May 16, 2012

Terminal Upgrades: 7 New Airport Expansions  

Miami -- This summer, Miami International Airport will open a new federal inspection area at the North Terminal that is twice the size of the existing Concourse E facility. In early 2013, the airport hopes to have the entire multibillion dollar North Terminal project completed. “What remains to be opened are three passenger gates and five of the 10 baggage claim carousels in the international arrivals area,” said Greg Chin, communications director for the Miami-Dade County Aviation Department. A new AirportLink Metrorail extension that will speed connections to downtown Miami is also being built. Continue  

May/June 2012

First Class  

Luxury makes a smooth landing at Miami International Airport.

The days of no-name shops and perfunctory drugstores at Miami International Airport are over. Well, they’re still there, but the country’s fastest growing airport has gone rather luxe. Travelers can now shop dutyfree at new shops from Coach, Montblanc, Thomas Pink and Emporio Armani while they traverse down the North Terminal. There’s even a Beaudevin Wine Bar where patrons can sample gourmet appetizers and entrées paired with suggested vintages or even try a wine flight before takeoff.

Some of the aforementioned concessions are the first outlets of their kind to be introduced at airports. And there’s more to come with plans for a Tumi shop and a Desigual store (a Spain-based retailer) in the works. Additionally, Club America J in the South Terminal has been updated to offer passengers flying on all airlines access to a full complimentary bar, business center, flat-screen televisions and shower facilities with towel warmers. Continue  

May 2, 2012

THANKS AGAIN and the MIA Shops & Restaurants Launch Automated Loyalty Program for Shopping and Dining Customers in MIA  

  MIA Shops

  THANKS AGAIN, LLC

In the News:

 MIA travelers can now earn airline miles shopping, dining at airport (Sun Sentinel)
 

THANKS AGAIN, LLC has partnered with MIA Concessions to enable Miami International Airport passengers and employees to automatically earn extra airline miles when they shop or dine throughout the 12th largest airport in North America. Passengers securely and conveniently enroll in the program for free at http://www.thanksagain.com/MIA and can earn 1 mile for every dollar spent while shopping and dining at participating merchants. This includes an opportunity to earn up to 25,000 bonus miles every 90 days based on cumulative registered card purchases at over 170 airports and 25,000 local businesses in the U.S. and Canada.

"We have been looking for an automated travel reward loyalty program for some time and are very excited to acknowledge Miami passengers by rewarding them with their favorite airline miles," explains Adrian Songer, Chief of Airport Concessions Business Development, Miami -Dade Aviation Department. Continue  

May 1, 2012

New Metrorail Service to MIA  

If you're anything like Avi Tryson, you don't like what it costs to leave your car parked at the airport. "It'll be an extra 75 to 100 bucks for me to travel," Tryson said. By the end of the summer, however, everything is scheduled to change.  "This is going to give people choices," said Albert Hernandez with Miami Dade Transit.
Hernandez gave Local 10's Sasha Andrade an exclusive look at the Miami Intermodal Station.  "This is the end of the terminal station for a 2 1/2 mile stretch of our Metrorail system," he said.

Once construction is completed this summer, you will be able to take the existing Metrorail from Dadeland, through downtown, and all the way to the Miami International airport.  "We'll have two lines now," Hernandez said. "The green line which provides service to the Palmetto, and the orange line which will provide service to the airport."

Frequent flyer Joe Cuzan doesn't usually take mass transit, but he's sold on spending a couple of dollars to get to MIA and a couple of dollars to leave.  "If it's practical and it works, I'll use it," he said. In fact, county officials believe the link to the airport will jumpstart ridership by about 7,000 or 8,000 people per day. They say the new stretch of rail launches our 30-year-old system into the future. Continue  

April 30, 2012

MIA Launches New WiFi Service for Passengers  

Travelers at Miami International Airport can now visit select travel-related websites at no charge while in the airport through a new WiFi program provided by the Miami-Dade Aviation Department (MDAD). Access to websites for airlines, hotels, rental car companies, the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau, MIA and Miami-Dade County are now complimentary through MIA’s WiFi network portal. The new service offers greater online access to MIA passengers who need to make adjustments to their travel arrangements or need information regarding local tourist attractions.

