Summary
- JetBlue seeks an EAS contract for flights from Northern Maine to Boston, connecting residents to family, friends, and business ties.
- The proposed service offers convenient departure times, allowing passengers to attend appointments or events in Boston and return the identical day.
- Passengers would have the option to hook up with 75 cities across JetBlue’s network from Boston.
Earlier this week, JetBlue applied for its first Essential Air Service (EAS) contract in the USA. The carrier was one in every of 4 that submitted a proposal to supply flights to Presque Isle in Northern Maine.
Back in Boston
The carrier is trying to connect Presque Isle International Airport (PQI) with a each day service to Boston Logan International Airport (BOS), a spotlight city for JetBlue. The subsidized contract for flights to the airport is currently held by United Airlines, which serves PQI from its hub in Newark (EWR) with a 50-seat Bombardier CRJ-550 operated by Gojet Airlines as United Express.
![US airlines at LAX airport getty](https://static1.simpleflyingimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/GettyImages-1242220016.jpg)
What Is The USA’s Essential Air Service Program?
Originally a decadal program, the EAS is now in its forty fourth 12 months.
JetBlue intends to make use of its Embraer E190 aircraft, which seats 100 passengers, on the route. The service would then switch to 140-seat Airbus A220-300 aircraft starting in 2025 as JetBlue retires its Embraer fleet. In its proposal, which was filed on February twenty first, JetBlue outlines its plan to link the town to Boston, a route previously served until 2019:
“JetBlue’s proposed service would restore Presque Isle’s historic direct air link to Boston, a city with which it shares strong family, friends and business ties and one which is the popular destination for many Aroostook County and Northern Maine residents.”
Photo: Wirestock Creators | Shutterstock
The airport, formerly often known as Northern Maine Regional Airport at Presque Isle, serves the north of Maine and northwestern Latest Brunswick in neighboring Canada.
Convenient timings and connections
The each day service could be convenient times for travelers to depart Maine within the morning and return the identical day if desired. The flight is scheduled to take one hour and forty minutes in each direction. Morning flights would depart Presque Isle International Airport at 06:00, arriving in Boston at 07:40. The evening return would go away Boston Logan International Airport at 19:59, arriving back in Maine at 21:39.
![JetBlue Airbus A321](https://static1.simpleflyingimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/shutterstock_165731765.jpg)
Transatlantic Expansion: JetBlue Adds Flights To Edinburgh & Dublin
JetBlue will operate each day flights to the UK and Ireland through the summer 2024 travel season.
From Boston, passengers will have the option to hook up with 75 cities across North America, the Caribbean, and Europe. Flights from Boston to Dublin (DUB) are coming this summer, together with the year-round extension of the carrier’s Paris (CGD) service. In its proposal, JetBlue outlined the advantages of its proposed timings:
“County residents would have the option to fly to Boston within the morning, attend a medical appointment at one in every of Boston’s quite a few world-renowned hospitals (Boston is the County’s preferred destination for medical services) or a sports event, and return to Presque Isle that very same evening at an inexpensive hour.”
Photo: Presque Isle International Airport
The link could be JetBlue’s only year-round service to Maine. The carrier currently serves Portland International Jetport (PWM) seasonally from Latest York JFK.
Facing the competition
Going up against JetBlue in bidding for the contract are Boutique Air, American Airlines, and incumbent United. San Francisco-based Boutique Air proposes 42 weekly services with its 8-9 seat Pilatus PC-12 and Twin-Engine Piaggio P180 Avanti aircraft. Notably, Boutique Air’s proposal notes an interest from the community in continuing some service to Latest York and accordingly requests the flexibility to maneuver as much as 12 of the 42 weekly round trips from Boston to a Latest York area airport.
American Airlines proposes 12 weekly flights to its Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) hub. The flights could be operated by American Eagle with its 50-seat Embraer E145 aircraft. United’s proposal goals to proceed its 12 weekly flights to Newark but agrees to a lower subsidy per passenger than its successful 2022 bid, because of better-than-expected load aspects.