A handful of flights are returning to Puerto Rico, two days after Hurricane Maria battered the island.
The largest airport there, Luis Muñoz MarÃn International, reopened to some commercial traffic on Friday. Aerostar Puerto Rico, which manages the airport, said it suffered only limited damage.
It will be able to handle only eight flights on Friday. The airport will handle 10 flights on Saturday and Sunday before expanding to about 20 a day at the start of next week. International flights will not resume until Monday.
American Airlines was the first U.S. airline to restore service. A flight from Miami to San Juan took off just before 7 a.m. ET, about an hour later than scheduled.
Besides passengers, American said it would fly much-needed supplies, including food, water, lanterns, cots, tarps, fans, batteries, boots and generators, to Puerto Rico for use by its employees and their families. Authorities in Puerto Rico say it could be months before power is restored.
JetBlue operated a relief flight with New York state officials, including Gov. Andrew Cuomo, and emergency personnel who will assist with recovery efforts. Included on the flight are 10 engineers, planners, technical supervisors and translators from the New York State Power Authority to assess how to get power restored. The flight is due to land early Friday afternoon.
Southwest and Delta say they will resume flights Saturday. United and JetBlue say they are evaluating the situation and don’t know when commercial flights will resume.
Flight service is even less certain to other parts of the Caribbean. American says operations remain suspended to Turks and Caicos, St. Croix, St. Maarten and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
