At the routes Americas conference in Las Vegas, the St. Maarten delegation comprising the Ministry of Tourism and Airport were briefed by jetBlue representative Mr. Nicholas Han, Senior Analyst Route Planning of the performance of the current jetBlue services to St. Maarten, as well as future prospects with the destination, namely Fort Lauderdale
jetBlue eyes the possibility of opening the route in 2018, though a solid commitment to opening the route will require more discussion. A follow up meeting was suggested to be held in New York. Mr. Han also briefed the delegation of the performance of the San Juan Routes.
Despite jetBlue no longer servicing the San Juan route itself, jetBlue is pleased with their arrangement with Seaborne Airlines. In an earlier meeting with Mr. Hector Montanez, Vice President of Seaborne Airlines, it was announced that Seaborne would be greatly increasing their service on the San Juan – SXM routes by doing daily flights for the remainder of 2017.
“This could result in not only a drop in fares, but also an increase in service and reliability,” explained Mr. Montanez. Seaborne has also seen a significant increase in corporate clients both in San Juan and St. Maarten.
The seasonal mint service from jetBlue has been doing very well, and the possibility of extending the Saturday Mint service beyond the season is being considered. The next step will be for the St. Maarten delegation to schedule a meeting in New York to better plan for the opening of the Fort Lauderdale route.