JetBlue Airways will begin taking off from Long Island’s MacArthur Airport in Ronkonkoma in October, with nonstop service to three Florida destinations, Islip Town officials announced Tuesday.
JetBlue, the sixth-largest airline in the United States, will become the fourth airline to depart from the Islip Town-owned airport, joining Southwest Airlines, Frontier Airlines and Breeze Airways.
Starting in late October, JetBlue will operate daily service between Islip and Orlando, as well as four round-trip flights per week between Long Island Airport and Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach.
“Our Long Island Airport customers have expressed obvious enthusiasm for more air service at ISP, and JetBlue is consistently one of the most frequent requests,” Islip Town Supervisor Angie Carpenter said in a communicated.
JetBlue flights from Islip to Florida
- Flights to Orlando will begin October 24 with daily flights departing at 7:30 a.m. and landing at 10:30 a.m. in Islip. Flights from Islip to Orlando will depart at 11:15 a.m. and arrive at 2:15 p.m.
- Flights to West Palm Beach will begin October 24 and operate Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays. Flights will depart West Palm Beach at 10:55 a.m. and arrive in Islip at 1:55 p.m. Flights will depart Islip for West Palm Beach at 2:40 p.m. and arrive at 5:40 p.m.
- Flights to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood will begin October 25, four times a week on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Flights from Fort Lauderdale to Islip will depart at 8:35 a.m. and arrive at 11:35 a.m. Flights from Islip will depart at 12:20 p.m. and arrive in Fort Lauderdale at 3:20 p.m.
The addition of the major airline is the latest in a series of upgrades at the airport that have encompassed more than $100 million in planning and investment projects since 2016, including a ground transportation hub, a skybridge and a fire emergency building.
The pending $2.8 billion Midway Crossing proposal would also build a walkway connecting a new MacArthur terminal to the Long Island Rail Station in Ronkonkoma. The proposal calls for 2.7 million square feet of new construction, including a convention center, a 300-room hotel and health sciences facilities.
City officials, along with JetBlue’s announcement, also touted Tuesday a nearly 23 percent increase in domestic seats for airlines flying out of MacArthur in April of this year, compared to April of this year. last.
“JetBlue has been a New York airline for 24 years. … Our community has been clamoring for JetBlue service,” said Airport Commissioner Shelley LaRose-Arken, adding that Ronkonkoma Airport expects an increase of the number of passengers accordingly.
Florida is the most popular destination in all of New York, she said, including MacArthur.
Dave Jehn, JetBlue vice president for network planning and airline partnerships, also said the three destinations JetBlue chose to fly from MacArthur are among the most popular destinations for Long Islanders.
About 1.2 passengers arrived and departed from MacArthur Airport in 2023, LaRose-Arken said.
Ahead of the summer season, MacArthur’s Transportation Security Administration also deployed new identification technology, with a camera designed to scan photo IDs and confirm a traveler’s identity and flight details.
Before JetBlue, Breeze Airways was the airline to recently add service from Islip, with flights beginning in 2022.. JetBlue founder David Neeleman launched the low-cost carrier in 2018 and began flying in 2021.
JetBlue ranked ninth out of the nation’s 10 largest airlines in canceled flights and on-time arrivals last year, according to figures from the U.S. Department of Transportation.
News Source : www.newsday.com
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