Mainers looking to hit Long Island this summer can do so without hurting their wallet if they fly out of Portland.
Breeze Airways, which unveiled service to four East Coast cities in February, will offer nonstop flights from Portland International Jetport to Islip, New York, on Wednesdays and Saturdays, the airline announced Tuesday morning. That service starts June 28.
Additionally, Breeze Airways will offer nonstop flights out of Portland to Orlando on Sundays and Thursdays, starting Sept. 21.
“We are excited to see Breeze Airways continue to invest and expand in the Portland, Maine, market,” said Paul Bradbury, the director of the Portland International Jetport. “Today’s announcement of a fifth destination to New York-Islip before our first flights next month is brilliant! We thank Breeze for their commitment to our market and look forward to welcoming passengers to Maine this summer.”
Tuesday’s announcement expands the slate of flights Breeze Airways plans to offer starting this summer. The airline will offer nonstop flights to Tampa on Wednesdays and Saturdays, starting May 17; Charleston, South Carolina, on Mondays and Fridays, starting May 19; Pittsburgh on Mondays and Fridays, starting June 2; and Norfolk, Virginia, on Mondays and Fridays, starting June 2, and Thursdays and Saturdays, starting June 28.
Breeze Airways flights to Islip, Norfolk and Pittsburgh will be offered seasonally during the summer.
The Portland airport is the state’s busiest. It saw record traffic in 2019, when more than 2.18 million traveled through there. But that traffic took a big hit in 2020 amid the global pandemic, with passengers traveling through the jetport falling to 792,571, the lowest than at any point in the past 15 years. That rebounded to 1.97 million last year.