Above: a JetBlue plane
By the Caribbean Journal staff
Air carrier JetBlue launched its first-ever flights to Haiti on Thursday.
The New York City-based carrier is operating three daily flights to Port-au-Prince, with one out of New York’s John F Kennedy Airport and two daily out of Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.
“We see great opportunities with our new service to Port-au-Prince. We look forward to bringing competitive fares along with our award-winning service to Haiti,” said Dave Barger, JetBlue’s president and CEO. “With one-third of our network serving the Caribbean and Latin America, we are very pleased to add this important destination to our network.”
JetBlue has been on a major expansion in the Caribbean; Port-au-Prince is the company’s 82nd destination and 24th international destination.
In a statement, Haiti Tourism Minister Stephanie Villerouin said the service would be a “boon” for the country’s tourism sector.
The Fort Lauderdale flights depart at 6:30 AM and 12:40 PM; the JFK flight departs at at 6:30 AM as well.
“On behalf of both the Haitian Government and the Haitian community in the US, would like to welcome JetBlue to Haiti,” said Charles Forbin, Consul General of Haiti in New York. “Having worked closely with the airline to create and execute this opportunity, we hope that this is the beginning of a great and fruitful cooperation, and we wish JetBlue all the success with these new routes.”
