Jamaica securing new wave of air connectivity

Focus on core markets while diversifying into new and emerging markets

Durrant Pate/Contributor

The  Ministry of Tourism and the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) have secured a new wave of air connectivity to support the island’s next phase of tourism recovery and growth. 

This includes expanded service by Virgin Atlantic from Heathrow to seven weekly flights, British Airways from Gatwick to four weekly flights, and Copa Airlines from Panama to fourteen weekly flights by January 2027. Tourism Minister, Edmund Bartlett, who made the disclosure during his sectoral debate presentation in parliament yesterday, said the move to secure more air connectivity is being done in anticipation of more rooms returning to service.

According to the minister, “this is a signal of confidence. It tells us that our airline partners believe in Jamaica, that consumer demand has held, and that our recovery is organized…..as we move forward, our focus is on protecting our core markets while deliberately diversifying into new and emerging markets.”

Preserving core markets

He reported that tourism authorities are preserving the strength of Jamaica’s core markets of the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, while expanding Jamaica’s presence in Latin America, deepening engagement in Europe, strengthening regional Caribbean connectivity, and exploring high-potential long-haul markets such as India and the Middle East. 

“The measurable impact will be a broader source-market mix, stronger airlift resilience, higher visitor spend, stronger average length of stay, reduced vulnerability to external shocks, and improved earnings per visitor. Based on current projections, Jamaica is on course to attain full recovery by the end of the first quarter of 2027, positioning the destination for sustained expansion in the years ahead. That is growth with discipline,“ Minister Bartlett told the parliament

He noted that at this stage of the recovery, overall seat capacity is approximately 20 per cent below the corresponding 2025 period, largely because approximately 25 per cent of hotel room inventory remains temporarily unavailable. Yet demand remains firm with average airline load factors of approximately 85 per cent, and some months reaching as high as 92 per cent. 

Returning to full air seat capacity

Minister Bartlett advised that through March 2026, recovery from Hurricane Melissa was being moderated by access to approximately 70 per cent of air seat capacity and 70 per cent of room stock. “But rather than retreat, we moved deliberately: to stimulate demand, protect market share, maintain airline and trade confidence, and ensure that as rooms returned, visitors would be ready to return with them,“ he explained.

He added that the JTB recalibrated and restarted destination marketing and advertising across our major source markets — the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Europe and Latin America — using major integrated booking partners to accelerate demand. For the Tourism Minister, “this is the new discipline of tourism recovery: move early, protect confidence, defend market share, and position the destination for renewed growth.”

He emphasised that the strength of Brand Jamaica is visible in the airlift data, where last year Jamaica’s two major international airports handled 3,879,579 total air seats, generating 3,127,575 passenger arrivals, with an overall load factor of 80.6 per cent. Montego Bay remained the primary gateway, accounting for approximately 69 per cent of total airlift and 72 per cent of passenger arrivals with a load factor of 83.3 per cent.