American Airlines this winter will add a number of new routes from its Miami hub, the first significant expansion since Covid. In fact, it’s been frustrating to see other AA hubs expanded and Miami’s connectivity with Europe cut back (this is still an issue – flights to destinations such as Milan have yet to be resumed and Paris is being served at a much less frequent level than it was before Covid first struck) as well as few domestic ads unless they were retaliation for other airlines additions.

New nonstops to/from Miami this winter include:

• Buffalo
• Cedar Rapids
• Governors Harbour
• Lexington
• Portland (OR)
• Sacramento
• Wichita
• Wilmington, NC

The nonstops to Wichita and Sacramento will be unique for any southeast Florida airport. Wilmington, Lexington and Buffalo are new nonstops for Miami but are served nonstop from Fort Lauderdale on other airlines. Cedar Rapids is a new destination entirely for southeast Florida but as we will get to in a minute, Allegiant will also fly to it from Fort Lauderdale this winter.

American is also adding new nonstops from Phoenix to Jacksonville in December.

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As mentioned above Allegiant is beginning new nonstops to/from Fort Lauderdale to/from Cedar Rapids. It was announced hours before American’s plans were revealed. Allegiant is also adding nonstops from Melbourne to/from Allentown, Sanford to/from Minot and Punta Gorda to/from Bangor.

Allegiant generally flies unique routes which is why a fifth new route to the state caught my eye- Fort Lauderdale to/from Nashville. This is a heavily traveled route which already has three other airlines flying nonstop. It’s not the type of route Allegiant generally jumps on though recently, the company has started to engage in more competitive markets. Still, this route is likely to be a heavy lift for Allegiant who has no connecting traffic to rely on and needs point-to-point traffic and vacation goers to succeed.

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Breeze Airways is adding NINE new nonstop destinations from Fort Myers this fall.

• Akron/Canton
• Columbus
• Louisville
• New Orleans
• Norfolk
• Pittsburgh
• Raleigh/Durham
• Richmond
• Syracuse

New nonstops from Vero Beach to/from Providence also begin in the fall.

It is worth noting Avelo had planned a similarly large Fort Myers operation before Ian and never initiated much of the service. Avelo and Breeze are natural competitors in the Ultra-low cost market.

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Meanwhile Delta will begin nonstops from Austin to Orlando, joining Southwest, Spirit and American on the route.

Silver Airlines is adding Fort Lauderdale-Gainesville and Tampa-Greensboro flights. But they also lost a major Amazon package contract so the future for the Fort Lauderdale-based carrier looks murky.

Norse Atlantic will shift Berlin nonstops to Miami from Fort Lauderdale this winter and add Paris-CDG from MIA. The shift officially leaves Fort Lauderdale with zero transatlantic service this winter- until El Al’s Fort Lauderdale-Tel Aviv route becomes year-round in late March, but FLL will have zero transatlantic service between October and February. Not a great look for an airport that has in the past boasted at various times the likes of British Airways, Emirates, Finnair and South African among its roster of carriers.

This having been said, Fort Lauderdale still has one of the longer lists of nonstop destinations from a US airport to/from South/Central America (excluding Mexico) and the Caribbean, trailing only Miami and New York-JFK with 42 unique nonstop destinations in the region.