JetBlue Airways is doubling down on its US-Haiti routes, adding bigger planes to its New York and Florida gateways and planning three-day-a-week summer season flights direct from Boston beginning next June. Citing a "growing demand" for travel to Port-au-Prince from the US, the move will add 50,000 additional seats for JetBlue in the US-Haiti market.
The decision is good news for travelers to and from Boston, who can now plan direct flights from Logan Airport to Port-au-Prince on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays during the peak summer season. JetBlue will start its direct Boston-PAP flights even earlier in 2016, with a start date of June 4. The airline says that the direct flights "proved popular with New Englanders and Haitians alike."
JetBlue will add seats on its daily New York JFK- PAP route by using a larger, 190 seat A321 aircraft starting Dec. 5. The airline will also add an additional, second daily flight from JFK between Dec. 25- Dec. 31, a peak holiday travel week, and again during the summer season. They will also add a third daily flight between Ft. Lauderdale-PAP during the summer months, effective June 2.
“Since launching service to Port-au-Prince in 2013, the Haitian community has responded overwhelmingly to JetBlue’s award-winning service and convenient connections to our route network,” said Dave Clark, vice president of network planning for JetBlue. “We’re pleased to meet increasing demand by investing in the market and making more seats available between the U.S. and Port-au-Prince. These service additions, along with the volunteer work our crewmembers perform in the country, demonstrate our commitment to this market.”
"Haiti is no longer searching for tourists - the tourists are already upon us! This is a great opportunity for us to have companies such as JetBlue sending this strong message to the travel industry: ‘Haiti is ready to receive visitors.’ As time goes on, it is imperative that the world recognizes Haiti as a renewed destination that must be experienced. This flight adjustment is a major step forward, and the result of the continuous efforts to establish Haiti as an appealing travel destination on the tourist map of the Caribbean,” said Stéphanie Balmir Villedrouin, Minister of Tourism for Haiti.