After a ten-year hiatus, American Airlines has resumed daily nonstop service from New York JFK to Montego Bay. Following a brief celebratory event on November 21, where passengers were treated to fine Jamaican food and entertainment, the near capacity flight departed at 7:05 am with Captain Paul Thatcher at the controls. Jamaica’s Minister of Tourism Hon. Edmund Bartlett along with Tourism Director Donovan White the United States Ambassador and executives from the airlines and MBJ Airports Limited, met the passengers and crew on arrival at the Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay.
The 145 passengers on board, a mix of tourists as well as Jamaicans returning home, were in a festive mood as they escaped the cold and headed to the island’s tourist capital to soak up some sun and fun.
In welcoming the passengers and crew, Minister Bartlett noted that the reintroduced service is important and valuable ahead of the busy high season, as it affords the destination additional capacity to transport the increased number of visitors as well as Jamaicans overseas expected home the holidays. “The Northeast region continues to be a strong performer for us as a destination in terms of arrivals. For the summer period, May to September 2019, the US market region recorded a 9.3 percent increase in arrivals with 785,055 visitors compared to the 718,531 visitors during the corresponding period last year. During that period, the Northeast outpaced the overall US market and saw an increase of 13.3 percent.,” noted Minister Bartlett.
Minister of Tourism, Hon Edmund Bartlett (third left) and Director of Tourism, Donovan White (right), greet American Airlines passengers as they disembark at the Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay, Jamaica
Jamaica’s Director of Tourism Donovan White reiterated, “the reintroduction of this service is timely as it has the potential to impact a number of global events taking place next year. Not only will visitor arrivals to Jamaica be positively impacted, but Jamaicans can easily connect to other parts of the world. With the upcoming Olympics next summer in Tokyo, I’m sure our citizens will want to travel to cheer on our teams.”
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