JetBlue adding service out of Islip’s Long Island MacArthur Airport to Florida

JetBlue Airways will start flying out of Long Island MacArthur Airport in Ronkonkoma in October, with nonstop service to three Florida destinations, Islip Town officials said Tuesday.

JetBlue, the sixth largest airline in the U.S., will become the fourth airline flying of the Islip Town-owned airport, joining Southwest Airlines, Frontier Airlines and Breeze Airways. 

Starting in October, JetBlue will operate daily service between Islip and Orlando, and four round-trip flights weekly between the Long Island airport and Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach. 

“Our airport customers across Long Island have been expressing their clear enthusiasm for more air service at ISP, and JetBlue is consistently one of the most frequent requests,” Islip Town Supervisor Angie Carpenter said in a statement.

The addition of the major airline is the latest in a spate of upgrades at the airport that have encompassed more than $100 million in planning and capital projects since 2016, including a ground transportation center and walkway and a fire rescue building.

The pending $2.8 billion Midway Crossing proposal is expected to build a walkway connecting a new MacArthur air terminal to Ronkonkoma’s Long Island Rail Road Station as well. The proposal calls for 2.7 million square feet of new construction, including a convention center, a 300-room hotel and health sciences facilities. 

Town officials, along with the announcement of JetBlue, on Tuesday also touted a nearly 23% increase in domestic seats from air carriers flying out of MacArthur in April this year, compared to April last year.

Ahead of the summer season, Transportation Security Administration at MacArthur additionally has rolled out new identification technology with a camera designed to scan photo IDs, and confirm a traveler’s identity and flight details.

Before JetBlue, Breeze Airways was the airline to most recently add service from Islip, with flights starting in 2022 . JetBlue founder David Neeleman launched the low-cost carrier in 2018 and it began flying in 2021.

JetBlue ranked ninth out of the nation’s 10 largest airlines in both canceled flights and on-time arrivals last year, according to U.S. Transportation Department numbers.