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Detroit Metro Airport Add New Routes, Airline In 2015

By Edward Cardenas

ROMULUS (CBS Detroit) - The new year is ushering in new domestic and international flights, and carrier, at Detroit Metropolitan Airport.

Low-costs carriers Spirit Airlines and JetBlue are adding new routes, and Virgin Atlantic will begin service to London's Heathrow Airport on June 1.

"Airports and our travelers covet these type of competitive low fare routes and we are happy JetBlue and Spirit chose Detroit Metro Airport for these new flights," said Thomas Naughton, Airport Authority CEO, in a release. "We will continue to work toward meeting all the travel needs of our region and plan to keep doing our part to support this upswing in demand to and from our area."

The announcements for additional routes and destinations follow a record-breaking year for new air service start-ups at Metro, airport officials stated.

"Our marketing efforts to lure new air services have paid great dividends in the past year, but only because it has been backed up by a strengthening business environment in Detroit and an emphasis on making Detroit Metro an attractive place to expand through low costs and great facilities," said Joe Cambron, Director of Air Service Development, in a release. "I expect more announcements of new service in the coming months with these trends continuing."

Among the new routes, and those that will resume, this year include:

  • Spirit's new service to Boston begins April 16 and will operate until the fall. The non-stop will depart Detroit daily at 7 a.m., arriving in Boston at 8:59 a.m. The return flight will depart Boston at 9:15 p.m. and arrive in Detroit at 11:26 p.m. The service will be operated with Airbus aircraft.
  • JetBlue's new flights to Ft. Lauderdale will start April 30, and is the airline's first expansion since it arrived in Detroit in March. In addition to the three non-stop flights per day to Boston, the new Ft. Lauderdale flights will depart Detroit Metro Airport's North Terminal at 7:05 p.m. and arrive in Ft. Lauderdale at 10:10 p.m. The return will leave Ft. Lauderdale at 3:20 p.m. and arrive at 7:20 p.m.
  • Virgin Atlantic will begin daily service to London's Heathrow Airport on June 1. Flights will depart Detroit at 5:50 p.m. and arrive in London the next morning at 6:25 a.m. Flights will depart London at 10:10 a.m. and arrive in Detroit at 1:15 p.m. Virgin Atlantic will operate from the McNamara Terminal and will utilize the A330-300 aircraft with 266 seats offering three classes of service for the flights.
  • Frontier will resume service to Washington's Dulles on May 1, and flights will operate on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. Flights leave Detroit at 3:25 p.m. and arrive at 4:55 p.m. Return flights leave Dulles airport at 12:45 p.m. and arrive at 2:25 p.m.
  • Frontier will also resume service to Trenton/Princeton, NJ on April 30. For the first time the service will operate daily with departures from Metro at 8:40 p.m. and arriving at 10:09 p.m. into Trenton. Flights from Trenton depart at 6:25 p.m. and arrive at 8:07 p.m. Both Frontier services will operate with Airbus aircraft.

"These great service announcements follow a fantastic 2014 that saw Detroit gain two new airlines and saw Royal Jordanian introduce Detroit's first 787 Dreamliner service last month," said Marcus Kemper, SVP Facilities and Development, in a release. "With Detroit's first new international carrier in many years arriving in 2015, we are eager to play our part in Detroit's regional renaissance."

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