CCB MEDIA PHOTO The first JetBlue flight of the season from New York arrived Thursday at Barnstable Municipal Airport in Hyannis.
HYANNIS – In a sign that summer is just around the corner, JetBlue began seasonal service between the Barnstable Municipal Airport and John F. Kennedy Airport in New York on Thursday.
The airport celebrated JetBlue’s arrival along with the official opening of the Centerville Pie Café in the terminal.
JetBlue has expanded its service this year starting earlier in May and running through Columbus Day weekend.
Airport Manager Bud Breault is glad to have them back.
“It’s very important that they’re back because that means they had a great season last year,” Breault said. “So we are hoping that the numbers will be equally as good this year.”
The service got off to a slow start today with the number of passengers leaving the Cape and Breault said he’d like to see that number come up higher. Breault thinks when people hear that JetBlue has returned for the season ridership will increase.
“We’re hoping that not only will the shoulder seasons expand – we’re really working hard to try to get them to come here year-round.”
Inbound flights are scheduled to arrive from New York each day around 12:30 p.m. with the return flight leaving Hyannis about 40 minutes later. The service will run five days a week through the middle of June before expanding to seven days a week through the first week of September.
From September 8 to October 11 the service will run twice weekly on Fridays and Sundays.
This year’s celebration welcoming the airline’s return was even bigger as the Centerville Pie Café official opened in the terminal of the Hyannis airport.
Airport Commissioner John Griffin said Island Air closing in December was a shock to terminal but having JetBlue return shows the viability of the facility.
“The return of JetBlue and having them extend their season is just an indicator that this whole route system is starting to catch on,” Griffin said.
Griffin said the trip is the quickest way to get off the Cape for locals.
“For the Cape Codders that would like to go to New York and maybe see a show and do something you can get to Kennedy right now faster than you can get across the bridge on a bad day,” he said. “People talk about the third bridge – this is sort of it.”
Griffin is also excited to have the Centerville Pie Café in the terminal as the lack of food choices has been the one complaint from JetBlue passengers.
“This is going to eliminate that complaint. The people are going to love it,” Griffin said. “The community is going to love it because it is so convenient and the food is good.”
Breault said the eatery is not only great for passengers but for employees that work at the airport.
“We have well over 300 or 400 employees who are sort of caught and stuck here,” Breault said. “So a lot of them will come down for lunch or breakfast. So that is a big draw, a big help.”
Breault also hopes that people from outside the airport will come to the Centerville Pie Café who don’t want to travel all the way to Centerville and touted the free parking.
Breault said he hopes the success of JetBlue and Centerville Pie Café at the airport will draw other airlines to the facility.
By BRIAN MERCHANT, CapeCod.com NewsCenter
About CapeCod.com NewsCenter
Speak Your Mind