JetBlue to launch flights from Worcester to JFK

JetBlue Airways will launch new nonstop flights between Worcester Regional Airport and New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport.

The Massachusetts Port Authority said yesterday that JetBlue will start the service — which is expected to be daily — once the agency finishes installing a new $30 million instrument landing system that allows for pilot landings in low-visibility weather conditions in Worcester.

The system, financed with Massport and federal funds, is expected to be in place at the end of the year, but no date for the JetBlue launch has been set.

Massport referred to the new service as the “first dividend” of the landing system, which the Federal Aviation Administration will operate and maintain.

“(JetBlue) wanted the … system in place before they started service to ensure that the highest level of reliability was available for this new flight,” Massport spokeswoman Kelly Smith said.

“Since JetBlue is planning on having a nighttime arrival, when (Worcester) is more susceptible to low-visibility conditions than daytime, they want to be assured of higher reliability,” Smith said.

JetBlue, which started service from Worce s ter in 2013, now flies daily to Florida’s Orlando International Airport and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. At JFK, it has up to 175 daily departures to 75 destinations in the U.S., Caribbean and Latin America.

Low-cost airline Allegiant Air, meanwhile, will start new seasonal nonstop flights from New Hampshire’s Portsmouth International Airport to Myrtle Beach, S.C. The twice-weekly flights will run June 1 to Sept. 25.