TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums British Virgin Islands AA to start direct flights in June

They said Embraer 175.

Embraer E175

Now the roundtrip fare for ORD-MIA/MIA-EIS is $737 for Main Cabin on June 14 - 21 (Wednesday to Wednesday), with no stop at SJU on the return. For me, at that price it beats going through St. Thomas.

Embraer E-175

100%! Game changer.

Right now, AA showing mid-June 2023 0630 flights from BWI or DCA connecting to the MIA-EIS flights at $650-$700. Even cheaper out of Philly.....!
Not bad at all!
Looks like only one AA round trip ( MIA-EIS) currently scheduled per day, maybe they will add more if successful.

cwoody--they are currently showing flights every day, but I doubt they would have enough people to keep daily flights. My guess is that they may have 3 or 4 flights a week, max.

Carol, with the Beef Island runway length the Embraer 175 may only seat about 55-60 people. The flights will run until August 15, then pick up again in high season. Considering that one cat today often holds 10 people, filling a plane daily doesn't sound unrealistic. It's also a game changer for those going to Virgin Gorda, Anegada or any of the eastern islands.

The real future of BVI tourism is dependent on daily and flexible flights to the major US hub cities on the East Coast. The modern professional families need to be able to get in and out daily with great predictability. https://www.embraercommercialaviation.com/commercial-jets/e175/ Above 500 miles the 175 gets very expensive to operate. The MIA to SJU leg is far greater than 500 miles plus the cycle to get to EIS will always be expensive to operate. There is no way for for these flights to be planned moderate costs or regularly low cost. This will be a flight of convenience for those that need to be there.

"It's also a game changer for those going to Virgin Gorda, Anegada or any of the eastern islands."

I can now get to Anegada on the same day without an expensive inter island flight.

Ratmanswife--I don't know anything about plane loads, based on the length of the Beef Island airport runway. Full load appears to be around 72 pax? I can't imagine they could afford to run that plane unless it is almost full. There are a couple of pilots on here that would probably know for sure.

Looks like length of the runway is 4,645 feet. Will confer with the resident pilot.

Got as far as seat selection on the AA web site one of the flights in June.
Looks like seat configuration for these flights have 100 total seats,
88 in coach and 12 in 1st class.

OK, sorry, I can't do math!!

https://www.embraercommercialaviation.com/commercial-jets/e175/

According to their web site, configured dual class, the maximum is 76 seats. But that depends on runway length, wet runway and flight length (fuel). Maybe the strategy is to attract higher-end, less price-conscious visitors instead of budget travelers.

I'm seeing base fares west coast (SFO) to EIS and back with 1-stop each way in MIA starting at $676pp round trip (in June). The lay overs in MIA aren't too bad (~4 hours). I can't imagine the price will get much lower. The SFO-STT-SFO route fares are currently about the same as the new AA route. Add in the cost and hassle of the ferry to and from Tortola and this AA route is a no brainer. What am I missing?

Now that is a great deal..now if I can just find the shrimp/crawfish etouffe from Frenchtown's " French Quarter Bistro" back home on Tortola I'll be a happy boy

I have a trip planned in June. The flights to EIS would be the same cost as the STT with ferry option if not cheaper. I think I am going to stick with STT for the moment. The aircraft they are using is going to struggle with weight and I see passengers and baggage getting left at the gate. If the runway is wet they will almost certainly have to hop over to SJU for fuel. I will wait a bit to see how they actually do before booking. Attached is a letter I sent to Delta some time ago as they have a much more capable aircraft for this runway but it did not get any traction sadly. I should add that the current low rates are more than likely startup rates and will increase.

I know that network and marketing are sometimes not very receptive at Delta to outside input but I wondered what might be the best method to attempt to convince them to look into a specific route. The route in question would be ATL to EIS (British Virgin Islands). It is a route only Delta can serve because of the unique capabilities of the A220-100. The BVI tourists industry is booming. The market was once reasonably well served with American providing 250 to 370 seats a day via SJU. With the pullout of American Eagle from SJU the market became more restrictive and the fares increased. Options for travel are play roulette with a connection out of SJU or ferry from STT. Cape Air, Silver or Intercaribbean being the flight options at extremely high fares running from 1000 at the low end up to 2400 at the high end for coach with a very high cancelation rate or fly to STT and ferry. Both the ferry option and connection through SJU are proving so unpopular that travelers are paying inordinate amounts of money to book private air charters from SJU or private water taxi’s from ST Thomas. These charters can be thousands of dollars for a group of 4 to 10 people.
To provide additional background the BVI is not a destination for bargain hunters trying to fly to all inclusive resorts at low rates. The primary industry is Charter Boats. There are 800 plus charter boats based in the BVI with a 50% occupancy rate. Each boat probably averages 6 people onboard. These boats charter for 3000 to 50,000 a week with the average price probably in the 12,000 to 20,000 range. The secondary industry is Boutique resorts at high rates. In addition there are a large number of private boats owned by US citizens based in the BVI as well as Villas. These are very high net worth individuals who Delta might pull over to our FF program with this route. There are also a significant number of Europeans who travel the route and might choose to connect in ATL. The convenience of a direct flight from ATL to the British Virgin Islands would command a significant revenue premium over current very high travel costs to get there.
In addition to the above the BVI government has been actively seeking non stop service from the US. They are in talks with airlines to try and provide service non stop to South Florida. The problem again is the runway length in EIS at 4650 feet won’t support most aircraft on a non stop to the US. The BVI government spent 7 million dollars trying to help a startup airline fly the route with the Avro RJ85. The startup failed without any flights. Currently I understand they are willing to subsidize new service non stop from the US. I don’t however believe they are aware that Delta has an aircraft that can do it from ATL and I understand they have not approached us. This is they type of route the A220-100 is perfect for. Perhaps some of our A220 pilots can comment but I believe the aircraft can fly from 4650 feet on the 1500 mile flight to ATL based on performance charts and given the prevailing 10 to 20 knot tradewinds.
In summary I think this would be a great route for Delta with high yields and the potential to bring high income individuals over to Delta. ATL would offer a 1 stop connection into the British Virgin Islands for most US locations. In addition Delta could partner with the numerous charter companies in the BVI like the Moorings/Sunsail, Dream Yacht Charters, BVI yachts charters ect. on charter airfare packages. It might also be possible to get a startup subsidy from the BVI government. It could also easily be flown as a turn minimizing layover costs. Can this be forwarded to the appropriate individuals to at least take a look at?

Great info George. I hope Delta takes the time to consider your letter. The A220-100 sounds like a much more comfortable choice from a passenger perspective for a 3+ hour flight. Do you think AA will just limit the number of seats they sell to deal with the weight issue?

If Delta would run this route on the A220-100 it would be a dream come true.