NEW YORK – Bermuda’s Premier Dr. Ewart F. Brown shared the stage with New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and other dignitaries today at the grand opening of JetBlue Airways’ new passenger terminal at John F. Kennedy International Airport.
At a spectacular press conference the Premier told hundreds of attendees: “JetBlue has provided the people of Bermuda and our visitors a reliable and dependable service since 2006. That service has also been affordable – something for which we are particularly grateful.
“We consider the people of this company to be our friends. With that said it is truly a pleasure to be here today to wish our friends well.”
“Well done JetBlue and congratulations on your new digs.”
Bermuda’s Premier Dr. Ewart F. Brown speaks at the JetBlue T5 grand opening at JFK
The $743 million new terminal is known as T5 (Terminal 5). It will open to passengers on October 1st, 2008. Passengers traveling between Bermuda and JFK will be processed in T5.
More visitors come to Bermuda from New York than anyplace else in the world.
Upon introducing Premier Brown today, JetBlue CEO Dave Barger said: “No leader was more personally involved in the effort to bring JetBlue to their country than Dr. Brown.”
JetBlue began service to Bermuda from New York in 2006. Today JetBlue handles 30% of JFK’s passenger traffic and 17% of the airline’s route structure is to the Caribbean and Bermuda.
T5 is 635,000 square feet on 72 acres which more than doubles the size of JetBlue’s previous home at Terminal 6. The new terminal is designed to accommodate 20 million passengers a year with up to 250 daily flights. That is equivalent to the passenger volume for an entire year at LaGuardia International Airport.
T5 will be home to a 55,000 square foot marketplace with 22 restaurants and 25 retail stores.
Ribbon cutting at the JetBlue T5 grand opening at JFK.
Following the grand opening and ribbon cutting the Premier took a walk through the soon-to-open terminal.
“This terminal is high-tech and built on a strong commitment to customer convenience,” the Premier said. “It’s one of the best I’ve ever seen. I think JetBlue really has a done something fantastic here and I expect this new terminal will only help them grow the JetBlue brand and Bermuda stands to benefit from that.”
