Myrtle Beach has picked up more flights to LaGuardia Airport in New York.

Delta Air Lines said Friday that it would begin the weekly nonstop service this weekend on Delta Connection carriers GoJet Airlines and Shuttle America with regional jets.

The flights between Myrtle Beach International Airport and LaGuardia will run on Saturdays and Sundays, making it easier for locals to travel to New York City and tourists in one of the area’s biggest markets to make it to the Grand Strand.

The flights are new for Delta, but not Myrtle Beach, which already has service to LaGuardia through Spirit Airlines.

“That’s our strongest market by far,” said Bob Woods, assistant director at Myrtle Beach International Airport. “The LaGuardia flights are always full, no matter how many there are.”

The Delta flights, which will operate year-round, will leave LaGuardia for Myrtle Beach at 10 a.m. and 2:15 p.m., and leave Myrtle Beach at 1:50 p.m. and 4:45 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.

“Residents of South Carolina will now have convenient service to New York, and they can make connections to other Northern cities as well,” Gail Grimmett, Delta’s senior vice president-New York, said in a news release. “We also expect many New Yorkers to spend their vacations at a popular leisure destination such as Myrtle Beach.”

There’s plenty of demand from tourists in the New York area who want to fly to Myrtle Beach, with New York ranking as one of the beach’s top visitor markets, said Nora Battle, spokeswoman for the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce. There’s also demand from New York residents visiting family that have moved to the Grand Strand, Woods said.

“The addition of air service to the Myrtle Beach area is always a positive thing and a key component of growing tourism along the Grand Strand,” Battle said in an email. “As New York is one of our largest markets, it’s good news to travelers wanting direct air service into the Myrtle Beach area and helpful as we enter the busy summer months.”

Myrtle Beach is one of several destinations Delta is adding to its LaGuardia lineup this summer as part of its new hub there. Delta, which is spending about $160 million to update two terminals at LaGuardia, plans to add 100 new daily flights and 26 destinations by the end of summer. With those additions, Delta will have more than 260 flights between LaGuardia and more than 60 cities.

Contact DAWN BRYANT at 626-0296 or at dbryant@thesunnews.com or follow her at Twitter.com/TSN_dawnbryant.