FORT WORTH, Texas – American Eagle Airlines, the regional affiliate of American Airlines, will begin offering regional jet service on four daily round trips between Bangor International Airport and Boston’s Logan Airport on April 7.

American Eagle will continue offering eight daily round trips between Boston and Bangor, but is replacing the 34-seat Saab turboprop aircraft on four of the flights with 37-seat Embraer ERJ-135 aircraft, according to Tom Bacon, senior vice president of planning and marketing. While adding 12 seats a day to the schedule, the jets also will reduce travel time to Boston by about a half hour. The four remaining turboprop flights to Boston will continue to take about 90 minutes.

“These flights will improve service and connections for Maine travelers, and we are delighted that American is enhancing its Bangor to Boston service with regional jets,” said U.S. Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins in a joint statement. “We hope that these regional jet flights mark the beginning of a new trend that will expand comfortable, fast and reliable regional jet service to Maine’s commercial airports.”