Puerto Rico’s airlift boom will continue in 2020 with the launch of another wave of new routes from low-cost carrier Spirit Airlines.
Spirit, already one of the leading carriers to Puerto Rico, has announced plans to launch more new daily nonstop flights to San Juan’s (SJU) Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport.
That will be highlighted by a new daily nonstop flight from Boston Logan International Airport to San Juan, beginning Feb. 1, 2020.
“For Aerostar, it is a priority to be able to provide passengers with the greatest amount and frequency of flights. This way, we can expand the island’s possibilities while further developing visitor traffic,” said Jorge Hernández, CEO of Aerostar, which manages Puerto Rico’s biggest airport. “We thank Spirit for choosing Puerto Rico to inaugurate these two new routes. Newark and Boston are destinations with great demand among Puerto Ricans, so we trust that these new routes will be successful.”
Spirit is also adding a second daily nonstop flight from Newark to San Juan, also set to begin Feb. 1, 2020.
“We are thrilled to expand our Puerto Rico service portfolio with new destinations and more non-stops to beautiful San Juan,” said John Kirby, Vice President of Network Planning at Spirit Airlines. “Our new flights from Boston and Newark give our guests more opportunities to escape to this incredible destination of discovery and leisure.”
The new daily routes are part of a wider expansion to Puerto Rico, Spirit said.
Indeed, earlier this year Spirit launched new flights from Tampa and Baltimore to San Juan.
That will include additional daily flights to San Juan from three cities: Orlando (beginning Feb. 21), Philadelphia (beginning March 1) and Baltimore-Washington (launching May 21).
Puerto Rico continues to see record-breaking air arrivals in 2019, largely buoyed by consistent growth in new airlift.
What that also means is that carriers, both legacy and low-cost, continue to bet big on the destination and its tourism potential — as the destination experiences an ongoing tourism surge.
“We appreciate Spirit Airlines’ commitment with the expansions of service in Puerto Rico with new daily flight routes from Newark and Boston,” said Carla Campos, the executive director of the Puerto Rico Tourism Company, in a statement. “Each destination will have 64,970 additional seats annually, which represents an economic impact of approximately $25 million for Newark and $28 million for Boston. We are confident that this increase in air capacity will continue to expand travel alternatives for thousands of passengers through the Luis Muñoz Marín Airport.”
Spirit first launched flights to Puerto Rico back in 2001.
