Delta to Add Third Daily Rotation on New York – San Juan

US major Delta Air Lines is to add a third daily rotation on the New York JFK – San Juan from March 2, 2012, and it appears the carrier will maintain the expanded schedule through the Northern Summer schedule increasing competition with American Airlines and JetBlue Airways on the route. The carrier will offer morning, afternoon and evening rotations using Boeing 737-800 and 757-200 equipment, a significant increase on its single daily offering during summer 2011.

This market was formally dominated by American Airlines but over the last five years JetBlue Airways has increased its share of the traffic on the route from 31 per cent to 57 per cent for the last two years. Delta’s own share has remained rather static – increasing from 13 per cent to 16 per cent at the expense of American Airlines.

In the past year an estimated 878,000 O&D passengers travelled on the route, up 3.2 per cent on the previous 12 months, although this figure is still around a third lower than the figures recorded five years ago. Yields have also weakened with average one-way fares falling from $235 in 2006 to $209 in 2011 despite increasing costs, although Delta’s own average tickets have actually increased in price from $235 to $268 during the same period.