JetBlue to offer Phoenix-Fort Lauderdale flight

Fliers looking to travel between Phoenix and Fort Lauderdale will soon find more options. JetBlue announced Tuesday that it will offer nonstop service to South Florida beginning early next year.

Deborah Ostreicher, assistant aviation director at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, said the airport advocated for the service after seeing increased demand and a lack of competition on this route. Currently, only Southwest Airlines offers non-stop daily service between the two warmweather destinations.

“In addition to tourism, we understand there to be business and family connections between Phoenix and the Fort Lauderdale/Miami area, so this added service will provide travelers with another option,” Ostreicher said.

JetBlue’s daily, year-round service begins on Feb. 14. The Airbus A320 will leave Fort Lauderdale at 8:41 p.m. and arrive in Phoenix just before midnight. Passengers leaving from Phoenix will ride a red-eye flight that leaves just before 1 a.m. and arrives in Fort Lauderdale at 7 a.m. Eastern time.

Ostreicher said JetBlue’s heavy presence in Fort Lauderdale made the airline the likely carrier to offer the new service from Phoenix. JetBlue describes Fort Lauderdale as one of its key markets, which “offers flights to nearly every corner of the airline’s network from Lima to Los Angeles.”

JetBlue also operates red-eye, nonstop flights from Phoenix to New YorkJFK and Boston.

The announcement came as JetBlue announced several other adjustments to its flight schedule.

It will add flights to Fort Lauderdale from Ecuador’s Guayaquil Airport and St. Maarten’s Princess Juliana International Airport. It also announced it would reduce some flights in Daytona Beach and at six other airports — New York-JFK, St. Croix, San Juan, Washington Dulles International Airport, New York-JFK and Boston.