JetBlue Airways will launch flights from New York’s Long Island MacArthur Airport (ISP) for the first time this fall, continuing its push to add more profitable leisure routes.
Starting in October, the airline will open three winter sun services from ISP, connecting the airport to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL), Orlando International Airport (MCO), and Palm Beach International Airport (PBI) using Airbus A320 aircraft.
Located about 43 mi. east of JetBlue’s main base at New York John F. Kennedy International Airport, ISP has struggled to maintain hub connectivity with legacy carriers but has been more successful in attracting point-to-point routes with LCCs, especially to Florida.
The addition of ISP will therefore allow JetBlue to capture a share of the leisure flows from the Suffolk County airport’s catchment area while also stimulating new traffic. Although more than two-thirds of the airport’s existing capacity is on routes to Florida, Sabre Market Intelligence data indicates there is strong demand. In 2023, Orlando, West Palm Beach, Tampa, and Fort Lauderdale were the four largest O&D markets from ISP, collectively accounting for about 841,000 two-way passengers, a 17% increase from the previous year.
Starting Oct. 24, JetBlue will offer 15 weekly departures from ISP, flying daily to Orlando and four times per week to both Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach. Data from OAG Schedules Analyser shows the airline will face direct competition in all three markets. Frontier Airlines plans to serve Orlando double-daily, Fort Lauderdale daily, and Palm Beach three times per week, along with a 6X-weekly service to Tampa.
Southwest Airlines will provide up to two roundtrips per day to both Orlando and Palm Beach, alongside five flights per week to Miami and four to Tampa. Additionally, Breeze Airways will fly twice a week to Vero Beach, located about 80 mi. north of West Palm Beach.
JetBlue’s entrance to ISP follows the airline’s efforts to redeploy capacity away from underperforming markets after the breakup of the Northeast Alliance (NEA) with American Airlines last year and the termination of its proposed $3.8 billion merger with Spirit Airlines in March.
As part of these network adjustments, it will scale back operations at Los Angeles International Airport by approximately one-third effective June 13, exit cities such as Bogotá, Lima, and Quito, and reduce its Europe offering in winter. The airline is also placing greater emphasis on leisure, premium leisure, and VFR markets.
The most recent shakeup to its flying in the New York area has seen service cut from LaGuardia Airport (LGA), which had been a focus for expansion under the NEA. OAG data shows that JetBlue’s 26X-weekly service to Atlanta will be suspended from Oct. 26, along with its double-daily flights to Tampa. Operations to Nassau, Bahamas, will also halt from Sept. 3.
The move will see the airline focus on four core markets from LGA during the winter season—Boston, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, and Palm Beach—the same four that were JetBlue’s focus before it established the NEA with American.
Elsewhere, the carrier will suspend its 4X-daily Newark-Los Angeles route from Oct. 26, and is ending operations from JFK to Detroit and Kansas in June. Flights from JFK and Boston to London Gatwick will also be paused for the winter season.
Alongside the network adjustments, JetBlue is expanding its airline partnerships. On June 7, the U.S. Transportation Department approved its application to codeshare with British Airways (BA).
Under the agreement, BA initially plans to place its BA code on JetBlue flights between 75 city pairs linking Boston and New York with other destinations within the U.S. Similarly, JetBlue intends to place its B6 code on BA flights from London to 17 points across Europe. BA will become JetBlue’s 18th codeshare partner.
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