TORONTO — Seat capacity from Canada to Jamaica is up 62.1% for winter 2027, according to the latest stats from the Jamaica Tourist Board.
The Canadian market leads the way in the JTB’s just-released Winter 2027 Airlift Outlook, which shows a grand total of 1,324,965 airline seats from all airline partners worldwide allocated to Jamaica for January – April 2027.
That’s 251,739 more seats than the same period in 2026, an overall increase of 23.5%.
Canada has the biggest percentage jump, followed by the U.S. at 23.1% and Latin America at 2%. Both Canada and Latin America are also running ahead of their 2025 capacity levels.
FILLING THE SEATS
The big airlift jump for winter 2027 comes on the heels of winter 2026’s recovery season from the October 2025 hit by Hurricane Melissa.
With Cuba out of this winter’s programs, many markets including Canada have also added capacity to other sun destinations.
For Jamaica’s tourism officials, the focus now turns to filling those seats.
“Our airline partners have given Jamaica a strong foundation for the winter season which reinforces their confidence in us,” said Jamaica’s Minister of Tourism, Edmund Bartlett. “The risk of the destination being underserved by airlift has been significantly managed down, and we expect the seats now committed to support strong occupancy across all segments of the accommodation sector. Our focus now is on converting those seats into bookings.”
The year-over-year gains come as Jamaica continues rebuilding its tourism infrastructure following Hurricane Melissa.
While winter airlift is up significantly over 2026, overall seat capacity remains 7.6% below 2025 levels, or 92.4% of the capacity available two years earlier.
90% OF HOTEL INVENTORY IN OPERATION
On the accommodation side, about 3,500 hotel rooms, representing 10% of Jamaica’s total room stock, are expected to remain unavailable this winter. That leaves roughly 90% of the island’s hotel inventory in operation.
The JTB is keeping a close watch on reopening dates and airline schedules as more properties return to service post-Melissa.
Recently reopened resorts include Royalton’s five Jamaica properties (Royalton Blue Waters, Royalton Hideaway Blue Waters, Royalton Negril, Royalton Hideaway Negril and Royalton CHIC Jamaica).
Resorts scheduled to reopen later this fall include Sandals South Coast (Nov. 18), Grand Bahia Principe Jamaica (Dec. 1) and Sandals Caribbean Cay (formerly Sandals Royal Caribbean) and Sandals Montego Bay on Dec. 18.
Key reopenings for early 2027 include Jewel Grande Montego Bay and Breathless Montego Bay (Feb. 1). Meanwhile Hyatt is targeting May 1 for the reopening of Hyatt Zilara Rose Hall, Hyatt Ziva Rose Hall and Secrets Montego Bay.
“Our teams in the various markets will continue to work with airline, tour operator and hotel partners to convert seats into bookings, while monitoring schedules, booking pace and reopening dates. We are grateful for all our stakeholders who are working to ensure we achieve this conversion,” said Donovan White, JTB’s Director of Tourism.
