More flights to the Caribbean: 39 routes reactivated in June

The summer season in the northern hemisphere looks promising for the Caribbean. Many airlines have announced in recent months the return to various destinations and the creation of new routes.

According to the World Travel Tourism Council, the Caribbean is the region most dependent on tourism, but as the infrastructure in medical care is limited, many countries were forced to strongly restrict their borders.

Now, the Caribbean market has been progressively reactivated with the announcement of the relaxation of sanitary measures, focused on attracting tourists from countries with the best vaccination rates.

Aruba, Turks and Caicos, the Dominican Republic, the Bahamas and the United States Virgin Islands account for a large part of the new destinations, especially as it is one of the countries with the highest vaccination rate.

The Remote Work Visa is also helping to revive tourism in the region, especially to Barbados, Curaçao, Dominica, Aruba and Anguilla. Since the implementation of the visa, more than 2,500 people have applied for it in Barbados, of which 40% have never visited the islands, according to Barbados Tourism Marketing.

The trend of putting the Health Passport into operation has given it an important boost in some countries over others. Aruba partnered with JetBlue to introduce CommonPass, the world’s first digital vaccination passport, which allows passengers to request a PCR to enter the island from the comfort of their homes. United Airlines adopted the same measure for its flights from Newark and Houston.

With the launch of CommonPass in March, tourism increased by 53% from February to March, and today it continues to strengthen. Dangui Oduber, Aruba’s Minister of Tourism, Public Health and Sports, said with optimism that they will achieve the immunization of the population for this summer season.

To all this we must add that the United States, the main source of tourists to the Caribbean, has implemented the possibility that foreign tourists can be vaccinated, further increasing the need to fly. The countries of the region have benefited from this decision and several airlines have notably increased their connections to the northern giant.

Canada is left out as a major tourist hub this season, due to the Canadian government’s decision to keep flights to the Caribbean restricted.

In summary:

• 39 routes to the Caribbean will be opened or reactivated, it is expected that during the week more routes will be announced for the end of the month and July.
• American Airlines is the airline with the largest number of routes to inaugurate, with a total of 14.
• 16 routes will open only on June 5.
• 6 routes will open in the Dominican Republic, 6 to the Bahamas and 4 to Puerto Rico; being the main receptor of new connections for the region.
• In June the offer of flights will increase by 9.3% and by 13.1% the offer of seats compared to May
• The United States has 62% of the flights to and from the region, followed by links within the Caribbean with 32% and, to close the podium, with 4% is Europe.
• According to OAG, the region starts the month with a 40.3% lower seat offer, compared to the week of January 20, 2020. It must be taken into account that globally the average is a negative balance of 36.3% .

The routes with the highest offer of seats for June are:

• San Juan (SJU), Puerto Rico to Orlando (MCO): 182.509.
• Santiago de los Caballeros (STI), Dominican Republic to New York (JFK): 118.012.
• San Juan (SJU), Puerto Rico to Newark (EWR): 108.581
• San Juan (SJU), Puerto Rico to  Nueva York (JFK): 108.464.
• Santo Domingo (SDQ), Dominican Republic to New York (JFK): 108.010.
• San Juan (SJU), Puerto Rico to Miami (MIA): 96.590.
• Pointe-a-Pitre (PTP), Guadalupe to Paris/Orly (ORY): 96.500.
• San Juan (SJU), Puerto Rico to Fort Lauderdale (FLL): 93.326.
• Fort de France (FDF), Martinica to Paris/Orly (ORY): 81.224.
• San Juan (SJU), Puerto Rico to Philadelphia (PHL): 76.172.

Flights to be inaugurated or reactivated in June: