JetBlue Starts Direct Flights from Manchester to Three Florida Cities
JetBlue’s first plane landed at Orlando from Manchester-Boston Regional Airport Thursday morning at 9:15 a.m. The airline now flies direct to Fort Myers and Fort Lauderdale as well.
“We want to make money,” said Daniel Schurz, JetBlue’s head of revenue, network and enterprise planning, to WMUR. “We want to ensure that the flights are popular, and then if we see good success in the first few months, we’re starting to plan our winter schedule for next year right now, and assuming we see good success, we’ll look for more destinations to add.”
These flights bring new opportunities for New Hampshire travelers. Fort Myers and Fort Lauderdale routes will operate mainly during winter months, giving vacation-goers more choices.
Airport director Ted Kitchens notices changes in flight prices across the region. “The first thing we have to do is make JetBlue work, and we have to make all of our airlines work,” said Kitchens. “We have to make people stop thinking that the only low fares are in Logan. That used to be the case, but that is no longer the case.”
Manchester caught JetBlue’s attention because of its solid customer base. Passengers on the first day saw many empty seats – something the airline hopes to change soon.
With these new routes, Manchester’s travel options continue expanding. The airport aims to become a real competitor to Boston’s Logan International.
Local business leaders expect these flights to boost the economy. When cold weather arrives, winter travelers will have straight shots to Florida’s sunshine.
Good results from these first routes might open doors to more destinations. How well they do in the coming months will determine next winter’s flight schedule.
