by Brian Major
Last updated: 11:35 AM ET, Mon July 17, 2023
United Airlines will launch weekly nonstop flights to Jamaica’s
Sangster International Airport from Denver International Airport beginning November
4, said Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) officials in a statement.
United’s Saturday
departures will offer the only nonstop service to Jamaica from Denver, officials
said.
“The mile-high city is one of the fastest growing in the
U.S., so it represents a top target market in the west,” said Edmund Bartlett, Jamaica’s
minister of tourism.”
The new flights “[support] the strong rebound of Jamaica’s
tourism sector as our visitor arrivals numbers are returning to growth over
2019 levels,” Bartlett added.
United’s nonstop flights from Denver to Montego Bay will utilize
new Boeing 737 MAX aircraft. With the Denver launch, United now departs to
Jamaica from five cities; the carrier also flies nonstop to Jamaica from Newark,
Washington D.C., Chicago and Houston.
“To welcome another non-stop flight to our island by
United, the most-flown airline operating out of Denver, is very gratifying,”
said Donovan White, JTB’s director.
“It is an important addition to Jamaica’s existing air
service that provides U.S. travelers with yet another convenient option to get
to the island for their next business or leisure trip,” White said.
Jamaica is at the forefront of a post-pandemic Caribbean travel surge. Last
month, Bartlett said the island received 2 million overnight, land-based
visitors and cruise ship travelers over the first six months of 2023.
Even as Jamaica’s government implements a $140 million renovation and expansion of Sangster International Airport, the
country’s summer air bookings are projected to increase more than 33 percent
over 2019, according to April data from research firm ForwardKeys.
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