JetBlue coming to MHT with flights starting in January

Jonathan Phelps, The New Hampshire Union Leader, Manchester
·4 min read

Jul. 24—JetBlue will start flying out of Manchester-Boston Regional Airport with destinations to three Florida airports at the start of next year

The flights to Orlando, Fort Lauderdale and Fort Myers are set to begin on Jan. 23.

Previously, New Hampshire was the only New England state JetBlue didn't service. The surprise announcement Wednesday afternoon came after decades of airport officials' fruitless efforts to lure the carrier.

"What the community has wanted for 20 years was JetBlue," said Airport Director Ted Kitchens. "Every time we announced new airlines it was, 'Why can't you get JetBlue?'"

The airline plans daily flights to Orlando and weekly seasonal flights to the other two Florida destinations on an Airbus A320 aircraft, which have 162 seats.

Earlier Wednesday, Avelo Airlines announced two new twice-weekly nonstop flights to Florida and North Carolina from MHT starting this fall.

The additions follow Breeze Airways' launch of flights to Charleston, South Carolina, and Orlando last month.

Avelo's new Manchester flights are among 18 additional routes announced Wednesday by the airline.

"This is one of the largest single-day expansions in the airport probably since Southwest came to the airport back in the late '90s," Kitchens said.

Other carriers at the airport include American, Southwest and United. Spirit Airlines has said it plans to return to the airport this winter after a pause in service, but nothing has been announced.

Sun Country Airlines is set to launch flights to Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport on Aug. 22.

JetBlue's launch in Manchester comes after JetBlue added 20% more seats in New England this past winter, according to a news release. Deals are available right now for $49 fares to celebrate the expansion.

The airport had been trying to lure JetBlue since the day it launched out of John F. Kennedy International Airport in 2000.

"I've probably had no fewer than 20 conversations with JetBlue myself," said Kitchens, who became airport director in 2018.

Destinations

The airport has seen an increase in flights to Florida since Spirit Airlines began service in 2021, the airport's first new carrier in 17 years.

The new Avelo flights will go to Concord-Padgett Regional Airport, located just minutes from Charlotte, and Lakeland International Airport, located between Tampa and Orlando, according to a news release. The fares start at $62 one-way.

The service Orlando/Lakeland is scheduled on Mondays and Fridays and will begin on Oct. 25.

Avelo started at MHT with a single route to Raleigh-Durham International Airport last year.

Avelo CEO Andrew Levy said the alternative airports are smaller and "incredibly easy to use" for travelers.

The Lakeland airport is about an hour away from Orlando and about 40 minutes from Tampa.

"It is incredibly well situated if you're going to the Disney World area of Orlando," Levy said in a taped interview. "It is also very close to the Tampa Bay region. It's got great geography. It is a place you get in and out of very quickly because of the small convenient nature of the airport."

Southwest and Breeze also offer flights to Orlando. Spirit Airlines had flights to Orlando before it suspended service.

Southwest had five daily flights to Orlando when the airport saw a peak of 4.3 million passengers in 2005. Last year, the airport saw about 1.3 million passengers, which was down 1.1% from the year before.

"What this does is gives the consumer multiple options to get down there," Kitchens said, which can help travelers with bargain-hunting.

The Avelo service to Charlotte/Concord, North Carolina, will be Thursdays and Sundays beginning on Nov. 7.

Manchester is the 10th airport Jet Blue will service in New England.

"They've had good service and a good track record down in Providence," Kitchens said. "One of the things we showed them was the type of passenger that they would attract in Manchester from an income basis and those types of things will be the exact same type of passenger that is currently flying JetBlue out of Providence and also out of Boston."

Taylor Caswell, commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Business and Economic Affairs, said the additional flights increase the state's opportunities for business and leisure travel.

"These new markets allow us to introduce the state as a new destination for visitors, businesses, and workforce talent. Positioning the state to build off an already strong business and tourism economy," he said.

Kitchens hopes to eventually launch more service out West, with 40% of passengers heading to destinations west of the Mississippi River.