Airlines have added
international flights to cities where Orlando either never had service or were cut back years ago and are making a return.
Paris. Rio de Janeiro. Santiago. The trio of international cities are some of the new nonstop destinations this summer from the Orlando International Airport as the number of foreign passengers continues to climb rapidly.
Officials recently announced that airlines have added several international flights to cities where Orlando either never had service or were cut back years ago and are making a return.
Later in upcoming months, three nonstop flights to Haiti and Switzerland are scheduled to begin service.
“It takes a long time time to cultivate,” said Vicki Jaramillo, the airport’s senior director for marketing and air-service development, as airlines study if it makes business sense to add more routes. “For them to add a new service, it’s not something they’ve thought about last month. It’s been planned for years.”
At the Orlando Sanford International Airport, new year-round nonstop service to Aruba began in April, operating up to twice a week, a spokeswoman said.
The growth shows European Union and Latin American airlines view Orlando as a worldclass tourist destination, said airline industry consultant Robert Mann.
But some experts warned the future of these new flights is uncertain.
“Summer is high season, and some of these are experimental and may not last into the winter,” said Mann, who is based in New York.
One concern with the new flights: If there are too many seats to fill, airlines will undercut each other’s fares and could struggle to make a profit said George Hobica, founder of airfarewatchdog.com.
“We will see airlines pulling back,” he predicted. “Whoever wins the market share battle, they’ll survive.”
But in the meanwhile, “It’s great for consumers.” Hobica said as he noticed flights to Europe for $500 or less.
With the latest additions, OIA will have service to 56 international cities, said airport spokeswoman Carolyn Fennell.
With 5.6 million international passengers served in 2016, Orlando International’s traffic was up 60 percent from five years earlier.
So far, 2017 is expected to outpace 2016 numbers with the increase in service from airlines, Jaramillo said.
The Rio de Janeiro flights that began July 2 are expected to fly three times a week year-round while Norwegian-operated flights to Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris are scheduled to start July 31 and go weekly yearround, according to OIA.
Santiago flights will run seasonally twice a week through Aug. 31.
Orlando passengers also will have more access to Germany. A year-round flight to Dusseldorf started in May, offering travel five times each week on Air Berlin. Eurowings will fly seasonally to Cologne three times a week starting this week through March, OIA officials said.
Later this year, two carriers — JetBlue and Haitian carrier Sunrise Airways — will begin flying nonstop to Port-au-Prince, Haiti, she said.
It will save a drive to South Florida airports for Central Florida residents who have loved ones in Haiti.
“They’re finally going to be able to fly out of Orlando,” Jaramillo said.
And this month, Swiss airline Edelweiss announced it will fly to Orlando weekly from Zurich year-round beginning in January.
When she looks to the future, Jaramillo says there are more destinations in China, Latin America and Europe she would love to recruit for Orlando.
Markets missing nonstop service from Orlando include Tokyo, Madrid and London’s Heathrow Airport, she said.
“As we grow service, if we’re successful — success brings success,” she said.