SRQ Airport bites into more Big Apple flights

SARASOTA — More seasonal nonstop flights between Sarasota-Bradenton and the New York City area are on the way, with a Saturday flight from Delta Air Lines.

Delta will fly from Sarasota Bradenton International Airport, which goes by the call letters SRQ, to John F. Kennedy Airport, according to a release. The flights, which will run on Saturdays from Feb. 14 through April 4, will be on 76-seat, CRJ-900 aircrafts. The JFK to SRQ flight is scheduled to leave New York at 8:30 a.m. and arrive at 11:50 a.m. The return flight to New York is scheduled to leave SRQ at 12:30 p.m. and arrive at 3:20 p.m.

Delta has served SRQ passengers with nonstop flights to Atlanta since the 1970s. The airline also has year-round daily service from SRQ to New York, through LaGuardia Airport, in addition to seasonal flights to Detroit.

“We are thrilled that Delta has decided to add New York, JFK service,” SRQ President and CEO Rick Piccolo says in the release. “The flights to JFK will provide opportunities to connect passengers to additional destinations, both domestically and internationally.”

Delta is the second airline to announce expanded service to the New York area in the past few weeks. United Airlines, in an Aug. 25 statement, says it will provide daily nonstop service from SRQ to Liberty International Airport in Newark, N.J. Those flights will run from Feb. 12 through May 5.