JetBlue Fills Gap From Jacksonville to JFK Low-Cost Airline Will Be Running Three Nonstop Round-Trip Flights Daily. Tickets Go on Sale Today.
Posted on: Tuesday, 28 March 2006, 18:00 CST
By TIMOTHY J. GIBBONS
A month after losing Delta Air Lines' direct flight to New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, Jacksonville travelers have another option for getting to the Big Apple as a long-sought-after airline enters the local market.
JetBlue Airways Corp. will announce today that it will begin three, nonstop roundtrip daily flights to JFK on June 15. The morning, afternoon and evening flights are the culmination of a courtship the Jacksonville Aviation Authority has conducted for years.
"We get a significant boost in seats," said Michael Stewart, spokesman for the authority. "We think travelers are going to be excited."
JetBlue made the decision to begin service to the First Coast to "continue being New York's leading airline to Florida," said Brandon Hamm, manager of corporate communications for the airline, whose very first route was between Buffalo, N.Y., and Fort Lauderdale. "There was no low-cost nonstop service between New York and Jacksonville, and with Delta departing, there would be no service between JFK and Jacksonville."
The timing of the flights will allow travelers to easily connect to JetBlue flights to New England and upstate New York, Hamm said.
The company is still working out final pricing details, but Hamm said customers can expect to find fares between $109 and $299 each way, or $218 to $598 round trip. Tickets will go on sale today.
The past few months have been rocky for the JetBlue, which posted a $42 million loss in the last quarter of 2005, an amount larger than expected and the first time its balance books have seen red ink. The company predicted that it won't make a profit this year, at least in part because of fuel prices that rose higher than expected.
Earlier this week, JetBlue chief executive officer David Neeleman said at an investor conference that the airline planned to add two destination cities as it focused on less competitive routes where it can charge more for tickets, Reuters reported.
Even as JetBlue looks to hike its prices a bit, its entry into the Jacksonville market should be good news for fliers, said Steve Crandall, president of Discount Travel Brokerage Services in Jacksonville.
"More flights means more opportunity for discounts," he said. "It's going to put extra capacity into our market, and extra capacity leads to lower fares."timothy.gibbons@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4103
Source: Florida Times Union
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