<p>Two U.S.-based airlines are increasing flights to St. Lucia after Air Jamaica temporarily suspended flights to the Caribbean island, a tourism official said Tuesday.</p><p>US Airways Group Inc., based in Arlington, Virginia, has already increased its flights from two to three times a week, while Atlanta, Georgia-based Delta Air Lines Inc. will move from two to five flights a week beginning April 1, tourism director Hilary Modeste said.</p><p>Air Jamaica last week suspended flights to the three eastern Caribbean countries of Barbados, Grenada and St. Lucia for a month in an effort to comply with local safety regulations.</p><p>The decision came a month after Air Jamaica pulled half its 20 planes out of service and canceled several U.S. and Britain-bound flights after a U.S. Federal Aviation audit raised questions about the airline's maintenance schedule.</p><p>The FAA insisted Air Jamaica carry out major maintenance to planes every 15 months instead of every 18 months. The local aviation authority is now making the same requirement, Air Jamaica said.</p><p>Air Jamaica had 12 weekly flights to St. Lucia from the United States.</p><p>At present, AMR Corp.'s Fort Worth, Texas-based American Airlines flies to the island seven times a week, and talks are underway with Houston, Texas-based Continental Airlines Inc. to begin air service too, Modeste said.</p><p>Last year, 107,000 tourists came to St. Lucia from the United States and 29,000 were flown in by Air Jamaica, officials said.</p><p>The extra flights come before the 12th annual St. Lucia Jazz Festival, which will be held April 29-May 8 in spots all over the island.</p><p>The event is organized to boost tourism. Last year, 12,553 visitors, a third from the United States, came for the event.</p><p>The tourist board said the visitors spent nearly $18 million.</p><p>Modeste said the tourist board was looking for an alternative to Air Jamaica, which has been the major airline sponsor for the festival.</p><p>Offshore banking and tourism are major sources of foreign exchange for the former British colony of 162,000 residents, whose manufacturing sector is the most diverse in the eastern Caribbean.</p>
