The Guatemalan government celebrated the second arrival of a new airline in just a few days. Minutes before 10:00 p.m. local time on April 15, JetBlue’s inaugural flight from New York / JFK landed at La Aurora International Airport.
The airline will operate a daily flight between the two cities, departing from JFK airport at 7:40 PM to arrive in Guatemala City at 10:47 PM, after 5 hours 7 minutes of travel. The return flight departs at 11:10 PM from La Aurora airport, landing in New York at 5:58 AM the next day. The route will be operated with Airbus A320 and A321neo, depending on the day.
«Increasing JetBlue’s presence in Latin America and the Caribbean is key to our success internationally and the service to Guatemala City will play an important role in maintaining our leadership role in the region,» said Andrea Lusso, Vice President Network Planning at JetBlue. «It also gives us the opportunity to serve a variety of travelers and grow our customer base in Central America and in the northeastern of the United States» he added.
The airline aims to serve both the Guatemalan community in the United States and the growing tourism to the Central American country and its area of influence.
«Guatemala welcomed with great joy the first flight of the airline, JetBlue, which strategically chose our country to start the new daily route between the John F. Kennedy Airport in New York and the La Aurora International Airport in Guatemala City» Pedro Brolo, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Guatemala, said. «As part of the coordinated actions for the reactivation of tourism promoted by Inguat, DGAC and Minex through the Network of Commercial Advisors, we are proud to cordially welcome JetBlue. We thank for the trust in our country, which has countless competitive and comparative advantages, which will be the focus of attention for foreign visitors and Guatemalan migrant families who will be able to enjoy the beauty and wealth of tourism and business in their country» he added.
Guatemala City is JetBlue’s 33rd destination in Latin America and the Caribbean, and the second in Central America after San José de Costa Rica.
Considering the area of Central America and the Caribbean, the airline is the second with the largest offer to and from the United States with 424,065 seats on scheduled flights on 77 routes during April, according to data obtained by Aviacionline through Cirium, a global company of aeronautical intelligence.