3 airlines are launching new flights to Florida this winter from the Northeast with fares ranging from $49 to more than $700
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- More airlines are adding flights to Florida this winter to meet the demand for leisure travel.
- Avelo Airlines, JSX, and Elite Airways will connect the Northeast and Florida in November.
- Governor Ron Desantis is praising Florida's low daily average COVID-19 case rate; though, deaths remain high.
Americans still love escaping to Florida for the winter, and airlines are ready to accommodate with new flights to the Sunshine State launching in November.
Three airlines have announced new flights from the Northeast to cities across Florida, offering travelers a variety of options when heading south for the winter. Avelo Airlines, JSX, and Elite Airways will join the busy East Coast air corridor, each with its own unique style and varying degrees of luxury.
Ultra-low-cost startup Avelo Airlines will offer the most flights to Florida of the three, serving the ever-popular destinations of Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Orlando, Sarasota, Tampa, and West Palm Beach from Connecticut's Tweed-New Haven Regional Airport. Introductory fares on the routes start at $49 but customers will have to pay extra for add-ons including baggage allowance and advance seat assignments.
Located 80 miles from New York City, New Haven can attract a mix of travelers ranging from the Connecticut wealthy to cost-minded budget travelers. Avelo just launched flights in April with a fleet of Boeing 737 aircraft as part of a new wave of airlines looking to offer a combination of friendly customer service and low fares, as Insider found on the airline's inaugural flight.
Another new carrier to the Northeast will also launch flights to Florida, offering a high-end experience and a price tag to match. Semi-private airline JSX will soon fly between White Plains, New York and Miami with five flights per week starting on November 18.
Fares start at $749 one-way and include the use of private terminals on both ends of the journey, two checked bags, snacks, drinks, and cocktails. JSX's Embraer E135/E145 aircraft feature a mere 30 leather seats with extra legroom and in-seat power offered throughout the cabin.
Elite Airways, a scheduled passenger carrier that also performs on-demand charter operations, will launch flights between Newark and St Augustine, Florida on November 19. The weekender service will operate on Mondays and Fridays using Elite Airways' fleet of Bombardier regional aircraft.
Fares start at $129 one-way and include complimentary seat assignments, checked baggage, and onboard snacks and beverages. Elite Airways also offers flights between Newark and Melbourne, Florida.
Florida remained a top travel destination even during the worst of the pandemic's second wave in late 2020. United Airlines, for example, added 17 routes to Florida in 2020 from cities across the Northeast and Midwest to capture the new market of leisure travelers heading south.
The combination of year-round sunny weather and a reduced focus on pandemic restrictions increased Florida's popularity as a getaway destination among a segment of the population. Others sought to avoid the Sunshine State, which remained a near-permanent fixture on the travel advisory list of states like New York, for the same reason.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced on Wednesday that the state had achieved a daily average COVID-19 case rate of eight per 100,000 residents, the lowest of any US state. Deaths in the state remain high, however, with the daily average at 123.9, according to New York Times data, making Florida second only to Texas despite 60% of the population being fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
Connecticut maintains a similarly low daily average case rate of nine per 100,000 residents while New York has the highest at 19 per 100,000 residents. Both Connecticut and New York lead Florida in vaccination rates but confirmed COVID-19 cases in all three states are trending downward.
The new flights on all three airlines are already available for booking.
from Business Insider https://ift.tt/3GzUi1o
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