Breeze Airways adding 2 nonstop flights from MacArthur, to Raleigh-Durham, N.C., and Portland, Maine

Breeze Airways is adding two new destinations from Long Island MacArthur Airport starting in late June, the airline announced Tuesday. 

Breeze will add nonstop flights from the Ronkonkoma airport to Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, on June 29, and Portland, Maine, on June 28.

The two routes will join inaugural nonstop flights to Richmond, Virginia, and Pittsburgh. Of the four destinations, flights to Raleigh-Durham are the only service that will be offered year-round. 

The low-cost carrier, which began flying out of the Islip Town-owned airport a year ago, added flights to Jacksonville, Florida, in December. The Salt Lake City-based airline was launched by JetBlue founder David Neeleman in 2018, with service beginning in 2021.

Islip Town Supervisor Angie Carpenter, in a news release, highlighted the “tremendous opportunity” the new routes present for Long Islanders, “whether they wish to experience Maine’s beautiful parks, coastline and local seafood, or head south to Raleigh-Durham, NC, home to one of the greatest technological research parks in the world.”

“Adding this new service from Long Island MacArthur Airport makes getting there convenient, and ‘really nice,’ ” Carpenter said, alluding to the price bundles for flights with Breeze, called “Nice,” “Nicer” and “Nicest.”

Flights to Portland will start at $49 one-way, and flights to Raleigh-Durham will start at $59 one-way. 

Breeze now offers six nonstop and two “BreezeThru” destinations out of MacArthur, including nonstop flights to Charleston, South Carolina, and Norfolk, Virginia, along with one-stop, no plane-change service to New Orleans. 

The routes are part of 147 year-round and seasonal nonstop routes between 36 cities in 22 states offered by Breeze, according to the news release. 

“Portland is our newest Breeze city, starting next month,” Breeze CEO Neeleman said in a news release. “These two new routes from Islip will give Long Islanders fast, affordable and convenient options to get to both Maine and North Carolina.”

Rod Dayton of Sayville is one Long Islander who can't wait to fly to Portland out of Ronkonkoma — the 67-year-old, who regularly visits his daughter in Maine, has already bought eight tickets. 

"It's the best thing that's happened to me since the birth of my grandchildren," he said. "For me personally, it's like I died and went to heaven."

The airline is one of three that flies out of the Islip airport, along with Frontier and Southwest Airlines. American Airlines dropped flights out of MacArthur in September due to pilot shortages.

While there is a lower flight frequency out of the airport, planes using the facility are now larger, town officials have previously said. The airport serves 1.2 million passengers annually, officials said.

Millions of dollars have been poured into renovations at the airport in recent years, including construction that is underway on $26 million in improvements. More improvements could be in its future as the Town of Islip and Suffolk County weigh the $2.8 billion Midway Crossing project.

If approved, the development would add a new terminal to MacArthur and connect it to the Ronkonkoma LIRR station.

By Brianne Ledda

brianne.ledda@newsday.com@brianne_ledda

Brianne Ledda covers the Town of Islip for Newsday. She previously covered Southold and Greenport for The Suffolk Times and is a graduate of Stony Brook University.