Things in the Sky

JetBlue had a few press releases last week announcing new service, and due to the earnings releases I just wasn’t able to get to them.

First, JetBlue will start flying to Bogota from Orlando starting January 29. This route was expected to start soon as earlier this year it was announced the JetBlue had received regulatory approval to fly the route. There will be one flight a day in each direction on an A320. I do like that JetBlue decided to make it a one stop flight that will go JFK-MCO-BOG and back. Passengers will still have to sit on the ground for at least an hour and a half, but it’s still easier for those who are bound for New York.

But JetBlue also announced some Caribbean expansion. First, it will launch Saturday-only service to St. Maarten from Boston on an A320 starting in February. JetBlue already flies to SXM daily from JFK. It didn’t mention if the service was seasonal or not though. JetBlue has already announced some other Caribbean expansion for the winter out of Boston – daily flights to Santo Domingo.

Then, JetBlue announced two daily flights between Ft. Lauderdale and Nassau and one daily flight between Orlando and Nassau, all starting on February 1. This goes along with JetBlue’s announcement of starting San Juan service from Ft. Lauderdale in December. The routes will be flown with E190s.

Also, earlier this year JetBlue announced new service between Santo Domingo and San Juan.

Overall, JetBlue has a nice, modest Caribbean expansion going on. I believe they are increasing some frequencies out of JFK as well. I’m actually a little bit surprised. Winter does have increased demand for travel to sunny destinations, but I figured  demand might be weakert this year if the economic environment is as bad as some say. Though maybe JetBlue sees some oppurtunity here. American has cut back on Caribbean service a fair bit and maybe JetBlue sees an oppurtunity. I wonder if they will have more routes within the Caribbean soon, like San Juan-Santo Domingo.