The daily service will provide added capacity for shippers across the world transporting goods to and from SJU, including pharmaceuticals, cell phones, medical instruments and aircraft parts, American Airlines says. This widebody route also connects to American's widebody network in North America, Asia and Europe.

According to the Puerto Rico Report (2016), the Caribbean island accounted for 24 percent of all pharmaceutical and medicine exports from the U.S., positioning San Juan as one of the largest pharmaceutical manufacturing bases in the world, the airline says. Adding a daily widebody flight connects American’s recently enhanced cold chain infrastructure at SJU with its pharma facility at PHL, allowing for the direct movement of sensitive cold chain pharmaceutical shipments. The pharma facility in PHL has 24/7 active monitoring, full backup power generators and different temperature-control options — including a 6,000-square-foot room for Controlled Room Temperature (CRT) shipments, a 3,000-square-foot space that maintains a cold (COL) environment, a deep frozen area (FRO), and a zoned active container management (ACM) area with powered charging stations for up to 30 electronically controlled containers.

"Bringing in a daily widebody for this route will give us the opportunity to offer customers more capacity to and from both of these high-demand locations,” said Linda Dreffein, senior manager for American Airlines cargo sales.

Source: American Airlines Cargo