Despite Frontier Airlines announcing that it will stop offering flights from Cleveland to Montego Bay, Jamaica, one month after launching the route, a tourism official in the Caribbean island says it won’t have any adverse effect on projections for the country’s stopover arrivals.
Senior Advisor and Strategist in the Ministry of Tourism, Delano Seiveright argued that there are still more than enough seats available for the projected arrivals.
Senior Advisor and Senior Strategist in the Ministry of Tourism, Delano Seiveright
“For the winter period from January to April 2024, we anticipate welcoming 1,294,722 passengers from 1,523,202 seats across regions, with a projected load factor equalling that of 2019, at 85 per cent,” said Seiveright.
“Notably, all regions reported a capacity increase from our largest source market, the US,” he told Loop News. “The US remains the key market driver for our destination, with new and emerging markets positioned to contribute to target arrivals and revenues.”
He could not give a reason for the termination of the route, but explained that given the competitive nature of the commercial airline industry, sometimes airlines are forced to cut back on flights.
“Jamaica is one of the most connected destinations in the region. Almost every major US carrier serves Jamaica, including American Airlines, Delta, JetBlue, United, Southwest, Frontier, and Spirit, with combined dozens of flights every day.
“Flight cutbacks are not uncommon, given the competitive space and the need for airlines and crews to allocate equipment and crew where most profitable,” Seiveright reasoned.
According to Frontier Airlines, which will have its last flight to Jamaica on June 29, consumer demand for the service has not proven sufficient to continue the route for the full summer season.
In the meantime, the senior advisor underscored that, in recent months, Jamaica has secured a number of new flights.
“Thankfully, over the last several months, we have gained several new airlines, namely Jetlines and Flair out of Canada and Norse Atlantic out of the UK. On top of that, we have a number of new US flights, including Denver, Colorado by United Airlines; Kansas City, Missouri by Southwest; and the return on nonstop New York John F Kennedy/Kingston flights by Delta,” he told Loop News.
