Major U.S. carriers and regional airlines have added new flights and frequencies to Caribbean to make visiting the region easier for summer travelers as the CTO Americas said. “The increase in flights by the major air carriers…
Major U.S. carriers and regional airlines have added new flights and frequencies to Caribbean to make visiting the region easier for summer travelers as the CTO Americas said. “The increase in flights by the major air carriers recognizes the growing demand by consumers for a Caribbean vacation in the summer months when families and savvy travelers head to our shores,” said Hugh Riley, director of marketing for the Americas of the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO).
New and recently launched services to the Caribbean and throughout the Caribbean include the following:
New Services
American Airlines will offer new service from New York’s JFK International to St. Kitts beginning Nov. 18, 2007. This will be the first from the NY region to St. Kitts.
Cayman Airways will operate three weekly flights between the Cayman Islands and New York’s JFK International starting June 24, 2007.
Delta Air Lines will launch service from Atlanta, GA to Tobago in December 2007.
Funjet will offer weekly Sunday charter service to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic from St. Louis, MO between May 20, 2007 and August 2007.
JetBlue will launch service to the Dominican Republic with two daily flights from New York (JFK International) to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and nonstop service between Orlando, FL and Ponce, Puerto Rico on May 24, 2007. On June 30, 2007, the carrier will launch nonstop service from Boston, MA to Aruba every Saturday. JetBlue offers new nonstop service between Boston, MA and Bermuda now through Oct. 31, 2007.
Recently Launched Services
Air Jamaica, on Jan. 10, 2007, launched daily service from JFK International (NY) to Barbados with continuing service to St. Lucia, Hewanorra International Airport and Grenada three days per week. This new schedule also offers daily direct service to Montego Bay, Jamaica via St. Lucia or Grenada. Air Jamaica also introduced Sunday flights between Montego Bay, Jamaica and Curacao on March, 11, 2007.
Air Montserrat began service in late 2006, running daily flights between Montserrat and Antigua.
American Eagle increased its service to Anguilla by adding two daily flights departing from San Juan, Puerto Rico on Dec. 14, 2006. On Feb. 1, 2007, the carrier started daily service from San Juan, Puerto Rico to Martinique.
Canjet, since Dec. 25, 2006, flies from Toronto to Montego Bay, Jamaica two times per week.
Continental Airlines, on Dec. 16, 2006, added a second weekly non-stop flight from New Jersey’s Newark Liberty International Airport to Bonaire.
Delta Air Lines, introduced a new non-stop weekly flight from New York’s JFK International to St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands on March 3, 2007. On Jan. 1, 2007, the carrier increased service from Atlanta, GA to Montego Bay, Jamaica for a total of two daily flights. On Dec. 16, 2006, Delta began offering non-stop service from Atlanta, GA to Martinique every Saturday. On Dec. 15, 2006, the airline added a daily non-stop flight from Atlanta, GA to Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic.
On Dec. 9, 2006, Delta Air Lines added a daily non-stop flight from Atlanta, GA to Santiago, Dominican Republic, introduced a daily non-stop and one-stop flight from New York (JFK International Airport) to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic (with the one-stop in Atlanta, GA), and launched new non-stop service from Atlanta, GA to Port of Spain, Trinidad.
Northwest Airlines added a new non-stop flight from Detroit Metropolitan Airport to Cyril E. King Airport in St. Thomas, United States Virgin Islands on Jan. 6, 2007.
Ryan International Airlines, on Jan. 2, 2007, increased service from St. Louis, MO to Montego Bay, Jamaica to three flights per week.
Sky Service launched one flight per week from Vancouver and one flight per week from Winnipeg to Montego Bay, Jamaica on Dec. 24, 2006.
Spirit Airlines launched new nonstop service from Fort Lauderdale, FL to Port-au-Prince, Haiti on Mar. 22, 2007. The flights initially ran three times weekly and increased to daily service on May 1, 2007.
Spirit Airlines also launched nonstop service five days a week (Monday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday) from Fort Lauderdale, FL to Aguadilla, Puerto Rico on April 12, 2007. Spirit Airlines now offers year round, direct flights to St. Maarten/St. Martin three times per week (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) from its Fort Lauderdale.
Spirit Airlines is providing seasonal non-stop service from Atlantic City, NJ to San Juan, Puerto Rico until Aug. 12, 2007. The carrier will also offer service from Tampa, FL to San Juan, Puerto Rico four days per week until June 13, 2007 and five days per week until Aug. 12, 2007.
As of Dec. 1, 2006, Spirit airlines increased its flights to Punta Cana from one to four routes per day.
Tradewind Aviation launched daily service between San Juan, Puerto Rico and St. Barts on Nov. 1, 2006.
Airline Mergers
Caribbean Airlines, as of Jan. 1, 2007, replaced BWIA West Indies Airways, which served the Caribbean for 66 years. This change marks a new era in Caribbean aviation. The first Caribbean Airlines flight took off on Jan. 1, 2007. Destinations served include New York, Miami, Florida, Toronto, London, Trinidad, Antigua, Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, St. Lucia, Suriname and St. Maarten.
Caribbean Star Airlines & LIAT have made progress towards a merger. As of Feb. 1, 2007 Caribbean Star and LIAT entered into a commercial agreement combining the flight operations of both carriers. As a provision of the commercial agreement, the flights of both airlines are now marketed as LIAT and identified by the LI airline designator, although some planes continue to be branded as Caribbean Star aircraft. Also, service to all 22 gateways previously served by the combined force of both carriers has been maintained, while two routes previously operated by the now defunct Caribbean Sun Airlines (San Juan-Dominica and San Juan-St. Vincent) are now being operated by LIAT/Caribbean Star under the new commercial agreement. Both LIAT and Caribbean Star will continue to operate as separate carriers under separate management until the proposed merger of the airlines is implemented.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
