by Brian Major
Last updated: 1:50 PM ET, Mon January 22, 2024
Delta Air Lines launched non-stop weekly flights between
Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport the Turks and Caicos’ Providenciales
International Airport on January 20. The Saturday-departing service aboard
186-passenger Boeing 737-800 aircraft will extend through April 6, according to
Turks and Caicos officials.
The new Minneapolis-Providenciales flights will “[expand] the
Turks and Caicos Islands' accessibility to the [Midwestern] United States,” said
officials at Experience Turks and Caicos (ETC), the country’s destination
management organization. The United
States is the primary source market for the destination, according to ETC.
"We are targeting the affluent and lifestyle luxury travelers
from feeder markets [including] Fargo and Minot in North Dakota and Omaha,
Nebraska," said Josephine Connolly, the Turks and Caicos’ minister of tourism.
"As a luxury destination, we are thrilled to have direct
access to Minneapolis, which provides increased visitation and spend in our
multi-island destination during the winter season," Connolly said.
"We are pleased to strengthen our partnership with
Delta Airlines with the launch of their Minneapolis non-stop service to the
Turks and Caicos,” said Arlington Musgrove, the Turks and Caicos’ minister of
immigration and border service.
"This will be the airline’s third route to our destination,
demonstrating their continued commitment to assist us in providing airlift to
our country from the United States," said Musgrove.
The Turks and Caicos archipelago posted significant
year-over-year tourism growth in 2023, welcoming 535,893 airline visitors between
January and October, according to Ministry of Tourism data.
The total represents year-over-year growth of 4.8 percent
compared with the same period in 2022 and also represents an 18 percent
increase over the 450,443 airline visitors the Turks and Caicos reported in
2019.
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