Officials from Miami International Airport, the British Virgin Islands Tourist Board, and American Airlines hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Thursday, June 1, to celebrate the launch of American’s daily nonstop Miami-Tortola route. 

With the departure of American Airlines flight 3989, MIA became the only U.S. airport to offer nonstop service to the British Virgin Islands for the first time in four decades. The three-hour flight, which eliminates the need for connecting flights, will operate through the summer and then resume in November. 

Tortola also became the 43rd nonstop Caribbean route at MIA, the leading U.S. airport for flights to Latin America and the Caribbean. MIA enters the busy summer travel season with year-to-date passenger traffic up nearly three percent over its record-breaking year in 2022 when the airport served 50.7 million travelers.