🚨🚨 NEW ROUTE ALERT 🚨🚨

Spirit Airlines has announced flights from Bradley International Airport in Connecticut to Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay, Jamaica starting December 15th, 2022.

Flights will operate year-round, four times per week. The city in northwest Jamaica is the country’s third most populous and represents one of the top resort destinations in the Caribbean region.

“The announcement with Spirit Airlines not only makes it easier for our state’s residents to travel to Jamaica directly, but it also strengthens Bradley’s reputation as one of the best and most convenient airports available,” Gov. Ned Lamont said in a statement. “Bradley is a key economic driver for Connecticut, and the more airlines and destinations that we can add from the airport, the more attractive our state becomes to companies that are seeking to grow their own operations here.”

For many years, a number of elected officials and other advocates have sought to launch a route from Windsor Locks-based Bradley to Jamaica to serve the state’s large Jamaican-American community and bolster tourism and trade. There are more than 56,000 residents with Jamaican ancestry in Connecticut, according to Census data — and Connecticut ranks No. 5 in that category among U.S. states.

Spirit has not announced prices yet for the new route. But, “as an ultra-low-cost carrier, we definitely take a lot of pride in running the best possible fares for our customers,” Atul Kumria, Spirit’s senior director of airports, told Hearst Connecticut Media.

For Spirit, the Montego Bay service will complement its existing routes between Bradley and the Florida cities of Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Miami, Orlando, and Tampa, as well as Myrtle Beach, S.C.