CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A major air carrier is set to leave Charlotte-Douglas International Airport this fall.
JetBlue announced Wednesday that it was expanding service to New England, boosting service to Boston Logan International and launching service for the first time to Manchester-Boston Regional. It's also adding more flying for Florida destinations, new routes in New York state and has added new Airbus A220 planes to the fleet, replacing more than half of its older Embraer E190 aircraft.
However, aviation reporter Sean Cudahy with travel news website The Points Guy reported this was all part of a larger route shakeup for the air carrier. Cudahy reports 24 routes will either be seasonally suspended or cut outright, with JetBlue service ending to several cities. Among those cities is Charlotte.
JetBlue confirmed this was the case to WCNC Charlotte, saying there was a lack of customer demand and underperformance there. The airline's final day of service in Charlotte is October 26, 2024. Impacted customers will have their tickets automatically refunded to their original form of payment.
While JetBlue is leaving Charlotte, it isn't leaving North Carolina entirely. It will still serve Raleigh-Durham International Airport.
Charlotte Douglas officials told WCNC Charlotte the airport was "sorry to lose JetBlue as an air service provide and partner," and that it "welcomes discussions from all airlines about adding air service".
JetBlue's announcement comes as ultra-low-cost carrier Avelo Airlines announced its own expansion, with six new routes from Concord-Padgett Regional Airport.