US budget carrier JetBlue Airways has announced it intends to launch services to Grand Cayman in the Cayman Islands, the largest destination in the British Overseas Territory's archipelago, before the end of this year. The airline plans to add a three times weekly service to Owen Roberts International Airport from New York's John F Kennedy International Airport from November 15, 2012 and a weekly link from Boston's Logan International Airport from November 17, 2012.
Destinations in Latin America and the Caribbean now make up almost one-third of the carrier's route network. Grand Cayman will be JetBlue's 74th destination and the 23rd destination in the Caribbean. Earlier this month, JetBlue also announced intent to serve two other new Caribbean destinations: Cartagena, Colombia (host of nest year’s Routes Americas forum) beginning November 2, 2012 and Samana, Dominican Republic starting November 14, 2012, both from New York's JFK.
"Our Latin America and Caribbean destinations continue to flourish and based on this support that we continue to receive from our customers, we are excited to add the beautiful Cayman Islands to our growing network," said John Checketts, Director of Route Planning, JetBlue Airways. "Whether travellers are seeking relaxation or adventure, attractions like Seven Mile Beach, swimming with stingrays, snorkelling or scuba diving are just a few options to explore in this tropical, aquatic playground."
With this new addition, by the end of 2012 JetBlue will have expanded its network to include all of the following Latin American and Caribbean destinations: Aruba; The Bahamas (Nassau); Barbados; Bermuda; Cayman Islands (Grand Cayman); Colombia (Bogota and Cartagena); Costa Rica (Liberia and San Jose); Dominican Republic (La Romana, Puerto Plata, Punta Cana, Samana, Santiago and Santo Domingo); Jamaica (Kingston and Montego Bay); Mexico (Cancun); Puerto Rico (Aguadilla, Ponce and San Juan); St Croix; St Lucia; St Maarten; St Thomas; and, Turks and Caicos (Providenciales).
There are currently direct links to Grand Cayman from eleven points in the US, including an existing link by Cayman Airways to New York JFK, a route with an O&D demand of an estimated 40,000 passengers last year, up 24.9 per cent on the previous year.
This month there are 335 flights scheduled between the US and Grand Cayman offering just over 47,000 seats in each direction. Cayman Airways is the dominant carrier with a 32.9 per cent share of this capacity and flights to Chicago O’Hare International, Dallas/Fort Worth International, Miami International, New York JFK, Tampa International and Washington Dulles. American Airlines is a close second with a 31.4 per cent share of the available seats from its link to Miami International.
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