Southwest to Bring Once-Weekly Flight into Montego Bay from Kansas City

Southwest Airlines will be operating one weekly flight into the island from Kansas City, Missouri in the United States.

The flight will arrive at the Sangster International Airport (SIA) in St. James on Saturdays throughout the winter season.

Some 114 passengers and six crew members arrived on the inaugural flight on October 7, which was greeted by tourism stakeholders and local officials, headed by Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett and Deputy Mayor of Montego Bay, Councillor Richard Vernon.

Mr. Bartlett said that new flights speak to how well connected Jamaica is as a destination in the US.

“We cover 18 gateways that connect us to over 100 cities across the US. That makes Jamaica the most connected Caribbean destination to the United States,” he noted.

Greeting the passengers, he observed how pleased they were to be visiting the island.

“I must confess that it is the happiest bunch of passengers that I have ever welcomed to Jamaica, from the little toddlers right up to the elderly,” he expressed.

The Tourism Minister said that the island is on track to close out the year with some 2.9 million stopover visitors and expressed optimism of surpassing the three-million mark in stopover arrivals next year, with earnings of more than $4.5 billion.

For his part, Councillor Vernon said that the “friendly city” was happy to welcome new flight.

“Jamaica was chosen, but it is a very special thing when Montego Bay in particular is chosen, so we are happy and we are looking forward to the additional connectivity that we are having to America,” he outlined.

In his remarks, Chief Executive Officer at MBJ Airports, operators of SIA, Shane Munroe, that the service from Kansas City “will bring a new and varied type of passenger to the country”.

“Normally, we are well served from the east and our traffic continues to grow from the eastern coast of the United States, but now we are seeing growth in the Midwest.

“We look forward to the exchange between the cities and, certainly, we expect that this service will continue to grow, and we look forward to additional flights added to this route in the near future,” Munroe said.

Also greeting passengers was Regional Director at the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB), Odette Dyer.