HALIFAX — American Airlines has brought back its popular Halifax-Philadelphia nonstop service, giving Maritimers direct access to Philly and several connecting cities.

The carrier last serviced Halifax in early 2017 and says it is “confident” in this strategic return. It announced 18 additional routes in late 2018, with Halifax being added as a destination from Philadelphia and New York LaGuardia (launching later this week).

“In addition to the direct links the new flights provide to two of the U.S.’s biggest cities, travellers can also enjoy easy connections to hundreds of destinations throughout North America, Europe, Latin, America and the Caribbean from American’s hubs in Philadelphia and New York,” said Jose Maria Giraldo, Director Mexico & Canada, American Airlines. “Canada also is filled with important businesses and exciting leisure destinations, and American is so pleased to return to Halifax.”

The once-daily flight to Philadelphia departs YHZ at 2:38 p.m. and arrive at PHL at 3:45 p.m. Return, it departs PHL at 10:40 a.m. and arrive at YHZ at 1:58 p.m. The route uses an Embraer 175 aircraft featuring a 12-seat First Class cabin and a 64-seat main cabin. Plus, passengers flying to Philadelphia can utilize Halifax Stanfield’s U.S. Preclearance Facility, which enables passengers flying to the U.S. to clear customs and Border Protection in Halifax before departing.

“Utilizing nonstop routes and pre-clearing U.S. customs is one of the many benefits of flying from Halifax Stanfield,” said Joyce Carter, President & CEO, Halifax International Airport Authority (HIAA). “We encourage the community to leverage this unique advantage to pre-clear customs at Halifax Stanfield so they can continue their journey quickly and easily upon arrival at their U.S. destinations, including Philadelphia.”