By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Low-cost airline JetBlue will offer a New York-San José route starting November 1st and served by an Airbus A320.
The first flight, # 1793, will leave the John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) in New York on Tuesdays, Fridays, and Sundays at 6.25 p.m., arriving at the Juan Santa Maria Airport in Alajuela (SJO) at 10.50 p.m.
The second flight # 1794 will leave Costa Rica (SJO) at 11:59 p.m. arriving at the U.S. (JFK) at 6.09 a.m.
"The A320 has a capacity for 150 passengers, so we are adding 23,400 new seats from our main market, the United States of America," said Maria Amalia Revelo, Minister of Tourism. "We offered to strengthen the air connectivity of the country and each new announcement we give to the country is in itself a rendering of accounts of the work that ICT is leading in alliance with the private company to achieve it."
"We are pleased to continue announcing the strengthening of Costa Rica's connections with the world, especially with a market as important as New York," said Rafael Mencía, Executive Director of AERIS. "With this new JetBlue direct route, the airline, true to its low-cost style and quality service, expands the range of alternatives for passengers according to price and schedule convenience."
From SJO, JetBlue currently operates a daily flight to Fort Lauderdale (FLL) and a daily flight to Orlando (MCO). In addition, JetBlue also offers nonstop service, including Mint seasonal flights, to Liberia from the airline home in New York-JFK. JetBlue began serving Costa Rica with the San José flights more than a decade ago in March 2009.
Yesterday, as A.M. Costa Rica reported, American Airlines announced Wednesday that it is opening two new direct flights from the John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) in New York to the Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO) in San José and the Daniel Oduber Quirós International Airport (LIR) in Liberia.
The flights will go on sale this Monday, July 1, but flights will not begin until November.
The first route, New York - San Jose will begin operations on November 21, with a departure at 3:59 p.m., arriving at SJO at 9:42 p.m.
The route San Jose- New York flight departs at 11:03 p.m. arriving at New York at 5:19 a.m.
The second route, between New York and Guanacaste, will start operating on December 21st.
The route New York - Guanacaste (at Liberia airport) departs at 7 a.m., arriving at Guanacaste at 10:55 a.m. The Guanacaste - New York route will leave Liberia at 11:04 a.m. arriving in New York at 4:59 p.m.
Both flights will be made with a B737-800 aircraft, with 16 seats in First Class, 30 seats in Main Cabin Extra and 114 seats in the Main Cabin.
Currently, American operates three daily flights from San Jose to Miami, one daily to Dallas, one daily to Charlotte, North Carolina, and one weekly to Phoenix, Arizona.
From Liberia-Guanacaste, American operates two daily flights to Miami, five weekly to Dallas and two weekly in high season to North Carolina.
According to the statistics of the Ministry of Tourism, from January to May of 2019, 604,850 tourists from the U.S. arrived by air which represents a 6 percent growth in relation to that same period of the previous year.
In 2018, 1,265,067 arrivals were registered from the United States through all routes (air, land, and sea). Also in 2017, the average stay and expenditure of U.S. citizens were estimated at 10.1 nights and $171.6 per day.
-----------------
What is the most attractive asset of Costa Rica for foreigners? We would like to
know your thoughts on this story. Send your comments
to: news@amcostarica.com
