Carnival air From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Posted (9 years 1 month 2 weeks 3 days 9 hours ago) and read 1944 times:
When will we start seeing more low fare airline moving into the Caribbean region? THis is the last major region in North America that has not been properly conquered by the low fares. Yes...I know Jet Blue flies from JFK to SJU and now to the Dominican Republic. And Spirit flies to FLL and MCO from SJU, SONG (not really that low) to MCO and ATA to MCO and MDW from SJU; however...how long till we see....:
Air Tran: SJU-ATL, SJU-PHL, SJU-MCO, SJU-MIA, SJU-DFW, SJU-BWI, ATL-STT others
Chepos From Puerto Rico, joined Dec 2000, 5965 posts, RR: 12 Reply 1, posted (9 years 1 month 2 weeks 1 day 12 hours ago) and read 1818 times:
Actually Carnival Air I dont see any of the 4 carriers mentioned above starting ops in San Juan anytime soon. Maybe (and big maybe) Air Tran will later on add flights to San Juan when they get their 737's NG. Dont forget ATA will soon start thrice weekly service between PIE and SJU, and they will be incresing their SJU-MCO flights to thrice daily for the summer season. Concerning Jetblue maybe they will soon go ahead with the proposed FLL-SJU route.
Chepos
Caymanair From Cayman Islands, joined Apr 2004, 856 posts, RR: 0 Reply 3, posted (9 years 1 month 2 weeks 1 day 6 hours ago) and read 1688 times:
i dought they would do well in most of the Caribbean. i for one would never fly a LCC in place of Air Jamaic or Cayman Airways. they may do significantly better in the USVI and Puerto Rico
Hannigan From United States of America, joined Mar 2004, 327 posts, RR: 0 Reply 4, posted (9 years 1 month 2 weeks 1 day 6 hours ago) and read 1665 times:
There was a rumor that Independence Air would have a IAD-SJU nonstop once everything got rolling this year with the A320. I remember seeing it on some promo materials back in November but I haven't seen it since. If that flight takes flight, expect some low fares there.
Dutchjet From Netherlands, joined Oct 2000, 7864 posts, RR: 58 Reply 5, posted (9 years 1 month 2 weeks 1 day 5 hours ago) and read 1661 times:
JetBlue and Spirit have plans to expand service in the caribbean - JetBlue has announced expanded service to Puerto Rico and new service to the Dominican Republic out of JFK, and Spirit does plan to develop FLL into a gateway/hub to the Caribbean and Latin America. I also think that, at some point, AirTran will add service to SJU from its Atlanta hub.
Aside from the other services mentioned above:
CO has introduced new routes from EWR and IAH to various caribbean destinations.....EWR-POS for example and IAH-Montego Bay is to be introduced shortly.
AA continues to add or re-instate service on caribbean routes out of MIA, its latin american mega-gatway.....I think that service to St. Kitts is to introduced in the near future. Also, AA added service from FLL to certain caribbean destinations to complement is MIA services.
US has introuced lots of flights to the islands from its PHL and CLT hubs in the past year.
On the overseas front, BMI is planning flights from Manchester to various islands.
Actually, there is more new service to the caribbean in the past months than there has been for years.......until recently, AA seemed to have the caribbean all to itself, at least there are now more players in the game.
Redtailmsp From United States of America, joined Feb 2004, 204 posts, RR: 2 Reply 7, posted (9 years 1 month 2 weeks 1 day 2 hours ago) and read 1584 times:
Problem with operating to a lot of the Caribbean islands is the severe lack of gate / ramp space - same with Cancun for example. On winter weekends, SJU in particular is a big problem - all the cruise traffic as well as the snowbirds arriving mid-morning onwards results in lengthy waits for gates and departure delays, which then result in broken connections at the hubs in the USA. Caribbean traffic has grown considerably recently and this year is probably one of the worst for this congestion. The infrastructure needs to be improved to cope - but this all costs money, which can be a scarce resource - a real Catch-22. Now, if you could get the cruise ships to stagger their departures onto different days, then perhaps the congestion would be less.......but that isn't going to happen because the market dictates week-long cruises departing on weekends.
UALFAson From United States of America, joined Mar 2004, 582 posts, RR: 4 Reply 8, posted (9 years 1 month 2 weeks 1 day 1 hour ago) and read 1559 times:
I would think that one of the problems preventing widespread LCC expansion in the Caribbean is the relatively high cost of the area. With the exception of Puerto Rico and Cancun, which have become pretty commercialized (i.e. Americanized), aren't most other islands fairly expensive, especially during high season? LCC airfare doesn't compensate for expensive resorts. I can't see many WN fliers spending $500/night at the Four Seasons Nevis or the St. John's USVI Westin.
