Thinking of getting away? A new direct flight debuts at Miami airport

Have the storms and flooding the first few days of hurricane season got you thinking of heading out of town?

You may want to get over to MIA, pronto.

American Airlines debuts a nonstop flight to Rome on Thursday.

American Airlines’ first nonstop flight between Miami International Airport and Rome’s Fiumicino Airport is scheduled to depart MIA at 7:45 p.m. June 5. The roughly 10-hour trip will be aboard a Boeing 777-200 aircraft. The airline will run daily service.

The flight was originally planned to start in July, but increased demand pushed up the date.

Miami to Europe

Rome becomes the fifth city in Europe with direct flights with MIA on American Airlines. The others are Madrid, Barcelona, Paris and London. The flight to Charles de Gaulle Airport operates during the winter.

“We are strengthening our service to Europe,” Juan Carlos Liscano, the airline’s vice president of MIA operations, said in an email to the Miami Herald.

Only ITA Airways flies directly between MIA and Rome, according to Miami airport officials. Other airlines fly to Italy but with stops.

American Airlines and MIA

As MIA’s largest airline, American is betting on the airport’s continued growth.

“American Airlines continues to double down on Miami,” Liscano said.

The carrier, which says it has about 15,000 employees based at MIA, is flying its largest summer schedule ever out of Florida’s second busiest airport, and for the second straight year.

Between May 16 and Sept. 2, American will operate more than 37,200 flights from MIA, about 336 per day. That’s an increase of 3% in flights compared to the same period in 2024.

The number of flights is also expected to grow next year with American the official North American Supplier of the FIFA World Cup and with Miami is one of the host cities.

Other locales seeing more flight frequency from MIA on American this summer include:

▪ Chicago O’Hare: 8 flights daily, up from 7 daily

▪ Las Vegas: 4 flights daily, up from 3

▪ Montego Bay: 3 flights daily, up from 2

▪ Charleston: 3 flights daily, up from 2

▪ Los Angeles: 8 flights daily, up from 7

▪ New York La Guardia: 10 flights daily, up from 9

American is also adding new year-round service to Salt Lake City.

And if you’re looking to stay closer to home, American will start service from MIA to Sarasota-Bradenton in November.

This story was originally published June 5, 2025 at 12:43 PM.