JetBlue Exits Belize Skies, Budget Travel Takes Another Hit

JetBlue has ended its New York–Belize route, pulling its final flight from JFK to Philip Goldson Airport. The move is part of the airline’s “JetForward” restructuring, as it shifts planes to more profitable routes after Belize fell short of expectations. The exit, coming just weeks after Spirit Airlines pulled out, deals another blow to Belize’s air connectivity and raises concerns about the future of budget travel to the destination. Tourism leaders are now weighing the impact.

 

Efren Perez, President, BTIA

“That is an ongoing discussion that we’re having both private sector and also the Ministry of Tourism. The departure of any airline is very critical for the tourism industry. We depend on increasing our airlift so that we can create more overnight stays which like I mentioned earlier, it trickles down into both direct and indirect to all those that operate in tourism industry. So any airline that goes out is certainly something for us to be of concern. But I know that there is also ongoing work. We still have m- all our legacy carriers still coming into Belize. We have American Airlines, Delta, Copa.  You have Air Canada that started a direct flight from from Montreal to Belize which allows us to have that connectivity with with Europe on the same day. And so all these play a very important role and I, a- and I know that the BTB and along Ministry of Tourism they’re working tirelessly right now to ensure that we’re getting more carriers in that we’re looking at all these airlines also to see how best we’d be able to operate. Especially right now in this slow season there’s an ongoing campaign that is being developed for the green season where hoteliers will be able to provide those discounted rates and attract more travelers to come in. So there is a balance that is being worked on. BTB has sent this out to all stakeholders, especially hoteliers in the industry. So I would say I would urge hoteliers to really look at this, provide those rates that they’re looking for in the green season so that this can be a marketing tool that we can attract more travelers coming in and utilize the current airlines that we have.” 9:20 Those are certain areas I think that we’re already working on. Certainly, like I said, any airline leaving is certainly a concern. But we have to work with what we have right now, and we have to work in terms of improving the way that we are marketing and getting the private sector industry on board for them to be able to also provide, especially right now that we’re heading into the low season.”

 

Perez says hotels are already seeing fewer overnight bookings as fuel prices climb. He’s urging operators to offer deals and lower rates to draw visitors during the slow season.

 

Attention readers: This online newscast is a direct transcript of our evening television broadcast. When speakers use Kriol, we have carefully rendered their words using a standard spelling system.

 

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