JetBlue Airways is to become the only airline to offer non-stop services between Nevada's Reno-Tahoe International Airport (RNO) and the US East Coast when it launches a new link to the facility from its base at New York's John F Kennedy International Airport (JFK) from May 28, 2015.

Reno-Tahoe will be the airline's 89th destination and is among a number of new JetBlue routes in the West of the US. The carrier has continuously expanded its presence in this part of the country with new services recently launched between Salt Lake City and Orlando on November 12, 2014; San Francisco to Las Vegas earlier this month on January 5, 2015; and the upcoming Portland, Ore. to Anchorage service which debuts on June 18, 2015.

You can learn more about the plans of JetBlue Airways at this year's Routes Americas in Denver, USA between February 1-3, 2015. The airline's Dave Clark, vice president network planning, will be on a panel session entitled 'How will new routes be successful across different airline models?' during the Routes Americas Strategy Summit.

"A non-stop link between Reno-Tahoe International Airport and New York City is long overdue. JetBlue is pleased to provide the only direct service linking the East Coast to an airport that is the gateway to so many great year-round destinations in the Reno-Tahoe region,” said James Hnat, general counsel and executive vice president of legal and government affairs, JetBlue Airways.

The new route will initially launch on a four times weekly basis before growing to a daily operation from the middle of June 2015 and will be flown by Airbus A320 equipment. This will be the first direct flight between Reno-Tahoe and the greater New York market in more than ten years after Continental Airlines ended a weekly link to the Nevada city from its Newark Liberty International Airport hub in April 2005.

Reno is the most populous Nevada city outside of the Las Vegas metropolitan area and famous for its casinos. The city sits in a high desert at the foot of the Sierra Nevada and close to the popular tourist location of Lake Tahoe, the largest alpine lake in North America. Its location means Reno-Tahoe International Airport is one the closest airports to the major ski resorts of North America with passengers able to see the numerous ski runs on landing.

The airport is also a gateway to the historic town of Truckee, Donner Lake, Tuolumne River and the majestic Sierra Nevada Mountain range -- home to Yosemite National Park, Kings Canyon, Sequoia National Park and two National Monuments.

This is the second major new airline service to be announced by the air service development team at Reno-Tahoe Airport Authority in the past three months after European leisure airline group, Thomas Cook Airlines revealed its plans to launch a twice weekly link to Reno-Tahoe from London Gatwick during the winter 2015/2016 schedule, a route formalised at last year’s World Routes forum in Chicago, USA.

"Landing non-stop daily service on an incredible airline like JetBlue is an example of what this region can do when it works together for a common goal," said Marily Mora, president and chief executive officer, Reno-Tahoe Airport Authority. "We are bringing the Biggest Little City and the Big Apple together. We are bringing JetBlue to the blue waters of Lake Tahoe. It's a great day for the Reno-Tahoe region."

According to MIDT data, an estimated 15,000 bi-directional passengers a year are already flying between Reno-Tahoe and New York JFK International with the demand across the wider New York market (including Newark and New York LaGuardia) increasing to more than 50,000 passengers a year. Delta Air Lines currently has the largest share of the demand in this market in and out of JFK International, while United Airlines is the lead operator to/from Newark and American Airlines to/from LaGuardia.

In our analysis, below, we highlight the annual bi-directional O&D demand between Reno-Tahoe and New York by airport in the Big Apple.