hotels such as the new Zoëtry Agua Punta Cana which opens on 1 November. Its “Endless Privileges” program boasts a complimentary daily bottle of champagne.

Santo Domingo.- Civil Aviation Board (JAC) president Luis Paulino Rodriguez announced Friday the conclusion of negotiations on four bilateral air services agreements, for the rights for traffic, capacity, route, frequencies, and shared codes among others, with its pars of the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Turkey and Iceland, whose results are contained in an equal number of memoranda of understanding (MOU).

He said the memos were signed after negotiations, held as part of the activities in the 2nd Aerial Negotiations Conference in Istanbul, Turkey, supported by the International Civil Aviation Organization (OACI).

Rodriguez, heading the Dominican delegation, called the accords transcendental, since it’s the first time the country reaches in a single international event four agreements with an equal number of countries, which had never conducted local commercial flight operations.

To celebrate, $79 fares are available today and tomorrow at www.spiritair.com.

“We are happy to continue offering seasonal service to one of the Caribbean’s premier leisure destinations,” said Spirit’s Senior Director Network Planning Mark Kopczak.  “We’re also looking forward to bringing Spirit’s ultra low fares to the residents of the Dominican Republic.”

This route will be operated by Spirit’s Airbus fleet, the youngest in the Americas.

Introductory Fares for Spirit’s Fort Lauderdale-Punta Cana seasonal service in the one-Way Applicable Dates:

Fort Lauderdale-Punta Cana (US$79)   5/12/09, 5/14/09, 5/16/09, 5/17/09, 5/23/09, 5/24/09, 5/26/09, 5/28/09, 5/30/09, 5/31/09

Punta Cana-Fort Lauderdale (US$79)  5/12/09, 5/14/09, 5/16/09, 5/17/09, 5/19/09, 5/21/09, 5/23/09, 5/28/09, 5/30/09, 5/31/09.

DominicanToday.com

Santo Domingo.– Flights to the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and Panama are on sale from Spirit. Fares start at $58 round-trip for travel in May and June.

Spirit’s deal ends on Saturday at 11:59 p.m. ET, so you must act fast to snag one of the $58 fares.

Travel is valid on select dates from May 11 through June 14.

Best sample round-trip fares, not including additional taxes and fees, are:

$58 from Ft. Lauderdale, FL to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic on Spirit

$58 from Ft. Lauderdale, FL to Ponce, Puerto Rico on Spirit

$58 from Ft. Lauderdale, FL to Panama City, Panama on Spirit

All prices, dates, and booking details listed here were valid at the time of publication. Some information may have changed since that time.

Seats are limited and may not be available on all flights and dates. Be flexible with your travel dates to find the lowest fares. Blackout dates and additional restrictions may apply.

Source: DominicanToday.com