Summer is the busiest time of year for international air travel, and a swath of cities are getting new flights.
Last month, Norwegian Air announced it would launch flights from Boston Logan, Baltimore-Washington and JFK airports to the Guadeloupe Islands and Martinique in the Caribbean.
It will launch the new seasonal service on Dec. 3, with three flights a week from JFK to the Guadeloupe Islands’ Pointe-à-Pitre International Airport and Martinique Aimé Césaire International Airport three days a week.
From BWI and Boston Logan, Norwegian will operate twice weekly service to both Guadeloupe and Martinique. The Caribbean flights will use Boeing 737-800 jets, with fares as low as $99 each way.
At a recent press conference, BWI Airport CEO Paul J. Wiedefeld noted it was his facility’s fourth new airline and seventh new destination since the beginning of 2015.
“We have a world-class airport that’s located in a strong economic region with easy access for travelers,” he said. “We worked on this project for five years to get it to happen.”
Norwegian CEO Bjørn Kjos said that BWI is high on its list for long-haul operations. “Today we fly 25 routes from eight U.S. airports,” he said. “We’re really looking forward to these new flights. The Caribbean is a wonderful place to visit and we’re making it cheap to get to.”
On June 20, Boston Logan celebrated the first nonstop arrival from Shanghai via China’s Hainan Airlines. It is the carrier’s first U.S. city with service to Shanghai, and is being operated with a Boeing 787 Dreamliner three days a week.
Meanwhile, Finnair launched service between Helsinki and Chicago O’Hare on June 13 with an Airbus A330-300. All Nippon Airways began daily flights between Houston Intercontinental and Tokyo Narita on June 12 using Boeing 777-300ERs.
Virgin Atlantic began flying between London and Detroit on June 11. With partner Delta Air Lines, Detroit now has two direct daily flights to London.
Brazil’s TAM launched service between Brasilia and Orlando on June 12 with a new daily service to Orlando. JetBlue Airways began service JFK and Grenada on June 11 with twice weekly flights using an Airbus A320, and it also began conducting flights to Cuba.
Finally, Aeromexico began new service between Boston and Mexico City on June 1. The market between the two cities, combined with the airlines’ other 45 destinations in Mexico and Central America, represents more than 492,000 passengers and $134 million in ticket revenue annually, according to Massport, which operates Boston Logan.
STORY IDEAS
Check with your local airport and convention and visitors bureau to see what new flights they are pursuing. Calculate the economic impact of those flights.
Airports Council International – North America
