Airline passengers flying from the Boise Airport will soon be able to fly nonstop to New York City.

JetBlue announced this month that it will begin flights to New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport on July 2. It marks the New York City-based airline’s first entry into the Boise market.

The redeye flights, offered four times a week, will leave Boise just before midnight and arrive in New York City at 6:30 a.m.

Return flights will leave New York on the same days, departing JFK at 7:15 p.m. Eastern Time and arriving in Boise at 11:01 p.m. Mountain.

“Nonstop service to New York City is something our community has been asking for, and it has been a goal of mine for several years,” Boise Airport Director Rebecca Hupp said in a news release. “I’m very optimistic that this route will be successful for JetBlue and our travelers.”

The flights represent the farthest destination from the Boise Airport. Delta serves Atlanta and Minneapolis, while United and American fly to Chicago.

Allegiant is scheduled to begin service to Nashville on May 28.

“With travelers looking for unique destinations where they can truly escape and enjoy the outdoors, Boise is an ideal destination to add to our route map this summer,” Andrea Lusso, vice president of network planning for JetBlue, said in the news release.

The Airbus A320 that JetBlue plans to use on the Boise-New York City route can hold up to 162 passengers.

JetBlue plans to offer the flights seasonally through Sept. 6, but could extend it based on the success of the route.

“JetBlue is an established and well-respected company,” Hupp said. “We are thrilled to welcome the airline to Boise and build a strong partnership together.”

With the addition of JetBlue’s flight to JFK, the Boise Airport will have air service provided by eight commercial airlines to 23 nonstop destinations.

Despite new flights, the number of passengers traveling through the Boise Airport has remained low since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Passenger numbers have slowly begun to recover since bottoming out in April, when only 18,086 people flew.

In December, 178,515 people traveled through the airport, data from the city shows. That’s the second-highest number of people in a month since the start of the pandemic. It’s also a 52 percent decrease from December 2019, when 372,637 people flew.

Officials had anticipated that 2020 would be a record-breaking year for the airport, with new flights and several expansions planned. Hupp had said she expected traffic to top the 4.1 million people who flew through BOI in 2019. Instead, fewer than 2 million people flew, a decrease of 52 percent year-over-year.

Airport officials anticipate passenger numbers will be higher in 2021 than they were in 2020, airport spokesman Sean Briggs said.

“However, the airport, along with industry experts, believe the recovery period to return to 2019 passenger levels will take between 3-5 years,” he said in an email.