SJU is Broke But....Up 13% Capacity, B6 Dominate
According to the Puerto Rico Tourism Company, the US is where most of the visitors to the island come from, with Europe second. The breakdown of the European visitor market is as follows according to the group: UK (18%), Spain (18%), Germany (16%), France (10%) and Italy (7%). Countries served by the Lufthansa Group take up 10% (Belgium – Brussels Airlines, Switzerland – SWISS, and Austrian – Austrian Airlines), none of which serve Puerto Rico directly, while the remainder of countries in Europe make up the final 21%. Puerto Rico is the third largest country market in the Caribbean in terms of monthly seats after the Dominican Republic and Cuba. Overall it accounts for 13% of all monthly seat capacity within the region based on OAG data for January 2016, up 1.2% when compared to the same time period in 2015. However, Puerto Rico has dropped from being the second largest market last year, a result of seat capacity to Cuba rising by 15%, while Puerto Rico’s has only risen by around 13%. In total there are eight commercial airports that serve Puerto Rico, with San Juan (also known as Luis Muñoz Marín) being the largest. The other airports are: Aguadilla, Ponce, San Juan (Fernando Luis Ribas Dominicci), Vieques and Mayagüez, while Ceiba and Culebra airports are also seeing inter-island services. Only San Juan, Aguadilla and Ponce airports welcome international services to destinations outside of the Caribbean.
Although the North American carrier only recorded a growth in monthly seat capacity over the past 12 months of 2.9%, JetBlue Airways remains the number one airline operating in Puerto Rico. In total, the carrier operates 13 routes between the US and Puerto Rico, with the busiest being the link from New York JFK to San Juan. In total, JetBlue Airways serves three airports in Puerto Rico including San Juan (nine routes), Aguadilla and Ponce (two routes each to both New York JFK and Orlando). Of the top 12 carriers, American Airlines has seen the biggest increase in seat capacity (39%), helped by the finalisation of the merger with US Airways which has contributed to this figure. Excluding the oneworld member from the picture, the carrier which has incurred the biggest natural growth is United Airlines, with the Star Alliance member recording an increase in seats of 32%. Two airlines within the top 12 which have recorded a decline in capacity are Southwest Airlines and Cape Air, which are down 2.9% and 12% respectively. Outside of the top 12, one new carrier to the island is National Airlines (18th largest), which on 16 December inaugurated twice-weekly services to San Juan from Orlando Sanford. After commencing services to Puerto Rico in July, Volaris becomes the nation’s 20th largest carrier, placing behind WestJet. In total, 25 airlines serve Puerto Rico this winter.
