The Jamaican Government’s push to lure higher-end travellers into the island through the Ian Fleming International Airport will be boosted, come November, when American Airlines joins the list of airlines that have already added the Boscobel location to their schedules.
American, under its American Eagle Regional Brand, will operate non-stop flights from Miami in the United States to the Ian Fleming International Airport (IFIA) in St Mary.
Director of Tourism, Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB), Donovan White said the flights into IFIA will increase access to the zone stretching from Oracabessa, St Mary to Port Antonio, Portland, which the Government is looking to develop to cater to higher-end travellers.
“It provides easier and more direct access to this zone, which includes the northeast coastlines of Oracabessa, Port Maria, St Ann’s Bay, Runaway Bay, Discovery Bay, and Ocho Rios,” he pointed out.
White was speaking at a recent ceremony to welcome the arrival of the inaugural Quality Corporate Aircraft Services (QCAS) Aero flight from Fort Lauderdale International Airport to IFIA.
He noted that the additional flights into the island are part of the Blue Ocean Strategy aimed at tapping into new markets and creating linkages that support smaller to medium-sized businesses and individual entrepreneurs operating within the tourism sector.
“Utilising this model of development for tourism will also, ultimately, have a positive impact on other sectors of the Jamaican economy to which tourism provides linkages and, through them, potential job creation and benefits to local communities. This is the reason we continue to add new flights coming into different parts of the island. It is critical to our recovery,” he said.
Jamaica has partnered with QCAS to offer a chartered, premium, nonstop flight from Fort Lauderdale International Airport to IFIA.
The IFIA recently welcomed the inaugural weekly flight from Providenciales, Turks and Caicos, via interCaribbean Airways.
