American To Begin Nonstop Miami-Ocho Rios Flights in November

American Airlines will be launching nonstop flights from Miami to Ocho Rios, Jamaica. The new flight will bring customers to resorts throughout the island and will be the third destination in Jamaica that American will serve.

The Flight

The flight will be numbered 4007, a nod to “James Bond” creator Ian Fleming having lived in Ocho Rios. The route will begin on November 5, 2022, and will only be operated on Wednesdays and Fridays. While it will only operate 2 days a week, the airport is strategically located near several resorts and will arrive and depart on the days American believes most passengers will want to arrive or leave the island.

The flights operate with the following schedule:

• Depart Miami (MIA) 12:35 p.m. — Arrive Ocho Rios (OCJ) 1:32 p.m.
• Depart Ocho Rios (OCJ) 2:31 p.m. — Arriving Miami (MIA) 5:27 p.m.

The outgoing departure will allow customers to fly into Miami from nearly every airport that Miami serves as a connecting flight, and the return arrival in Miami allows customers to connect onwards on American’s evening bank of departures.

While the flight will only be on the ground for about an hour in Jamaica, there won’t be a need for any servicing or catering, and the flight crew will remain onboard without clearing customs. The flight will be operated by an Embraer 175 plane with both first class and Main Cabin seats.

Why Ocho Rios?

Ocho Rios is actually only located 34 miles from Kingston and 62 miles from Montego Bay, both of which are much larger cities. Even with the relatively short distance to these other major cities, Ocho Rios is located on the north end of the island and its airport is more convenient to the popular resorts in the area, such as Beaches Ocho Rios, Couples Sans Souci, Couples Tower Isle, Moon Palace Jamaica, and Sandals Ochi. If you cannot make the Wednesday and Friday departures, you can easily fly into or out of Kingston (KIN) or Montego Bay (MBJ).

The route will only be served 2 days a week, and American will likely not be transporting a large volume of passengers, so presumably, fares on this particular flight will be very high.

Other airports in Jamaica are served by American hubs in Austin (AUS), Charlotte (CLT), Chicago (ORD), Dallas (DFW), New York (JFK), and Philadelphia (PHL).

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Final Thoughts

While a relatively small airport, American is expanding its footprint in the Caribbean with new flights to Ocho Rios. The airport is well situated to serve leisure travelers wanting to explore the north part of the island and builds upon American’s dominance in the region.