“While it remains cost-prohibitive for airports with MIA’s size and passenger volume to provide unrestricted WiFi service, offering travelers complimentary access to select websites that can improve their travel experience is an additional customer service enhancement for our 38 million guests who travel through MIA each year,” said MDAD Deputy Director Miguel Southwell.

Continue  

April 27, 2012

Miami Airport Traffic Soars; More Int’l Flights than JFK

In the News:

 Miami Passes New York's JFK in International Flights (The Miami Herald)

 Miami International soars to record flying Latin America trips (Miami Today)

Credit international travelers: Miami International Airport hosted more than 10.2 million passengers for the first quarter this year, up 9.5 percent from last year to set a new record for the period.

Through March, international passenger traffic jumped 11 percent and domestic passengers 8.1 percent over last year.  Indeed, Miami ranked as the U.S. airport with the most international flights for the quarter, overtaking New York’s JFK airport, officials said. Continue  

April 19, 2012

New Miami International Arrival Hub Can Clear 3,600 Passengers an Hour  

Flying into Miami should get easier for international travelers when Miami International Airport opens a new Federal Inspection Services facility this summer. The three-level, 400,000-square-foot area is scheduled to partially open in July, with all 72 passport control lanes operating to process international arrivals. "Once fully complete, the new FIS area will be able to process 3,600 international passengers per hour upon their arrival to the US," said Miami International spokesman Greg Chin.

The new area features 10 baggage claim carrousels, five of which will open in July on the second level. The ground level features a new greeter's lobby. The new Federal Inspection Services area is twice the size of the airport's current federal inspection area in Concourse E, which currently serves American Airlines' international flights. The new federal inspection area is one of the last parts of the airport's multibillion-dollar North Terminal construction project to be completed. The only things remaining to be done on the terminal project is the completion of the federal inspection area and three gates nearest to the old baggage handling system, Mr. Chin said. Continue  

April 2012

America's Best Airports  

Best: No. 10 - Miami International (MIA)

If you’re landing here to party at South Beach, you won’t have to travel too far; the airport is ranked sixth for location. And after those late nights, you can recover with a treatment at one of the airport’s No. 3-rated spas before heading home. You’d be smart to carry on any designer duds; the airport ranked 13th for baggage handling and for the check-in and security process. Readers also faulted the airport for lack of kids’ zones, but that may be beside the point for the Miami crowd. Continue  

April 16, 2012

Metrorail About to Link Airport to Downtown and Suburbs  

 AirportLink (Miami Dade Transit)
 AirportLink Fact Sheet  (Hoja de Datos del AirportLink)

AirportLink to be tested this spring, open for the public in the summer

Miami’s first mass-transit rail directly linking Miami International Airport to downtown and the county’s outlying suburbs is about to start operating. With construction almost complete, the “AirportLink” Metrorail extension is scheduled for testing this spring and to start serving the public sometime this summer, said Miami- Dade Transit spokeswoman Karla Damian.

The 2.4-mile elevated heavy rail extension will run from the new Miami Intermodal Center next to the airport to Metrorail’s Earlington Heights station. The new link means passengers will be able to travel to and from the airport and Metrorail’s 22 other stations that link Miami’s urban core and central business districts to surrounding communities such as Hialeah and Medley to the northwest and Coconut Grove, Coral Gables, South Miami and Kendall to the southwest.

At the Intermodal Center, AirportLink will enable riders to connect to other train systems such as Amtrak intercity service, the South Florida commuter Tri-Rail and an “Automated People Mover” light rail to the airport’s terminals. AirportLink riders also will have access there to Greyhound and county buses, taxis and rental cars. A specific start date for the AirportLink line still needs to be set, Ms. Damian said. “We’re looking at how the testing goes, and we’re integrating new equipment to our existing equipment, so we need to be testing that, too,” she said. Continue  

April 15, 2012

MIA’s New Shops Lure Crowds with Luxury and Local Flavor  

 Shop MIA

“They love to spend, and they love that our prices are much lower than Brazil,’’ Serrano said on a recent evening at the luxury airport concession, which opened last year, flanked by Coach and Thomas Pink shops on one side and Mont Blanc on the other. A few minutes later, Serrano was tapping an iPhone app in a bid to translate a message into Mandarin for a perplexed Chinese customer: His Miami-Los Angeles flight was a domestic one, making him ineligible to buy in the duty-free store. He nodded in understanding and moved on. “He wanted to buy, but today he can’t,’’ she explained.

