Wilmington International Airport has finally landed a nonstop route to Miami – a coveted destination airport officials had been eyeing for years. 

Thursday morning, American Airlines announced it would add the new nonstop route beginning Nov. 11. 

American Airlines is ILM’s largest carrier, and Miami marks its eighth nonstop destination. It also offers nonstop routes to Philadelphia; LaGuardia Airport in New York; Boston; Washington, D.C.; Chicago; Charlotte; and Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport in Texas. 

The legacy carrier’s decision to add a new unserved route to ILM’s rolls comes as the airport has experienced a wave of new services and carriers. Last summer, ILM saw its first low-cost carrier, Avelo Airlines, enter the market. A second low-cost carrier, Sun Country Airlines, kicked off flights out of ILM in June. Each of the new carriers added new unserved routes to ILM’s offerings, predominantly targeting leisure travelers. 

Prior to the entrance of Avelo and Sun Country, ILM served a predominantly business market through its legacy carriers, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines. Airport director Jeff Bourk said in a release that the new American flight to Miami will cater to business travelers and vacationers.

“We’re excited that American Airlines, ILM’s largest carrier, is adding a new nonstop to a top unserved city. Business travelers and vacationers can now conveniently fly nonstop to Miami as well as easily connect to numerous destinations in Latin America and the Caribbean,” he said. “It’s tremendous to see the growth in seat capacity and addition of flights at ILM.”

The ILM-Miami International Airport nonstop will depart ILM at 6:20 a.m. and arrive at 7:50 a.m. on Saturdays. On return flights, the dual-class Embraer E175 aircraft will depart Miami at 7:30 p.m. and arrive in Wilmington at 9 p.m. Flights go on sale July 16. 

“With more nonstop destinations than any other airline from ILM, American is delighted to offer local residents the most convenient access to all that Miami has to offer and one-stop access to the largest network of destinations in Latin America and the Caribbean,” American Airlines director of short-haul network planning, Philippe Puech, said in the release.