As Miami International Airport prepares to welcome more passengers, flights and growth in boosting its altitude as the US airport with the most airlines flying from it, it is actively negotiating to add multiple destinations in the Middle East.
“We have a division that’s dedicated to air service route development and marketing of the airport,” said Ralph Cutié, county aviation director and CEO of Miami International Airport. The team travels the world and is constantly looking for business.
“As a result of their hard work, we’re in the position we’re in,” Mr. Cutié said. “We’re still the airport in the US with the most airlines flying out of it.
We’re currently at 96 or 97. At our peak, back before the pandemic, we were a little bit over 100, 102…. This is something … [that is in] constant effort.
We’re constantly out there trying to drum up business and bring airlines, attracting airlines to fly through our airport, and very successfully, I might add.”
In 2023, said Mr. Cutié, six airlines began flying in MIA. Volaris began flying to and from El Salvador; Norse Atlantic Airways to London and Oslo; Aer Lingus seasonally in October flies directly to Dublin; SAS to Sweden, Copenhagen and Denmark; Finnair flies seasonally around November to Helsinki and Porter Airlines to Toronto.
This March, Condor began flying to Frankfurt; Eastern Air Express, which has charters in Cuba, began flying and LEVEL began providing direct service to Barcelona, said Mr. Cutié. In June, Avelo began flying to Punta Cana and Orlando. Viva Aerobus, in July, began servicing flights to Monterrey and Merida in Mexico.
The division dedicated to route development and marketing of the airport is looking to add more airlines this year and into 2025.
In February and March of this year, said Mr. Cutié, American Airlines launched three new first-ever routes at MIA: Governor’s Harbour in the Bahamas, Ocho Rios in Jamaica and Tulum, Mexico.
Additionally, as part of its winter schedule this year, American Airlines will be “adding a new daily flight to La Romana in the Dominican Republic, to Bonaire in the Leeward Antilles,” Mr. Cutié said. “They are going to increase that service – which is already in place – to daily service.”
Additionally, American Airlines will increase its Cancun service to six daily flights, its Ocho Rios route to daily, and its route to Tortola in the British Virgin Islands to five peak day flights.
“We also have Emir [Pineda, Aviation Department director of the marketing and air service development division] and staff in discussions with several other Middle Eastern carriers,” said Mr. Cutié, “and I can’t get into who they are, but he’s in this discussion with … three or four Middle Eastern carriers that we’re looking to attract to start flying here.”
MIA, said Mr. Cutié, currently has four destinations in the Middle East served through different airlines: Doha, Dubai, Istanbul and Tel Aviv. “We’re looking to add additional Middle Eastern destinations and … we’re actively working – we’ve been doing this for the last few years – on a direct flight to Asia, which will be between Tokyo and MIA.”
Mr. Cutié said he joined Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, county commission Chairman Oliver Gilbert III and others in a trade mission last November to Japan that included successful meetings with Japan Airlines executives and with the Consul General of Japan in Miami, Kazuhiro Nakai.
“We are very enthusiastic about establishing that direct route from MIA to Tokyo, which … will be our first direct route from MIA to Asia,” Mr. Cutié said. “That’s something that we’re really working hard to pursue, and hopefully in the next couple of years we can make that happen.”
The more routes added, the more opportunities are available to people in this community and to those abroad who want to fly into the US, said Mr. Cutié. It’s a win-win all around, he said.
MIA is growing and is on pace for a third straight record-breaking year in passenger volume. “We’re on pace to make 57 million or 58 million passengers this year after making 52.3 [million] last year. I think all of this helps the community in multiple ways. Number one, it helps the business community.”
The more tourists, the more revenue is locally generated, said Mr. Cutié. MIA is the county’s top economic engine, and having additional routes leads to more passengers, tourism traffic and business traffic, which all have an economic impact on the community.
“The fact that we’re able to impact the local community and … economy so positively,” said Mr. Cutié, “I think is really something we’re very proud of.”
