American Airlines has embarked on a significant expansion in service to the Mexican Caribbean destination of Cancun.

The carrier launched new roundtrip service from four US cities to Cancun this weekend.

The flights include service from Raleigh-Durham International Airport, Kansas City International Airport, Nashville International Airport and Pittsburgh International Airport.

The service will be operating to each destination weekly on Saturdays.

American now operates nonstop routes to Cancun from 12 US locations, another boost to what is a booming Caribbean destination.

Indeed, last year, Cancun alone reported more than 5 million visitors. with an all-time-high hotel occupancy rate of 82 percent, according to the Cancun Convention and Visitors Bureau.

American Airlines has been expanding several of its Caribbean routes as it has faced increasingly stiff competition in the Caribbean from fast-growing JetBlue.

JetBlue’s push (along with new flights from Southwest) have come as American has seen its traffic in the wider Latin American and Caribbean region continue to decline, including a 3.3 percent reduction in revenue passenger miles in January.