A Delta aircraft touches down at Sangster International on June 9, on its inaugural flight to Montego Bay in this photo taken by Net2Market.com. - Contributed

Delta Air Lines last week inaugurated flights from JFK Airport in New York to Sangster International.

Delta will fly a Boeing 737-800 on the New York-MoBay route six days per week, Wednesday through Monday, touching down in Jamaica near midday and returning mid-afternoon.

The first flight was on June 9.

"We are responding to our customers' demands," said Miguel Lopez, Delta's commercial director for Central American and the Caribbean.

"We are optimistic with the advanced bookings that we have received and look forward to continue serving our customers traveling to Montego Bay."

Pleased with results

The airline, with which Air Jamaica has a code-share arrangement, already flies from Atlanta into MoBay and Kingston.

Delta, which recently emerged from bankruptcy protection, and having fought off a US$9.8 billion hostile takeover bid by rival US Airways Group, says it has added more than a dozen routes into the Caribbean in the past 12 months.

"Delta continues to be bullish on New York and is pleased with the results of our ongoing expansionat JFK," said Delta's Glen Hauenstein, quoted in a company release.

"We are responding to our customers' demands, and we're pleased to offer more non-stop service from JFK to exciting leisure destinations in the Caribbean and beyond as we build JFK into a world-class Delta hub."

The airline offers about 700 weekly flights to 63 destinations in Latin America and the Caribbean.