Concessions at the North Terminal are booming, buoyed in part by strong growth in international travelers drawn to its expanded selection of trendy, new shops. The wider selection of high-end stores puts Miami among the front-runners in a global trend of vastly expanding retail and food offerings at airports.

If Miami is the favorite shopping haven for Latin Americans, the North Terminal is emerging as a glittering last-chance mall on their way out of town. “The concessions have really been exceeding everyone’s expectations in terms of sales,’’ said Miguel Southwell, deputy director for business with the Miami-Dade Aviation Department, which runs the county-owned airport. Continue  

April 12, 2012

Airport Art Worth Checking Out As You Rush to Your Gate at MIA  

Outside of the times Miami is hosting the buzzy Art Basel fair each December, we don't usually think of the city as particularly artsy. And we certainly don't have art galleries on our mind when we're rushing through the hordes at Miami International Airport to reach our gate.

On a recent spin from Terminal E to Terminal D, however, we were stopped in our tracks--by art. As you can see, it wasn't the predictable kind either--no vintage black-and-white aviation photos or homespun pieces done by local kids (not that there's anything wrong with either of those...). No, this was a series of paintings that placed dogs in the context of familiar and famous artworks.

The exhibition is called The Masterpieces and the genius behind it is Miami artist Kristen Thiele. You can read more about Thiele's inspiration for the work here. But if you're passing through MIA, you really should check it out for yourself. Continue  

April 9, 2012

Miami Tourism Booming In Tough Times  

If you look at the latest tourism numbers you may find yourself saying “what recession?” Miami is defying the odds of the economy, going through what appears to be a tourism renaissance setting records. “Record expenditures, record number of visitors, record satisfaction levels,” said Bill Talbert of Miami’s Greater Convention and Visitor Bureau.

Records is all Talbert talks about these days. The numbers don’t lie; for 20 months tourist taxes have been rising, and it’s not chump change. Tourist taxes are up 16% for February over last year. It also appears to be speeding up. Miami International traffic for February was up nearly 10%. “We are very bullish on the future; very bullish,” Talbert told CBS4. “Travel and tourism is going to keep increasing.” So what changed? The weather? The sand? CSI Miami viewership? Talbert believes it’s simply Miami’s brand. “The world can’t get enough of Miami…right now,” Talbert said.

How hot is Miami? New York’s Kennedy Airport is the busiest airport in the nation for international flights. Predictions are Miami will surpass it this year though. It means the future looks bright if the trend continues. So you are probably wondering where is everyone coming from? According to the Department of Transportation our number one visitor comes from New York. That’s followed by Atlanta, Brazil, Chicago and Dallas. Continue  

April 5, 2012

American Begins Miami-Barcelona Flights  

American Airlines' first flight from Barcelona arrived in Miami on Wednesday, signaling the start of new service to Spain. American's new Barcelona-Miami route initially will be four roundtrips a week before expanding to daily roundtrips in June, said American spokeswoman Martha Pantin. Already, America Airlines operates roundtrips between Miami and Madrid, "so service [to Spain] is actually increasing," Ms. Pantin said.

When the American Airlines flights to Barcelona increase to seven days a week in June, Miami International Airport will offer a total of 24 flights a week between Miami and Spain, said Miami International spokesman Greg Chin. In addition to the new Barcelona service, America operates a daily roundtrip to Madrid. Continue  

April 2, 2012

TAM Boosts Miami Capacity as GOL Prepares Inaugural  

Brazil’s dominant international carrier TAM Airlines is up-gauging its double daily Airbus A330 service between Sao Paulo and Miami to a Boeing 777-300ER as domestic rival GOL Linhas Aereas Inteligentes prepares to add the same route to its network.

The aircraft change, which will occur in the second quarter, when TAM adds more 362-seat 777s to its fleet, increases the carrier’s daily capacity by 278 seats for a total gain of 1,946 seats each week. GOL, meanwhile, plans to operate its newer 737s on its five-weekly service, offering about 900 or so seats a week, depending on which variant it uses.

GOL is expected to launch the route late in the second quarter. Continue