The first JetBlue flight to Daytona Beach International Airport in seven years arrived on Thursday, landing from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City. The passengers who arrived were greeted by a welcome party of local stakeholders and airport executives upon exiting the plane.
Landing just a few minutes behind its 9:13 am arrival time, the flight was given a ceremonial water salute on the tarmac. Those exiting the plane were part of a major event for Volusia County whether they intended to be or not.
Passengers depart the JetBlue flight to an unexpected celebration. Sports podcaster Jake Storiale, in sunglasses, was among them. ⓒ AskFlagler
“You can see that everybody is so excited,” said Joanne Magley, the Daytona Beach International Airport Director of Marketing & Customer Experience. “JetBlue is a very popular airline, everybody loves JetBlue. JetBlue served the area years ago and now they’re back. And it’s kind of better than ever, because now they’re not just back with New York service daily, they also have a daily service to Boston.”
Beginning with Thursday’s flight, JetBlue will be running daily flights to and from New York City and Boston out of Daytona Beach. The routes are nonstop, visiting JFK Airport in New York and Boston Logan International Airport in Massachusetts. These two markers are each along the top five busiest that Daytona Beach serves.
“I think it’s gonna bring a lot more passengers, not just from Volusia County but from the region,” said Volusia County Council Chair Jeff Brower. “I think it’s just another set of tremendous opportunities for our residents. The airport staff has just done an unbelievable job. We have every gate now with an airline in it. We haven’t had that for many years. I couldn’t be happier seeing the amount of people here.”
As it so happened, there was one celebrity passenger on the historic JetBlue flight. Jake Storiale, a partner and podcast host with the popular sports media company Jomboy Media. Storiale said he flew from New York City to visit his mother, a New Smyrna Beach resident. “I did not expect [the fanfare], I had no idea,” Storiale said with a laugh when he took in the media frenzy after leaving the plane. “I was expecting to just have a normal, sleepy 7:00 am flight out of JFK and everyone’s been on cloud nine and having a blast!”
A water salute for the JetBlue flight upon its arrival. ⓒ AskFlagler
