Air Travel in Puerto Rico

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Air Travel

There are many daily flights to Puerto Rico from the United States, and connections are particularly good from the East Coast, although there are a few nonstop flights from the Midwest as well. San Juan's international airport is a major regional hub, so many travelers headed elsewhere in the Caribbean make connections here. Because of the number of flights, fares to San Juan are among the most reasonably priced to the region.

Nonstop flights to San Juan from New York are 3¾ hours; from Miami, 2 1/2 hours; from Atlanta, 3 1/2 hours; from Boston, 4 hours; from Chicago, 4¾ hours; from Los Angeles, 8 hours; from the United Kingdom, 5 hours; from Germany, 9¾ hours.

Carriers

San Juan's busy Aeropuerto Internacional Luis Muñoz Marín is the Caribbean hub of American Airlines, which flies nonstop from Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Newark, New York-JFK, Orlando, Philadelphia, Tampa, and Washington, D.C.-Dulles. Continental Airlines flies nonstop from Houston and Newark. Delta flies nonstop from Atlanta, Orlando, and New York-JFK. JetBlue flies nonstop from New York-JFK. Spirit Air flies nonstop from Fort Lauderdale and Orlando. United flies nonstop from Chicago, New York-JFK, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C.-Dulles. US Airways flies nonstop from Baltimore, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C.-Dulles. International carriers serving San Juan include Air Canada from Toronto, Air France from Paris, Iberia from Madrid, and British Airways from London.

San Juan is no longer the only gateway to Puerto Rico. If you're headed to the western part of the island, you can fly directly into Aguadilla. Continental flies here from Newark, and JetBlue flies here from New York-JFK. If the southern coast is your goal, Continental flies to Ponce from Newark.

If you are flying on to Vieques or Culebra, you no longer have to transfer to Aeropuerto Fernando L. Rivas Dominici. Now all the carriers servicing the islands also have flights from the international airport, including Air Flamenco, Isla Nena Air Service, and Vieques Air Link; of course, these airlines do still fly daily from Isla Grande airport as well. American Eagle and Cape Air fly between the international airport and Vieques.

Puerto Rico is also a good spot from which to hop to other Caribbean islands. American Eagle serves many islands in the Caribbean; Cape Air connects San Juan to St. Thomas and St. Croix. Seaborne Airlines has seaplanes departing from San Juan Piers 6 and 7 to St. Thomas and St. Croix.

Regional Airlines

Air Flamenco (787/724-1818. www.airflamenco.net). Cape Air (800/525-0280. www.flycapeair.com). Isla Nena Air Service (787/741-6362 or 877/812-5144. www.islanena.8m.com). Seaborne Airlines (888/359-8687. www.seaborneairlines.com). Vieques Air Link (787/722-3736 or 888/901-9247. www.vieques-island.com/val).