US-based JetBlue Airways has entered the Trinidadian market with once-daily flights from Port of Spain to New York.

And even while the new service might hardly dent Caribbean Airlines’ (CAL) dominance there — with three daily flights to New York the Trinidadian airline currently carries 95 per cent of passengers on that route — the addtion of a daily flight to Fort Lauderdale by the low- cost carrier might prove to be more daunting for the regional airline.

The Florida destination accounts for just 7.4 per cent of passenger movements between the United States and the twin-island republic, but Caribbean Airlines is the only airline presently servicing that route.

For New York, which is JetBlue’s hometown, 38 per cent of travel from Trinidad to the US goes through that route.

JetBlue has been making significant headway into the Caribbean, capturing market share that traditionally has been held by domestic airlines or longer-serving entities, such as American Airlines.

“We are excited to continuously expand our network in the Caribbean,” said JetBlue President Robin Hayes. “We now offer nonstop service to 25 destinations in the region with up to 200 daily flights (or about a quarter of all its flights) to, from and within

the Caribbean.”

Jetblue also plans to launch additional daily flights to Montego Bay in Jamaica and Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic, both from Fort Lauderdale, as well as a flight from Newark to Sanitago, Dominican Republic, on May 1.

The newer US-based carrier is already slightly ahead of CAL in Jamaica, in terms of passenger airlift to the US, mainly because of the New York leg, but JetBlue should take over in Fort Lauderdale come May.

And even though in Jamaica it is still a good deal behind American and US Airways, which should consummate their marriage shortly, JetBlue is already by far the dominant carrier in Dominican Republic.

It will likely increase its lead ahead of other airlines with the two additional flights to be added in two months, but with 35 per cent of the passenger airlift to and from the US, it is hardly in jeopardy of losing its number one position in the Spanish-speaking Caribbean country — even after American and US Airways merges. JetBlue carries 30 million customers a year to 84 cities in the US, Caribbean and Latin America with an average of 800 daily flights.