"We hope you've enjoyed flying with us as much as we've enjoyed taking you for a ride."
MAH4546 From Sweden, joined Jan 2001, 31106 posts, RR: 74 Reply 9, posted (9 years 1 month 2 weeks 1 day ago) and read 1533 times:
I have been hearing about AA's plan to reinstate some more of its old caribbean routes from MIA.
Yes, it is in the plans. St. Lucia, as you mentioned, is resuming in November. If rumours become relaity, Grenada will also resume by the end of the year. Antigua resumption is likely, though probably not until 2005. St. Kitts is also under discussion, though I don't believe AA has flown MIA-SKB in the past.
N276AASTT From US Virgin Islands, joined Jan 2004, 620 posts, RR: 0 Reply 12, posted (9 years 1 month 2 weeks 5 hours ago) and read 1388 times:
The Caribbean market is a very tricky area to master/conquer because of several factors.
1. Weather. Although the caribbean is recognized, the world over, for having some of the best weather anywhere, there is the problem of hurricanes. An especially difficult problem for the "upper" islands in the chain. The Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, and further down to St. Maarten are in what is called "Hurricane Alley". The "threat" happens every year, and can have devastating results ex:Hurricane Andrew/Miami. The potential for a hurricane to visit and damage an airport is too great for a LCC to come in and set up shop. Damaged airport infrastructure, planes, and screwed up schedules, etc. Tourists tend to stay away from an island that has just suffered hurricane damage.
2. American Airlines.........nuff said! Well, I'll go ahead and say something. American and Eagle are the powerhouses of the caribbean. Any airline wanting to challenge them in San Juan will suffer. AA has no problem in boosting existing frequencies and slashing prices to undermind the new carrier, they have the resources to do so. Eagle will do the same thing and follow "Big Brother." We, the caribbean people, prefer to pay for the cheaper flight. If an airline can come in and keep their fares low and offer a decent selection of flights to destinations that we would like, then we will fly.
3. Caribbean Airports. There are only a handfull of airports in the region that can handle the bigger jets. Space on these islands are limited, for obvious reasons and most island governments don't have the resources to expand the current facilities let alone out into the water. Gate space at the bigger airports are at a premium. AA controls most gates in SJU, who won't likely give them up too easily. If another airline comes in and sees potential on another island like St. Croix, which has a nice sized airport with little service, maybe they could move in there and build an empire airport similar to AA's SJU.
The deck of cards is stacked up against the newcomer from the get go, but I say more power to the underdog.
MAH4546 From Sweden, joined Jan 2001, 31106 posts, RR: 74 Reply 13, posted (9 years 1 month 2 weeks 5 hours ago) and read 1376 times:
If another airline comes in and sees potential on another island like St. Croix, which has a nice sized airport with little service, maybe they could move in there and build an empire airport similar to AA's SJU.
Not at all. St. Croix has little service because of minimal demand. No other Caribbean city can support a hub operation like San Juan can. You still need a decent amount of local traffic to support a hub, and San Juan has that. St. Croix and St. Thomas do not.
UAJFKnSAN From United States of America, joined Apr 2004, 11 posts, RR: 0 Reply 15, posted (9 years 1 month 2 weeks 1 hour ago) and read 1313 times:
Kingston and especially Montego Bay are already hubs for Air Jamaica which serves majors cities in the US, London and most of the popular tourist destinations in the caribbean.
MAH4546 From Sweden, joined Jan 2001, 31106 posts, RR: 74 Reply 16, posted (9 years 1 month 2 weeks ago) and read 1302 times:
Kingston and Montego Bay can support hubs like San Juan can...am I wrong?
I totally forgot about Air Jamaica's nice operations at MBJ and KIN. However, while nice, they are still nothing compared to AA at San Juan.
AA offers over 120 daily non-stops between San Juan and 40 destinations. Air Jamaica doesn't come close to operating such a hub operation.
Kingston is a barely a hub for airJamaica, however. Flight in/out of Kingston are mainly designed to serve local O&D traffic. The only international flights are a weekly to MAN, four weekly to LHR, daily to JFK, double-daily to MIA, and triple-daily to FLL.
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