Boise will offer more flights east, into nation’s busiest airport starting in July
Air travelers through Idaho this summer will have more flight choices for making cross-country trips, with Delta Air Lines expanding service between Boise and the nation’s busiest airport.
Starting July 11, Delta will add a second nonstop flight to and from its headquarters at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. The additional trip — an overnight red-eye — will run every day except Saturday, and is expected to operate into September, according to Boise Airport officials.
“It gives our passengers more options to choose from when traveling east to domestic and international destinations,” said Shawna Samuelson, a Boise Airport spokesperson.
The route in and out of Atlanta is the longest flight at the Boise Airport, and also its farthest east, after JetBlue Airways announced earlier this year that it ceased its seasonal flight to and from New York City’s John F. Kennedy International Airport. That nonstop flight lasted just a single summer.
Delta’s decision to add another near-daily flight between Boise and Atlanta through the summer months was based on demand, Drake Castañeda, an airline spokesperson, told the Statesman by email. Through this year’s first quarter, the Boise Airport is on pace to break its record for annual passengers.
“We have seen demand in this market grow pretty significantly recently, which drove the decision for added capacity,” Castañeda said.He declined to disclose the existing Atlanta flight’s average passenger loads.
Other air carriers in Boise also dropped seasonal routes this year. Allegiant Air stopped service to and from Nashville, while Southwest Airlines ended trips for the summer to Chicago-Midway, Dallas-Love Field and Orange County, California.
But the regional air hub also welcomed the launch last month of a brand-new route between Boise and Burbank in Southern California, with the local debut of Avelo Airlines. Fellow low-cost carrier Spirit Airlines is scheduled to begin service between Boise and Las Vegas on Aug. 5.
Boise Airport mainstay Alaska Airlines is expanding its flight options as well. The Seattle-based carrier introduced a Burbank flight last month to compete with Avelo, and next week will add daily service to Idaho Falls and Las Vegas.
Delta, among the world’s two largest commercial air carriers by several metrics, has operated a year-round, daily flight between Boise and Atlanta since November 2020. The nonstop route was initially planned to start in July 2020, but was delayed as a result of impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic on the air travel industry, according to previous Idaho Statesman reporting.
Delta also operates nonstop flights between Boise and four other destinations: Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Seattle and Salt Lake City.
