S. Florida flights to Haiti resume

MIAMI (WSVN) -- American Airlines is resuming commercial flights to Haiti Friday morning.

For weeks, only private flights were allowed to fly into Haiti. Now, the airline will provide three daily nonstop flights from South Florida to Haiti-- two from Miami International Airport and another from Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport.

This will be the first time commercial flights touch down in Haiti since the Jan. 12 earthquake. The first flight headed out of MIA at 7:15 a.m. "I've been trying to get out. I've been trying so many times, and I was desperate to go to see my family over there, my friend," said Eddie Bolche.

Martha Pantin of American Airlines said all flights to Haiti have been booked. "The flight is totally booked. The flight is totally booked for many days to come," she said.

Another passenger is happy she doesn't have to fly to neighboring island Dominican Republic to get to Haiti. "It makes it way easier because the trip to the DR, while everybody was gracious at the border, it was very difficult and long," said Amber Gray.

All commercial flights were halted immediately after the 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit the nation. "They're saying they need more and more mental health professionals. If people can get in now, that's going to be much better for the Haitian people," said Gray.

Haiti's airport was badly damaged by the quake and one day after, American Airlines said they were on the ground making repairs to their portion of the airport. "They've been working around the clock, including using some of our baggage handlers in Port-au-Prince that were taught basic construction skills, so that we could get the terminal up and running," said Pantin.

For passengers, this means more relief and support is on its way to Haiti. Family and friends, who have been separated for weeks can now reunite. "That's a blessing this morning because I'm so happy to fly over there today," said Bolche.

(Copyright 2010 by Sunbeam Television Corp. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)