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Tags: New Routes / Travel News / JetBlue / Spirit Airlines / E-190 / → All Tags

Tracking JetBlue's Latin America Takeover

Early adopters may remember all the way back to before 9/11, when all JetBlue seemed to do was ferry people from Upstate New York to JFK. Now, nearly nine years after its first flight, the carrier is pushing ever-southward, with its latest new route, between Orlando and San Jose, Costa Rica, set to start March 26, 2009.

It's one of many new Caribbean and Latin American routes JetBlue has planned for the coming months. Next week, flights leave both Tampa and DC for Cancun for the first time, and Dulles will also get a connection to San Juan, Puerto Rico. In addition to Costa Rica, the airline will also start flying to Bogota and Nassau from Orlando early next year.

Why the big push at a time when other airlines are cutting service? We think it might have something to do with another LCC: Spirit has heaps of flights to the Caribbean and Latin America on Airbus 319s with 31 inches of seat pitch. But JetBlue is planning to fly E-190s--complete with live TV, two-by-two seating and at least 32 inches of pitch--to Costa Rica. With both carriers offering low fares to San Jose, who would you choose?

Related Stories:
· Open Skies over Colombia [Jaunted]

[Photo: Cubbie_n_Vegas]

Tags: Copa Airlines / New Routes / 737 / Embraer / E-190 / → All Tags

What Fuel Prices? Copa Adds New Routes, New Planes

Continuing the trend of foreign carriers that are doing just fine despite doom and gloom in the US aviation market, Copa Airlines is adding new service to cities across South America and the Caribbean and will add six new planes to its fleet by the end of this year.

All the new routes will be out of Tocumen International Airport in Panama, the airline's long-time base, and will serve Aruba, Bolivia, Brazil, Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela. Service starts in December.

On the aircraft front, six new Boeing 737s will bring the Copa fleet up to 43 planes. The carrier also already owns more than a dozen Embraer 190s, which are about to get really popular in Brazil.

Related Stories:
· Copa Airlines Announces Expansion Plans [Official Site]
· New Routes coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: egmb757lover]

Tags: Richard Branson / David Neeleman / New Airlines / Embraer / E-190 / → All Tags

Top Secret Airline Watch: Embraer Confirms That Neeleman's Planning Something

Looks like David Neeleman really is up to something down in Brazil. His go-to airline manufacturer, Embraer, confirmed to the AP that the ex-JetBlue CEO is looking to buy some mid-range jets.

Neeleman isn't talking about his plans, and JetBlue insists it has nothing to do with a possible new carrier in South America. (We of course are dreaming of a collaboration with Richard Branson.)

The two major airlines in Brazil use bigger planes than the E-190s Neeleman is shopping for. But he certainly has experience with the 100-seaters his looking to buy: JetBlue flies the same planes on shorter, in-demand routes in the US.

Related Stories:
· Embraer Confirms Talks to Sell Jets [AP, via IHT]
· Neeleman's Latest Moves in Brazil [Jaunted]
· A Neeleman-Branson Airline? [Jaunted]