MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica – Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett remains upbeat that the current winter tourist season will be the best ever amid a continued boost in airlift support. He provided a positive outlook yesterday, February 12. He welcomed Avelo Airlines’ first flight from Raleigh, North Carolina, to Montego Bay. This new flight runs twice a week. Avelo offers service in Jamaica. They have two weekly flights from Hartford, Connecticut. This service started on November 16, 2024.
Inaugural Raleigh to Montego Bay Flight
Avelo is an American low-cost airline based in Houston, Texas. It aims to offer cheap air travel to many places in the US. Captain Joseph Trevino and his crew of four flew nearly 60 passengers on the first flight from Raleigh to Montego Bay.
Expressing hope that the worst of the winter freeze in the United States had passed, Minister Bartlett said “the better news is that we are expanding South America, and now have new flights coming out of Lima, Peru” and in the next two weeks, “we will get conclusion of an arrangement with Avianca to have new flights coming out of Colombia.”
Minister Bartlett said in addition to talks also taking place with Brazilian airlines, “on top of Copa and LATAM, which are now big drivers, and Arajet coming out of the Dominican Republic and connecting into South America, we will be able to achieve the 100,000 visitors from South America, which we’re projecting by 2025/26.”
Eastern Europe has also been identified as another area for Jamaica’s expansion drive with Minister Bartlett indicating that: “We’re getting new flight arrangements out of that region as well.”
Extreme Winter Weather
In a bid to offset a slight shortfall in US arrivals due to extreme winter weather with a strong push in South America, Mr. Bartlett said a major announcement would be made within another few days regarding a new visa arrangement “in relation to that in terms of one of our largest partners in the Caribbean.”
Recently Minister Bartlett announced new flights from Portugal, Spain and Switzerland. He saw the new flight arrangements as Jamaica being able “to future proof the market at a level never seen before” in terms of “marketing engagement and airlift arrangements that we are now experiencing. Indeed, in the last three years, post-COVID, we have taken off and created a new frontier in terms of outcomes from tourism, both in terms of revenue, as well as visitor arrivals.”
In addition to job creation and room expansion, he also pointed out that “we have enabled a larger number of small operators to become engaged in the tourism industry.”
