Miami International Airport To Seek Nonstop Flights To Asia

The Miami-Dade County Board of Commissioners is pushing county officials to explore securing passenger flights to Miami International Airport (MIA) to destinations in Asia.

 

Miami-Dade County owns and operates MIA, which currently has no nonstop passenger flights to any city in Asia. The board’s airport committee issued a resolution Oct. 16 calling for Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava “to undertake all appropriate efforts” to land passenger service to MIA from Singapore and Tokyo. The resolution said, “passenger flights to Tokyo and Singapore would provide direct connections between Miami and Asia for tourism and business travelers.”

 

Airlines operated 170 routes from MIA as of July, including service to 100 international airports, according to MIA. Miami has flights to 18 airports in South America, 10 in Central America, seven in Mexico, 46 in the Caribbean, three in Canada, 12 in Europe (including two each in London and Paris) and four in the Middle East and Africa.

 

The board also wants the airport to be connected nonstop to Asuncion, Paraguay, and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

 

“Although MIA currently has direct service [to] Dubai and Doha, it lacks direct passenger service to Riyadh, which, along with the Middle East generally, is rapidly transforming into a leading global economic hub,” the board’s resolution stated.

 

“Although MIA is world renowned as the gateway of the Americas, MIA lacks direct passenger service to Asuncion, the capital and largest city of Paraguay, which has been one of the fastest-growing economies in Latin America throughout the last decade,” the airport committee said.

 

The board said desired services from the four cities are needed to make “it easier for international firms to operate in Miami” and would provide “Miami businesses with easier access to cities that are financial centers of the world.”

 

The board said the mayor should “solicit such flights from the appropriate carriers.” Levine Cava or a designee from the mayor’s office will have to present a report to the board on a quarterly basis on the effort to secure air service to the four cities. The report “may also include information regarding other markets to which direct flights are being pursued,” the board said.