JetBlue has requested authority from the US Department of Transportation to fly non-stop to the Las Americas and Cibao international airports in the Dominican Republic, serving the vicinities of Santo Domingo and Santiago, respectively. Pending the approval from the US authorities and later the DR government, the airline is proposing to operate a twice-daily service to Santiago, starting 10 June, and a daily flight to Santo Domingo, starting 17 June.
According to a press release from the New York-based airline, the decision comes following the success of the company’s San Juan, Puerto Rico flights.
New York Governor George Pataki celebrated the news. “JetBlue Airways’ decision to provide affordable, high-quality service from JFK Airport to the Dominican Republic is tremendous news for New Yorkers, particularly for the thousands of Hispanic New Yorkers of Dominican descent who have loved ones back home,” he said.
“When we asked JetBlue to serve San Juan a few years ago, they came through and offered low fares and a great schedule between New York and Puerto Rico,” said Senator Charles Schumer. “One of the most important issues facing the Dominican community in New York is being able to get to Santo Domingo and Santiago without paying through the roof. The next step is filling the seats on this new route so that we can convince JetBlue to add even more flights and more service to other destinations in the Caribbean.”
JetBlue is a low-fare, low-cost passenger airline providing high-quality customer service. JetBlue operates a fleet of 56 new Airbus A320 aircraft and plans to add another 13 such jets in 2004. The airline has 100 Embraer 190 aircraft on order, with options for an additional 100 with deliveries scheduled to begin in mid 2005. The airline currently operates 238 flights a day and serves 23 destinations in 11 states and Puerto Rico. With JetBlue, all seats are assigned, travel is ticketless, all fares are one-way and a Saturday night stopover is never required.
See http://www.dr1.com/forums/showthread.php?t=30068