It’s been another busy week for flight and airport updates in the Caribbean.
This week Seaborne Airlines announced that it is moving its main check-in counter and passenger boarding gates at Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The check-in counter is now in Terminal B, and the arrival/departure gate is now in Concourse B2A. Seaborne says the new, central location will mean shorter walking distance between gates for travelers connecting to the airline’s interline and codeshare partners, as well as United Airlines, which is also located in or near Concourse B. Additionally, Terminal B completed a renovation in December 2014 that added a number of new restaurants and shopping operations. Finally, passengers arriving from international destinations will be able to clear immigration and customs at the airport’s recently inaugurated customs facilities in Terminal A.
In flight news, this week Air Antilles announced plans to add two new flights from Pointe-a-Pitre to Dominica, starting this November. The flights will depart Point-a-Pitre Thursdays and Sundays, and operate the return route Fridays and Mondays.
In St. Maarten, this week Sunwing Airlines announced plans to resume service in 2019 as the destination continues to recover from last year’s Hurricane Irma. The airline will operate service from Toronto and Montreal.
In onboard product news, this week American Airlines activated free live TV on its first 100 domestic aircraft. Customers on those aircraft can now access 12 live TV channels, powered by DISH, streamed directly to their laptops, phones or tablets. American said it plans to extend live TV and high-speed Internet across its long-term mainline narrowbody fleet of more than 700 aircraft over the course of next year.
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, meanwhile, launched this week a new augmented reality app aimed at helping customers see whether or not their hand baggage is the correct size. The app displays a transparent, virtual KLM suitcase, which indicates the permitted dimensions for hand baggage permitted onboard, that passengers can superimpose over their bag to see if it is the correct size.
In culinary news, this week SWISS began featuring menus from the new Bürgenstock Resort Lake Lucerne in First and Business Class. Part of the “SWISS - Taste of Switzerland” program, the menus are inspired by the luxury resort’s eight restaurants. They will be available through December 4.
Finally, this week Cyprus-based Cobalt Air introduced a loyalty card, called Cobalt Elements. The card offers seat upgrades, fare discounts, priority check-in/boarding, increased baggage allowance and other incentives to frequent flyer members across Cobalt’s route network in Europe and the Middle East. The Cobalt Elements black card can be purchased in Cyprus and internationally by telephoning its dedicated membership team on +357 25023515. Eventually, a full e-commerce platform will be available, the airline said.
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