Did you know? Jamaica's first commercial flight, in 1930, was a Pan American flying boat carrying mail

Jamaica's commercial aviation began on the water. According to the Jamaica Civil Aviation Authority, the first commercial flight landed in Kingston Harbour on 10 December 1930, arriving from Miami. It was a Pan American flying boat, and it carried mail rather than passengers.

The authority's history traces the first reported flight in Jamaica back to 21 December 1911, by Jessee Seligman, and notes that Caribbean Airways was registered as a company in June 1930. On 21 November 1931, Charles Lindbergh brought Pan American's inaugural Sikorsky Clipper to the island.

Land airports came later. The authority records that the Civil Aviation Department was established on 1 April 1947 and that, in 1948, Palisadoes Airport, now Norman Manley International, and Montego Bay Airport, now Sangster International, were established, together with the Kingston Area Control Centre. A BOAC Comet 4 jet arrived in Montego Bay on 31 January 1960, and Air Jamaica made its inaugural flight on 1 May 1966.

For travellers, the names are worth knowing: the airports in Kingston and Montego Bay both trace their origins to 1948, even though they now carry different names. Anyone flying to Jamaica should check which of the two airports their flight uses and confirm current entry requirements with official Jamaican sources before departure.