News

• The expectations are that the addition of the new airline will stimulate the growth of passenger numbers between Quito and Florida by 40%.
• The route, including seven flights a week, will be served by its Airbus 320 aircraft with a capacity for 150 passengers.
• This milestone is a demonstration of the growing importance of Quito and its airport as a premier destination on a regional scale.

Quito, 25 February 2016. This afternoon marked the arrival at Mariscal Sucre International Airport of the inaugural JetBlue flight joining the city of Quito to the city of Fort Lauderdale in the United States.

Upon its arrival at the capital´s airport, the airline´s Airbus 320 was received with a water arch salute from two fire engines of the airport´s Fire and Rescue Service, a traditional welcome in the aviation industry on important occasions. The addition of JetBlue to the roster of airlines at the Mariscal Sucre Airport is a sign of the growing importance of Quito as a premier tourism destination on a regional scale.

The International Quito Airport is the main entry point to Ecuador. Thanks to its technical characteristics, the airport has allowed a significant increase in connectivity for Quito and the country, at the same time offering more efficient operations for airlines and an excellent service for passengers.

Andrew O’Brian, President and Director General of Corporación Quiport (concessionaire of Mariscal Sucre Airport) explained that “the entry of this type of airline to the Ecuadorian market is very important as it is a stimulus for the market of this particular route. Currently around 180,000 passengers travel from Quito to Florida per year and we hope that this stimulus will see numbers on this route grow by 40%”.

At a special ceremony held at Mariscal Sucre Airport to mark the start of JetBlue´s service, Catalina Bretón, the company´s Commercial and International Planning Director, stated that “with this new route we expect the seat occupancy on flights to Fort Lauderdale to be similar to the occupancy rate throughout our network of routes, at around 85%, and given that we will offer a daily flight on single cabin 150-seat aircraft, we expect to transport approximately 93,000 passengers during the first year of operations”.

Andrew O’Brian emphasized that “the start of operations by JetBlue in Quito is an important milestone for connectivity between Ecuador and the United States. It is the result of intense work carried out over a period of more than two years”. He thanked JetBlue for its trust in choosing Corporación Quiport as its strategic partner in Ecuador and choosing Mariscal Sucre Airport for its operations.

For her part, Catalina Bretón expressed her satisfaction in bringing the “JetBlue Experience” to Ecuador. “We have shown that through our unique business model which combines low fares with high quality service, we have been successful not only in the United States but in Latin America and the Caribbean”.

The arrival of JetBlue is expected to have a positive impact on tourism from the United States and will provide Ecuadorian passengers with a greater offer of destinations from Fort Lauderdale since this airport acts as a connection hub from which JetBlue currently offers non-stop flights to more than 40 destinations, boosting connectivity to and from Quito.