Airlines are cutting flights as of late, impelled by the sky-high jet fuel prices. Just don’t tell the folks who flock to Orlando. They’re seeing a surge of new seats.
Consider this scenario: According to Airports Council International, MCO (Orlando’s code) was the 27th-busiest airport on the planet in 2009. That put it ahead of aerodromes such as Newark, Sydney, London Gatwick, and even Tokyo Narita.
Orlando International lofts nonstop flights to 84 domestic destinations, more than any other Florida airport including Miami. It also fields flights to a growing number of nonstop destinations, 22 of them in all.
Orlando’s efficient Customs and Immigration arrangement means the average time taken by international passengers between leaving their flight and leaving the airport is 46 minutes. Try that at some more crowded U.S. airports.
Illustrating the insatiable demand people have for passage to central Florida is a slew of new flights, and added flight frequencies. Here, courtesy of Orlando International, is the latest line-up:
- May 25: AirTran adds three more weekly flights to Lexington. That renders service daily.
- May 27: AirTran adds a trio of weekly Orlando flights to Harrisburg. That will make for ten weekly roundtrips.
- May 26: AirTran doubles the number of weekly Orlando flights to Allentown. Where there were seven roundtrips there will be a full 14.
- June 1: Whitejets launches thrice-weekly Orlando flights Sao Paulo. Service continues through Aug. 24.
- June 5: Discount airline Southwest ups Orlando flights to San Antonio by a third, raising the number of weekly nonstops from 14 to 21.
- June 6: Discount airline Southwest boosts the number of Orlando flights to Chicago by eight. That means 50 weekly flights.
- June 7: Air France begins thrice-weekly Orlando flights to Paris.
- June 9: AirTran doubles up on its Orlando flights to Dallas/Fort Worth. There will soon be 14 of them each week.
- June 9: JetBlue doubles its Orlando flights to Ponce, Puerto Rico. There will be 14 weekly trips.
- June 11: Discount airline Southwest lays on a once-weekly Orlando flight to Cleveland.
- June 11: Discount airline Southwest does the same for the Motor City, starting once-weekly Orlando flights to Detroit.
- June 11: Delta will launch once-weekly Orlando flights to Cancun. Flights will continue through Aug. 13.
- June 16: JetBlue continues to boost Boston service, this with the addition of seven weekly Orlando flights to Boston. The result: 49 weekly flights.
- June 16: JetBlue adds 13 flights to its Manhattan menu. That means 76 weekly Orlando flights to New York, specifically to JFK.
- June 16: JetBlue doubles weekly Orlando flights to Newburgh, N.Y. There will soon be 14 of them.
- June 16: COPA increases by a third the number of Orlando flights to Panama City, Panama as it boots departures from 12 to 21.
- June 17: JetBlue continues to buoy the Big Apple. The discount airline will add seven more flights, bringing the number of weekly flights to 35.
- June 17: TACA connects central Florida to Central America, this with thrice-weekly Orlando flights to Guatemala City.
- June 19: Bahamasair significantly ups the number of Orlando flights to Nassau, boosting weekly nonstops from seven to 12.
Lots more new Orlando flights loom just over the horizon. We’ll tell you about them in future editions of Cheapflights Flight News.
Story by Jerry Chandler
(Image: Robert Jackson)
