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An inaugural ceremony is planned at the West Palm Beach airport at 12:40 p.m. on Jan. 8 ahead of the departure of the second of Silver’s daily departure to Tampa, which is scheduled to leave at 1:35 p.m.

Silver is operating the route, which officially started on Monday Jan. 7,  with its flagship Saab 340Bplus aircraft, which has a capacity for 34 passengers. 

Saab 340B plus aircraft, Saab Aircraft Leasing/COURTESY

The new  year-round daily flights will leave the West Palm Beach airport at 7 a.m. and 1:35 p.m., arriving in Tampa at 8:30 a.m. and 3:00 p.m., respectively, Palm Beach county tourism officials said in a statement.   

Passengers can continue on to Tallahassee from both flights.  The flights then take the same return route, leaving Tampa at 11:35 a.m. and 6:20 p.m., arriving back in PBIA at 12:30 p.m. and 7:20 p.m., respectively.

The carrier will offer Saturday-only service from Miami to Martinique Aime Cesare International Airport and to Guadeloupe’s Pointe-a-Pitre International Airport. 

 The new routes will operate with Boeing 737-800 aircraft, American said recently. 

American 737 aircraft, American Airlines/COURTESY

Separately, Fort Worth-Texas-based American also plans new service from Miami to Curitiba and Porto Alegre, Brazil starting in late 2013.

With the two new cities, American will serve nine destinations in Brazil.

View of parking garages at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, Courtesy of www.FLL.net

UPDATE: 4:50pm

South Florida airports reported fewer flight delays and cancellations Friday, as the big winter storm that began Wednesday moved away from the U.S. Midwest and Northeast.

Fort Lauderdale – Hollywood International Airport  said it expected the following flight delays and cancellations from 7 a.m. through midnight Friday: On arrivals, 41 delays and two cancellations (JFK and Detroit); and on departures: 31 delays and one cancellation (JFK.)

The delays are widespread with cities having one or two delays that include: Atlantic City, Austin, Baltimore, Boston
Buffalo, Chicago O’Hare, Dallas/Ft Worth, Denver, Detroit, Hartford, Huntington, Manchester, Montreal, Newark, New York JFK, New York LaGuardia, Philadelphia, Plattsburgh, Tallahassee, Toronto, Washington DCA and White Plains.

Travelers are advised to check with their airlines before heading out to the airports to get the most up-to-date flight status and information.

FRIDAY MID-DAY POST

Fort Lauderdale – Hollywood International Airport  said it expected the following flight delays and cancellations from 7 a.m. through 8 p.m. Friday: On arrivals, 10 delays and two cancellations (JFK and Detroit); and on departures: 11 delays and one cancellation (JFK.)

The delays are widespread with cities having one or two delays that include: Atlantic City, Boston, Chicago O’Hare, Denver, Detroit, Hartford, Huntington, Montreal, New York’s JFK, New York’s LaGuardia, Philadelphia, Toronto
Washington DCA, and White Plains, N.Y.

The totals for Thursday were: on arrivals, 103 delays and no cancellations; and on departures,  88 delays and one cancellation.

The totals for Wednesday were: On arrivals, 31 delays and no cancellations; and on departures,  28 delays and three cancellations.

Travelers are advised to check with their airlines before heading out to the airports to get the most up-to-date flight status and information.

 We will post more information as it becomes available.

The Mojito drink is a blend of Caribbean rum, natural lemon juice and other fruit juices with no preservatives, and the SangriiiaÖ has similar main ingredients plus acai, according to Spirit.

Gasolina ads promoting the beverages will be featured on the seat trays of Spirit’s Airbus fleet of A319s, A320s and A321s through May 2013, the airline said. 

The cocktails were available for sale in-flight in mid-December. 

Spirit is the top carrier at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport with 18.6 percent of passenger traffic this year through November, according to the latest airport data.

As of 4:22 p.m. Dec. 27, officials at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International were expecting a total of 191 flight delays and 1 cancellation through midnight due to bad weather in the northeast and midwest U.S.  

