Ja tops Caribbean as most connected destination to North America

WESTERN BUREAU:

With 35 main gateways from the United States and connectivity to 200 secondary airports in that North American country, Jamaica is being touted as the most connected destination in the Caribbean.

The island’s tourism minister, Edmund Bartlett, made the declaration yesterday (Friday) at the Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay, as Frontier Airline introduced three new gateways into the island – Denver, Colorado; Chicago Midway and St Louis, two years after its first flight to the island.

Under rapid expansion, the airline, which stakes the claim of America’s greenest carrier and third youngest of any airline in the world, now flies from eight gateways into Jamaica and will introduce a ninth destination come May. The carrier operates into Sangster and Norman Manley international airports.

Bartlett credits the industry’s latest growth with Frontier’s aggressive movements in the market, and made reference of the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) recent report which stated that tourism was the fastest growing sector in the island and contributed the most money to the country’s economy.

However, he warned that with the number of new rooms expected to be built and the added flights, the airport would have to move in the same direction.

“This airport is undergoing expansion, but I am telling you, you now have to plan for the expansion of the expansion because with 61 flights coming tomorrow (Saturday), which is the start, we are going to be getting 100 flights possibility for this airport shortly,” he told the gathering.

The tourism minister wants Montego Bay to return to the days when it was the hub for the Caribbean. “Montego Bay has got to become the hub for the Caribbean in terms of the broader aviation strategies of enabling connectivity within the region, so the expansion has to happen here,” he stated.

He revealed that as the sector grows, this year, Jamaica’s marketing budget is being augmented to support new markets and that equates to air partners. “And new air partners will see us getting airlines from further distances where the requirements for bigger equipment with larger capacity and longer range is going to come into our space,” he argued.

In that case, Jamaica and Sangster International will have to have better and stronger runways, he said. “We will need to have the capacity to receive those A380s and larger to be able to distribute from the centres to various other countries within the Caribbean.”

Excited by the prospects, Chief Executive Officer at Sangster International Airport, Shane Munroe, said Frontier was perhaps the fastest growing airline in terms of diversity of routes to Montego Bay.

The three new routes, Munroe said, have great significance for several reasons. “They offer our passengers a direct link to the Caribbean; Jamaica, specifically, is known for its stunning beaches vibrant culture, warm hospitality, making it a popular destination for tourists, and for persons from all over the world, and with this new route there will be more convenience and flexibility for passengers in terms of planning their travel itineraries.”

Furthermore, he added, this new route will expand the island’s network and attract more passengers to his airport entities.

He noted that Denver will be the furthermost city serving Montego Bay direct from the United States.

Frontier’s senior vice president of commercial service, Daniel Shurz, was quoted in a media release shortly after the flight touched down in Montego Bay, speaking of the growth in Montego Bay and across the island.

“It is unmatched. Our expansion to three popular American destinations provides tremendous opportunity for Jamaicans who are eager for even more convenient and affordable travel options. Furthermore, we are thrilled to bring additional tourism and economic impact to Jamaica through this new service which will allow even more travellers from the US to enjoy the island’s stunning beaches, communities, and resorts,” he stated.