JetBlue has become the first airline to fly direct scheduled services between New York’s JFK Airport and Puerto Vallarta on Mexico’s sunny Pacific coast. The launch flight landed in Puerto Vallarta on Saturday afternoon with JetBlue set to ply the route four times a week using a mixture of Airbus A320 and A321 aircraft.
“We are thrilled to welcome visitors from the Northeast to Puerto Vallarta thanks to this new direct service from JetBlue,” said Luis Villaseñor Nolasco, Managing Director for the Puerto Vallarta Tourism Board.
Four JetBlue flights a week to Mexico’s Puerto Vallarta
Pushing back at 09:00 at JFK, JetBlue flight B6 2097 will make the six hour and ten minute flight southwest every Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Wednesday, landing at Puerto Vallarta (PVR) at 14:10. Heading home to New York, JetBlue flight B6 2098 departs Puerto Vallarta at 15:26 on the same day and arrives at JFK at 21:31.
A search of JetBlue’s booking engine reveals the airline has a single cabin class A321neo operating the route for the remainder of this month. Seating 200 economy class passengers, JetBlue is offering Blue Basic, Blue, and Blue Extra fares on the sector.
In addition to being the only airline flying the JFK-PVR route, JetBlue says it now offers more weekly flights between greater New York City and Mexican Pacific coast destinations than any other airline. JetBlue’s other Mexican destinations are Cancun and Los Cabos. JetBlue flies to both cities from New York’s JFK.
“As demand for travel continues to increase, we are excited to introduce the new route to Puerto Vallarta, offering our Northeast customers a new destination in Mexico,” said Andrea Lusso, Vice President of network planning at JetBlue. “We look forward to continuing expanding our network and international presence in Latin America as part of our growth strategy.”
JetBlue’s Puerto Vallarta flights a result of the Northeast Alliance
The airline says its newest route is a product of JetBlue’s contentious Northeast Alliance (NEA) and advances its New York focus city strategy. In addition to its domestic flying, JetBlue now flies to over 30 international destinations in more than two dozen countries across the Caribbean, Central and Upper South America.
The new JetBlue route boosts the number of airlines operating into Puerto Vallarta’s Licenciado Gustavo Díaz Ordaz International Airport to 21. All the major US carriers jet in, including NEA partner American Airlines (from Dallas Fort Worth), United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines, and Frontier Airways. Air Canada and Swoop also fly in.
“For Grupo Aeropuertuario del Pacifico (GAP) welcoming JetBlue for the first time in Puerto Vallarta is a celebration,” said Briana Gisel Banda Renteria, the Puerto Vallarta International Airport’s spokesperson.
International passenger arrivals from North America (which totaled 306,800 in January 2022) are 25% down on January 2019 numbers, but the airport sees JetBlue’s arrival as a sign of confidence. The drop in international arrivals is also partially offset by a 32.5% increase in domestic passenger numbers. In January 2019, 122,400 domestic passengers moved through Puerto Vallarta Airport. This January, that number rose to 162,200 passengers. The airport’s spokesperson suggests JetBlue’s arrival is just a warm-up act, saying the best is yet to come.
Source: Simple Flying
