By Philip Newman
The Kew Gardens-based low-fare airline JetBlue has announced it will start service out of Dulles International Airport in Washington this fall, with two daily flights to northern and Southern California.
David Neeleman, CEO of JetBlue, said the new Washington service, starting Oct. 8, was “integral to our continued expansion of service to and from the West Coast.
“The DC area will become our second destination served from Long Beach, our new LA base, following the start of service between JFK and Long Beach next month,” he said. “The new flights from Oakland to Washington and New York effectively double our service from Oakland.”
The new service from Dulles will go to Long Beach, 19 miles from Los Angeles, and to Oakland, across the bay from San Francisco.
JetBlue’s daily roundtrip flights between Washington and Long Beach will cost from $129 to $229 each way, which is as much as 75 percent less than equivalent fares of other airlines. Between Washington and Oakland, fares will range from $149 to $299, up to 78 percent cheaper than comparable fares on other nonstop carriers.
From its base at JFK, JetBlue flies six times daily to Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; five times daily to Buffalo and Rochester, N.Y., four times daily to Orlando, Fla.; three times daily to Tampa, Fla. and Syracuse, N.Y.; twice daily to Burlington, Vt.; Los Angeles/Ontario, Calif.; Oakland and West Palm Beach, Fla., and daily to Denver, Fort Myers, Fla., Salt Lake City and Seattle. JetBlue will begin two daily round trips from JFK to New Orleans July 25 and from JFK to Long Beach Aug. 29.
JetBlue, which has carried more than 2.5 million passengers since it began service in February 2000, was voted No. 2 domestic airline for comfort and service in the 2001 Zagat Airline Survey.
At JetBlue all seats are assigned, all travel is ticketless, all fares are one-way and a Saturday night stay is never required. JetBlue charges $25 for itinerary changes compared with $100 on most major airlines.
Reach contributing writer Philip Newman by e-mail at Timesledgr@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 136.
