JetBlue Airways has joined Southwest Airlines in adding Telluride in Colorado to its route map this winter as US carriers continue to seek out new seasonal leisure routes.

The New York-based airline plans to serve Montrose Regional Airport (MTJ) from three of its focus cities beginning Dec. 19. MTJ is about 90 mins. north of Telluride, a popular ski destination.

Flights from Boston (BOS) will be on Saturdays and select Wednesdays through March 27, 2021, while service from New York John F Kennedy (JFK) and Los Angeles (LAX) will be on Saturdays through Feb. 20. All three routes will be on board Airbus A320 aircraft.

“As we take a refreshed approach to evaluating new markets, it’s clear to us that travelers are increasingly looking for unique destinations where they can truly escape and enjoy wide open spaces,” JetBlue VP of network planning Andrea Lusso said.

“Telluride, by way of air service in Montrose, is an ideal destination to add to our route map this season which will help us diversify the markets we fly to, support our focus city strategies on the East and West Coasts and connect more customers with the places they want to go.”

JetBlue has been reshaping its network over recent months to target markets in the US where it anticipates increasing demand for leisure travel. In September the airline added 24 new routes to warm-weather destinations, amounting to a substantial expansion from LAX and Newark (EWR).

The traffic is largely directed toward warm-weather, near-international leisure destinations in the Caribbean and Latin America, as well as new transcontinental service flown on Airbus A321s outfitted with JetBlue’s premium Mint cabins.
Later in September, the carrier also unveiled four routes from Bradley International Airport (BDL) in Hartford, Connecticut, to LAX, Las Vegas (LAS) and San Francisco (SFO), as well as international flights to Cancún (CUN) in Mexico.

The addition of MTJ to JetBlue’s network comes just days after Southwest announced its own plans to serve the airport. Seasonal flights from Denver (DEN) will operate up to 3X-daily, while service from Dallas Love Field (DAL) will be 1X-daily on weekends. Both routes start on Dec. 19.

“Southwest is stretching into new places to provide for two needs: desired options for our customers who seek snow or sun, and wide-open spaces to enjoy a break from the unexpected that 2020 brought; and for our company, critically-needed new business that offsets the diminished demand for travel across other parts of the country,” Southwest CCO and executive VP Andrew Watterson said.

Photo credit: Joe Pries