JetBlue targets leisure travellers from Worcester while expansion in Boston & the Caribbean continue

JetBlue Airways is sticking to its strongholds of Boston and San Juan for new route roll-outs during 2013, but it is also introducing flights from Worcester, which is 74km west of its Boston focus city. The move appears to somewhat replicate what JetBlue has done in Newburgh Stewart Airport New York - introducing flights from a smaller market near one of its larger bases to the leisure markets of Orlando and Fort Lauderdale.

While service to Worcester may seem a bit odd, the airport has been engaged with JetBlue intensely in an effort to restore service after Direct Air ended its scheduled flights from the airport in May-2012. During the last decade Worcester has faced challenges in sustaining direct flights, but the airport is now operated by Massport, which is the operator of JetBlue's growing focus city in Boston. Given JetBlue's established relationship with Massport, and the reported incentives the carrier is receiving to launch service in Nov-2013, the new flights are likely low risk for the carrier.