Bradley set to add JetBlue Miami route

WINDSOR LOCKS — JetBlue said Friday that it would launch a route between Bradley International Airport and Miami in June, an announcement that came one day after the start of Southwest Airlines flights between Bradley and Nashville, Tenn.

JetBlue’s year-round, daily service to Miami International Airport will begin on June 24. Flights will depart from Bradley at 9:25 a.m., and arrive at MIA at 12:30 p.m. Flights from MIA will leave at 1:15 p.m., and arrive at Bradley at 4:10 p.m.

The new route will complement JetBlue’s existing nonstop flights from Bradley to other Florida destinations, which include Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Orlando, Tampa and West Palm Beach. Bradley is already connected to Miami through American Airlines and Frontier Airlines routes.

“Connecting customers in the Northeast and South Florida has been a hallmark of JetBlue’s success for more than 20 years and offering our award-winning service and low fares between Hartford and Miami means we can attract new customers and grow in both regions,” Scott Laurence, JetBlue’s head of revenue and planning, said in a statement. “We appreciate Gov. (Ned) Lamont’s leadership and focus on safely driving Connecticut’s recovery to benefit residents and visitors to the Nutmeg State.”

Despite the disruption of the coronavirus pandemic, JetBlue has significantly expanded its presence at Bradley in the past few months. Nonstop service to Cancun, Mexico launched in November, and nonstop service to

Las Vegas, Los Angeles and San Francisco began in December.

“This is great news for both business and leisure travelers who utilize Bradley Airport,” Gov. Ned Lamont said in a statement. “Bradley International Airport is a vital asset for our region, serving as a convenient option for businesses and families, and seeing JetBlue commit to yet another route builds confidence in our residents and our economy. We are proud to see JetBlue expand at Bradley.”

JetBlue has deep roots in Connecticut. Founder and former CEO David Neeleman built up the airline in Darien during his run as chief executive through 2008. The carrier is now headquartered in Queens, N.Y.

Neeleman has gained federal approval to launch Breeze Airways, which will focus on providing lower-cost trips through smaller planes that serve smaller cities.

The Miami route will help Bradley offset the precipitous drop in passenger traffic that it has seen during the past year as a result of the pandemic. A total of about 2.4 million travelers passed through Bradley in 2020, down 64 percent from 2019.

“The announcement of new Miami service via JetBlue is a positive development for Bradley Airport as the aviation industry continues on its road to recovery,” Thomas “Tony” Sheridan, chairman of the board of the Connecticut Airport Authority, which owns and operates Bradley, said in a statement. “We thank JetBlue for their partnership, and we look forward to continuing this progress together so we can keep providing the vital services that the state’s tourism, meetings, and conventions industries rely on.”

Amid the declining passenger traffic during the pandemic, Bradley is still widely regarded as of the country’s leading small airports. It ranked No. 7 in USA Today’s 2021 10 Best Readers’ Choice travel contest.