American Eagle will add 109 weekly flights from San Juan to eight Caribbean destinations on May 1. The flights will be in effect through Labor Day.

The increase in airlift is part of a Caribbean marketing effort by the Puerto Rico Tourism Co. (PRTC) to create new demand for Puerto Rico in specialized markets such as medical, shopping and entertainment-based tourism.

"This will result in an economic impact of more than $21 million for Puerto Rico," said Jaime Lopez Diaz, PRTC executive director.

American Eagle last year cut its schedule of flights from San Juan in half, citing higher fuel prices and a worsening economy.

The new schedule from San Juan calls for three daily flights to St. Maarten, up from one; seven daily flights to Tortola, St. Croix and St. Thomas, all of which had three daily flights; a daily flight to Guadeloupe, up from four a week; a daily flight to Martinique, up from three a week; a daily flight to Trinidad, up from four a week, and four weekly flights to Grenada, up from three.

With the additional flights, American Eagle will operate between 48 and 50 daily flights to and from San Juan.