JetBlue Launches New Service to Puerto Rico from West Palm Beach, Florida

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WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., May 15, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- JetBlue Airways (Nasdaq: JBLU), Puerto Rico's largest carrier (a), is launching its 13th destination from San Juan Luis Munoz Marin International Airport (SJU): Palm Beach International Airport (PBI) in Florida. Flights are on sale now for as low as $93 each way from West Palm Beach today through May 25, 2012, at www.jetblue.com/new, for travel between May 29 and June 21, 2012 (b). Further, to celebrate, JetBlue Getaways is putting a two-night vacation package, including hotel and airfare, on sale for only $325 (c)!

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110404/NY76997LOGO )

"With the addition of West Palm Beach, we now serve five destinations in Florida from The Commonwealth, which speaks to JetBlue's popularity with the Puerto Rican community," said John Checketts, director of route planning for JetBlue. "We look forward to continued growth as we move into a new home in San Juan and ensure that we deliver the best experience in the skies every day for our Floridian and Puerto Rican customers -- including convenience of frequent flights, excellence in customer service and superior product offerings."

"JetBlue has been a tremendous airline partner to our destination," said Palm Beach County Director of Airports Bruce Pelly. "We are so pleased to be entering a Caribbean market and know its anticipated success will open even more doors into more markets for PBIA."

We are thrilled for this opportunity to connect the oldest city under the American Flag with America's First Resort Destination," said Palm Beach County Convention and Visitor's Bureau President and CEO Jorge Pesquera. "The Caribbean and Latin American markets have great potential for us here in The Palm Beaches and Boca Raton, and we are confident that this new service via JetBlue will allow the Puerto Rican community to finally discover the birthplace of tourism in our region and the best way to experience Florida."

"We feel honored to have the support of a great airline like JetBlue, which has maintained an important expansion trend this year. The West Palm Beach route is new to Puerto Rico, provides a new option for passengers to get to Puerto Rico. These new flight will have an economic impact surpassing $30 million to the local economy. It is for this reason that the strengthening and expansion of air access is key to the economic development in Puerto Rico and the support and trust of the airlines in the Island is decisive for all," added the Secretary of the Department of Economic Development and Commerce, Jose R. Perez-Riera.

"The growth in JetBlue flights from East Coast and Florida destinations, like the one from West Palm Beach we celebrate today, shows the importance of Puerto Rico as a major airline hub in the Caribbean. At the Puerto Rico Tourism Company we continue to work towards developing strategies and alliances to strengthen our destination's offerings, especially to niche markets such as weddings, adventures, gastronomy and nautical tourism, including fishing. The latter, in fact, is particularly attractive to JetBlue passengers and those who will now visit us from West Palm Beach, Florida," said Puerto Rico Tourism Company's Executive Director, Luis Rivera-Marin.

JetBlue's schedule between Palm Beach and San Juan:

JetBlue operates up to 21 flights from West Palm Beach, including Boston, New York (La Guardia and JFK), Newark and Westchester County.

JetBlue's flights to and from San Juan will be operated with the airline's comfortable Airbus A320 fleet. In Puerto Rico, JetBlue currently serves San Juan, Aguadilla and Ponce, with service to 13 nonstop destinations, nine within the continental US: Boston, Fort Lauderdale, Hartford, Jacksonville, New York, Newark, Orlando, Tampa and West Palm Beach and four within the Caribbean: Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, St. Maarten, St. Thomas, and St. Croix.  JetBlue provides award-winning service featuring convenient, assigned seating; a first-checked bag free (c); complimentary and unlimited name brand snacks and drinks; comfy leather seats; and more legroom than any U.S. carrier in coach (d).

About JetBlue Airways
JetBlue is the #1 airline in Puerto Rico; known for its award-winning service and free TV as much as its low fares, JetBlue offers the most legroom in coach of any U.S. airline (based on average fleet-wide seat pitch) and super-spacious Even More Space seats. JetBlue is also America's first and only airline to offer its own Customer Bill of Rights, with meaningful and specific compensation for customers inconvenienced by service disruptions within JetBlue's control. Visit www.jetblue.com/promise for details. JetBlue serves 71 cities with 700 daily flights. With JetBlue, all seats are assigned, all fares are one-way, and an overnight stay is never required. For information or reservations call 1-800-JET-BLUE (1-800-538-2583), TTY/TDD 1-800-336-5530, 1-801-365-2583, or visit www.jetblue.com.

(a) Based on total seats in and out of Puerto Rico

(b) Fare includes government taxes/fees and must be purchased for flights between West Palm Beach, FL (PBI) and San Juan, PR (SJU) on Mon., Tues., Wed., Thurs., and Sat. only.  14-day advance purchase required.  Fare is subject to availability; may not be available on all flights; may change without notice; must be purchased at time of reservation; and is one-way, nonstop, nonrefundable and nontransferable.  Reservations made one week or more prior to a flight's scheduled departure may be canceled without penalty up to 24 hours after the reservation is made.  First checked bag is free (weight and size limits apply).  Fare does not include fees for oversized/overweight/extra baggage or other fees for products/services sold separately.  To view baggage fees and other optional services and fees, click here.  $20 fee per person applies to fares (not Award flights) purchased by phone or at an airport or ticket office.  Cancellations/changes must be made prior to scheduled departure (otherwise all money for fare is forfeited); $100 change/cancel fee per person will apply, and for changes, there may be a fare adjustment.  Cancellations receive JetBlue travel credit, valid for one year.  Proper documentation required for boarding.  Other restrictions apply.

(c) Package price is per person, based on double occupancy, must be purchased by 5/25/12 (the earlier of 11:59 PM ET or local), and is valid for packages that include specific flights listed as part of this sale.  (Flights on Mon., Tues., Wed., Thurs., and Sat. only between 5/29/12 – 6/21/12.  Limited exceptions apply.)  Price shown is sample package price found 5/10/12 on jetblue.com/getaways for travel departing PBI on 5/29 – 6/21/12 for a 2-night stay at Sheraton San Juan Resort in San Juan, PR and may not represent current savings.  Price includes hotel rates, hotel taxes, roundtrip airfare, and government taxes/fees applicable to airfare based on specified departure city.  Price will vary for other departure cities.  Package/price subject to availability; may change without notice; valid for new bookings only; capacity controlled; may not be available on all dates or with all flights; and may be restricted to certain hotel room categories. Price does not include fees for oversized/overweight/extra baggage or charges for any other products or services sold separately or not expressly included in package (such as airport transfers, hotel/resort fees, etc.).  Hotel star ratings not guaranteed.  Packages must be purchased at time of reservation and are nonrefundable and nontransferable.  Where permitted, changes/cancellations must be made prior to scheduled departure and in accordance with hotel change/cancel policies, otherwise all money for package may be forfeited; $100 change/cancel fee per person will apply, plus any hotel penalties, and for changes, there may be an increase in package price. Cancellations are for Getaways credit only, valid for 1 year. Proper documentation required for boarding. Other restrictions apply. See full Getaways Terms & Conditions for details.

(d) Baggage weight and size limits apply.

(e) JetBlue offers the most legroom in coach, based on average fleet-wide seat pitch for U.S. airlines.

SOURCE JetBlue Airways