American Airlines adds new US city, brings commercial flights back to tiny Florida airport
American Airlines is bringing commercial service back to a tiny airport on Florida's Gulf Coast.
Over the weekend, American filed plans to launch nonstop service later this year from Naples, Florida.
The move would give travelers in Southwest Florida an alternative airport to the region's main hub, and mark the return of commercial service back to an airport that hasn't had flights on a major U.S. carrier in decades.
American's Naples flights, AAdvantage redemptions open for booking
American's new service from Naples Airport (APF) will launch on Dec. 2, the city announced on Tuesday.
The destination: Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT), American's second-busiest hub.
Bookings are live as we speak: If you log onto American's website right now, you'll see flights between Naples and CLT beginning on Dec. 2, including AAdvantage award redemptions starting at 8,500 miles one-way.
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Commercial service returns to Naples
The return of true air service to Naples wasn't entirely surprising.
Earlier this month, the city announced survey results that showed 8 in 10 residents favored bringing back commercial flights to the airport, and at the time had noted that American was hoping to launch two to three daily flights by December.
Naples Airport is situated just miles from the Florida Coast and minutes from popular Naples Beach.
Over the past decade, the terminal has catered exclusively to general aviation flyers, and before that it had hosted smaller regional carriers.
It's been nearly 20 years since Delta Air Lines' departure from APF marked the end of Naples flights on a big-name airline.
Now, the return of commercial service to the airport should offer an additional, closer-to-home travel option to travelers who live south of the region's largest city, Fort Myers — not to mention for vacationers or seasonal residents flying to the area.
And, I'd expect it'd be a classic small airport experience, where you park and fly through security to your gate in a matter of minutes.
"We've been asked for years about the potential return of airline service," Naples Airport Authority executive director Chris Rozansky said in a statement Tuesday. "Travel doesn't get more convenient for our residents and visitors than catching a flight out of Naples Airport."
Commercial service is expected to launch after Naples wraps up a complete renovation of its 45-year-old terminal that's been ongoing since 2022.
An alternative airport option in Southwest Florida
APF is located some 30 miles south of the far larger Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW). And it's just 17 miles from Marco Island — a much shorter drive than the nearly 50-mile ride to the island from RSW.
From the outset, it appears American's presence in Naples will be fairly limited, with just the two or three daily Charlotte flights, schedule data from aviation analytics firm Cirium shows.
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And the planes will be small: AA plans to fly the route with an American Eagle Bombardier CRJ-700 regional jet which seats 65 passengers.
However, because of American's hub-and-spoke setup, that short CRJ flight could connect you to any of the U.S. cities the airline serves from its major Charlotte hub, not to mention European destinations it flies to from CLT — like London, Paris, Rome and Athens.
Point of interest
Interestingly, this isn't American's first go-around in Naples. The carrier previously served APF 25 years ago, in 2001.
Meanwhile, AA certainly is no stranger to Southwest Florida. It already flies from Fort Myers to most of its hubs, including Charlotte.
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