JetBlue has opened a new daily nonstop between Fort Lauderdale and Cali, making the Colombian city its fourth destination in the country. The first flight operated on 15 October 2026, and the airline says the route will be flown with Airbus A320 aircraft from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL) to Alfonso Bonilla Aragón International Airport (CLO).
Cali joins Cartagena and Medellín on the JetBlue map, and it arrives only weeks after the carrier started Fort Lauderdale–Barranquilla service earlier in October. Taken together, the two launches give JetBlue four Colombian cities and a noticeably deeper presence in a market it has been building from South Florida.
Why Cali, and why now
Known as the "Salsa Capital of the World", Cali is one of Colombia's largest cities and a commercial and cultural centre for the southwest of the country. JetBlue is pitching the route at a mix of travellers: people visiting friends and relatives, leisure passengers exploring the region and business travellers. Passengers starting in Cali can also connect over Fort Lauderdale to the rest of the JetBlue network.
"The addition of Cali marks another important milestone in JetBlue's continued growth in Colombia, extending our award-winning service and competitive fares to even more customers," said Daniel Shurz, JetBlue's senior vice president for revenue, network and enterprise planning. He added that the service gives customers more ways to travel between Colombia and South Florida and reflects the airline's focus on "growing in markets where we see strong customer demand and opportunities to offer greater choice and competition".
Latin America and the Caribbean already account for roughly one-third of JetBlue's overall capacity, according to the airline, so a steady drip of new Colombian points fits a pattern rather than marking a change of direction.
Fort Lauderdale keeps growing
The bigger story behind Cali is Fort Lauderdale itself. FLL was JetBlue's first destination and is now one of its main focus cities, and the airline says it offers more flights and more nonstop destinations from the airport than any other carrier.
The pace of growth has been rapid. In July, JetBlue launched nonstop service from Fort Lauderdale to eight destinations in a single week. Since December 2025 it has added 12 nonstop destinations from FLL and increased daily departures by more than 75% compared with the same period a year earlier. More is coming in November, when new flights to Columbus (CMH), Indianapolis (IND) and San Diego (SAN) begin.
This winter, JetBlue expects to run more than 150 daily departures from Fort Lauderdale at peak times, which it describes as its largest schedule ever at the airport. That gives South Florida travellers more options across the United States, Latin America and the Caribbean, and it gives JetBlue a larger domestic feed to fill international flights like Cali.
Onboard and fares
The A320 on the Cali route offers JetBlue's signature Main customer experience: free high-speed Fly-Fi, seatback entertainment with live TV at every seat, and complimentary snacks and drinks. EvenMore customers get extra legroom, priority security where available, early boarding, dedicated overhead bin space and additional onboard perks.
To mark the launch, JetBlue is selling limited one-way fares from Fort Lauderdale to Cali starting at $139 in Main and $239 in EvenMore on jetblue.com. Those prices come with tight conditions: tickets must be bought by 16 October 2026 for travel between 19 January and 9 March 2027, on Tuesdays and Wednesdays only, and baggage fees and other optional charges may apply.
What to watch
For JetBlue, Colombia is a market where a lower-cost US carrier with a strong Florida base can compete on price and convenience against connecting itineraries. Cali gives it a southwestern Colombian anchor to pair with Medellín and the Caribbean-coast cities of Cartagena and Barranquilla. How quickly the route moves beyond introductory fares, and whether JetBlue adds more Colombian points from Fort Lauderdale or other gateways, will show how far the airline intends to push this part of its network.
For now, the message from JetBlue is simple: Fort Lauderdale is its growth engine, and Colombia is one of the places that engine is pointed at.
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