By the Caribbean Journal staff

There’s another new way to get to the Dutch Caribbean island of Aruba.

American Airlines has officially begun operating a new nonstop service from New York’s Laguardia Airport to Aruba’s Queen Beatrix International Airport.

The Bucuti and Tara Beach Resort in Aruba.

The new weekly service is operating on Saturdays, part of a growing flight network to the popular Caribbean destination.

American Airlines is operating the service on Boeing 737 aircraft.

The flight departs each Saturday morning at 8:20 AM, with a flight time of just under five hours, according to American Airlines.

Boca Grandi, Aruba.

It’s yet another boost for an island that has seen more and more new routes in the last several years, from new Southwest Airlines flights from Fort Lauderdale to Aruba to a pair of weekly routes on American Airlines from both Chicago and Dallas.

The new flights come as Aruba has continued to evolve as a destination, deepening the visitor experience beyond what are already some of the region’s most beautiful beaches into new worlds of culture, music and gastronomy.

Screaming Eagle is Aruba’s destination eatery.

That includes the burgeoning cultural capital of San Nicolas on the island’s southeastern tip, an increasingly hip downtown in both Oranjestad and its outskirts and a culinary scene that includes several of the Caribbean’s destination restaurants, from the acclaimed Screaming Eagle to Chef Dennis van Daatselaar’s Wilhelmina.

That’s without mentioning the island’s rugged, fascinating eastern coast.

Heading to Aruba? Learn more about some of the hottest places to stay.

— CJ