Miami International Airport:   As of 4:00 p.m. there were nine weather related delays and 10 cancellations at the Miami airport, spokesman Marc Henderson said.

**EARLIER REPORT BELOW**

Officials at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport are expecting about 43 flight delays through 8 p.m.  Thursday due to bad weather in the Northeast and Midwest United States, officials said.

As of  8:30 a.m. Dec. 27, here’s the breakdown of affected flights: 

Airport signage, Fll.net/Courtesy

Arrivals:  25 flight delays;  0-cancellations

Departures:  18 delays; 1 cancellation (Detroit)

“ The delays are widespread with the highest at JFK with 5 delays and Atlanta with 3 delays,” airport spokesman Allan Siegel said in a statement. “All the other cities have one or two delays.” 

Among the affected cities are: Atlanta, Atlantic City, Baltimore, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Columbus, Denver, Detroit, Indianapolis, Latrobe,  Manchester, Nashville, New York, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Plattsburgh, Providence, Raleigh/Durham, St. Louis, Tallahassee, Toronto and White Plains.

The Fort Lauderdale airport had 59 flight delays on Wednesday and 3 cancellations, officials said.

Shortly after 1 p.m. Thursday Palm Beach International Airport’s website was showing a handful of flight delays from  the West Palm Beach airport.  

At Miami International Airport, there were five weather related delays and 10 cancellations as of 11 a.m. Thursday, airport spokesman Marc Henderson said.

Airlines affected by the delays are American Eagle, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines. Those canceling flights are  American Airlines and American Eagle.

Henderson said the cities affected are Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, New York (JFK and LaGuardia),  Newark, Boston, Philadelphia, Hartford, Cleveland and Newark.

Travelers are advised to check with their airlines before heading out to the airports to get the most up-to-date flight status and information.

MIA's North Concourse D, Miami Dade Aviation Department/COURTESY

Hot spot Miami is a newcomer to the list at No. 5, with average nightly hotel rates of $157, meanwhile Orlando, takes the No. 1 spot and hotel rate of $73. 

Orlando remains a perpetual favorite for families because of its theme parks, Hotwire said. 

The top 10 destinations are as follows:

The top 10 list of New Year’s destinations and average prices were based on hotel bookings made on its website Dec.  4,  for travel between Dec. 30 and Jan. 2, according to Hotwire.

Well, holiday decorations will be hitting the high-seas as several cruise lines are transforming their ships into winter wonderlands to welcome guests sailing during the festive season.

Inflatable snowman, Norwegian Epic, Arlene Satchell/COURTESY

Among the lines decking the halls of their ships with holiday regalia are Celebrity Cruises, Carnival Cruise Lines and Norwegian Cruise Line.

These cruise lines have ships that sail to and from South Florida seaports – Port Everglades and PortMiami.

For a photo gallery of holiday decor on ships,  click here.

Courtesy of Trump Ocean Club Panama

Panama is upping its ante as a travel destination:  The developer of the Trump hotel and tower in Panama’s capital said South Africa’s Sun International will invest $105 million at the property to add a casino by mid-2014.

The new casino at the Trump Ocean Club will have its own lobby and feature 600 slot machines, 32 gaming tables, a restaurant and a lounge area. It also will have exclsuive areas for top clients.

The 70-story Trump Ocean Club includes residences, a hotel, restaurants, fitness center, five pools, retail and other amenities.

Sun International’s portfolio includes 27 resorts, luxury hotels and casinos in eight countries.  Trump Ocean Club will be its second operation in Latin America after the Monticello in Chile.For more information, visit www.TrumpOceanClub.com.

Leading sales efforts for the property is Miami-based Cervera Real Estate.

The route is pending government approval, but flights are expected to go on sale in January, JetBlue said.

JetBlue plane with blueberry tailfin, JetBlue Airways' Flickr/COURTESY

The flight will depart Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport at 4:45 p.m. to arrive in Medellin at 7:05 p.m. On the return trip, it’ll leave Medellin at 7:05 a.m. to arrive here at 11:30 a.m.   

In May, JetBlue launched nonstop service between Fort Lauderdale and Bogota.