JetBlue increasing flights at Long Beach Airport

JetBlue aounced Wednesday it is increasing the number of destinations and flights at Long Beach Airport.

The airliner will add a new nonstop flight to Reno-Tahoe Inteational, begiing Aug. 15. The destination will be the 12th city served nonstop by JetBlue, which is the major carrier at Long Beach Airport.

A special introductory fare of $59 is available through Thursday. The times of the new flights are 12:15 p.m. – 1:30 p.m and 2:15 – 3:40 p.m.

JetBlue is also adding flights between Long Beach and San Francisco Inteational and Oakland Inteational; the airliner will now offer four nonstop flights between the Bay Area destinations, begiing Aug. 15.

One flight will also be added between Long Beach and Las Vegas as of Aug. 15.

JetBlue will also adjust the flight schedule to Sacramento Inteational begiing Sept. 7, with flights now leaving Long Beach at 9:04 a.m. and retuing at 11:07 a.m., and leaving at 5:14 p.m. and retuing from Sacramento at 7:15 p.m.

Long Beach Airport in December offered nine additional flight slots to airlines including JetBlue and Southwest Airlines, which currently does not fly at the local airport. It remains to be seen whether Southwest will operate flights with the four slots it was given, and where the destinations would be. JetBlue was given three additional slots, and two were given to Delta.

Long Beach’s council has also greenlit a study to determine whether JetBlue’s request to begin inteational service at LGB makes sense.

The question of inteational flights is one of the more controversial issues in current city politics. None of the three candidates ruing to represent the city’s 8th Council District — incumbent Al Austin, university business manager Laurie Angel nor businessman Wesley Tubow — have said they favor the prospect of LGB becoming an inteational airport.

The 8th Council District includes Bixby Knolls and part of North Long Beach and lies below LGB’s flight path.