“We Want to Provide Peerless Flying Experience to Cuba”

Claudia Gonzalez is JetBlue’s Marketing Director for Latin America and the Caribbean. Caribbean News Digital and the Excelencias Magazine sat down with her within the framework of DATE 2016 in the Dominican Republic a few months ago. Now aboard the company’s inaugural flight to Cuba -the first regular commercial route between the two countries in fifty years- Caribbean News Digital talked to Mrs. Gonzalez on the occasion of this historic Cuba flight that landed on August 31 in the city of Santa Clara.

 

Since the historic announcement made by Cuban President Raul Castro and U.S. President Barack Obama on December 17, 2014, to restore diplomatic ties between the two countries that had been severed since 1961, JetBlue worked closely with Cuba’s Ministry of Transportation and the U.S. Department of Transportation, ECASA (the island nation’s airport authority) and the city of Santa Clara in anticipation for this historic trip.

 

“We are currently waiting for the DOT clearance and start flying to Havana, in addition to flights to Santa Clara, Holguin and Camaguey,” said Mrs. Gonzalez on her way to Santa Clara. “We’re proud to have US DOT Secretary Anthony Foxx on this flight, as well as member of Florida CBB, our president and CEO Mr. Robin Hayes, as well as authorities and news media organizations from both Cuba and the United States,” she told CND.

 

When asked about how many flights JetBlue will serve Cuba with, Mrs. Gonzalez revealed the company intends to have seven weekly flights between the two nations. “We want to provide a peerless flying experience to Cuba,” she averred.

 

JetBlue’s airfare of $99 for the one-way ticket from the U.S. to Cuba has prompted other American carriers to engage in what seems to be a fledgling price war for their trips to the Caribbean island. This week, American Airlines announced a staggering low fare of just $74 for the one-way leg from Miami to Holguin, in eastern Cuba.

 

“I’m not so sure there’ll be a price war between JetBlue and the other airlines, not only for the Cuban market, but also in all Latin America and the Caribbean. We’ve become famous and popular for our unbeatable low airfares. I’d like to say our $99 airfare for the one-way ticket also includes 50 lb. free for the first baggage and just $35 for the second luggage, plus the price of the travel insurance policy,” Mrs. Gonzalez said.

 

“In the case of Cuba, we’ve come up with booking platform that allows passengers traveling to Cuba to choose from one of the 12 travel categories authorized by the U.S. government. We’ll also sell out-of-the-counter visas, a process that was quite complex in the past and it has now turned out to be very friendly,” she concluded.

 

 

Jose Ramon Cabañas, Cuba’s ambassador to the U.S., was also aboard the JetBlue aircraft that landed in Santa Clara. For a man who’s seen the worst and best of times in U.S.-Cuba relations, this historic moment was very emotional and special.

 

“We’re all so excited. It’s indeed a historic moment for the Broward County, for Fort Lauderdale and for Cuba,” he told Caribbean News Digital aboard JetBlue’s Cuba-bound flight on August 31. “We must say this has come to pass just three months from the rights announcement made by the U.S. Department of Transportation and less than six months following the signing of the bilateral agreement between the two countries. We’ve worked really hard and fast, and the end results are paying off,” the Cuban ambassador added.

 

 

Source: www.caribbeannewsdigital.com