AirTran Atlanta-Aruba flights from Dec; Orlando-Aruba from Feb 2010; Orlando-Key West Dec 2009

AirTran Airways, the budget airline headquartered in Orlando, Florida, the United States, is launching new services to the Caribbean island of Aruba and to Key West in Florida.

AirTran Airways said it will start non-stop flights from Atlanta to Aruba on December 19, 2009, and from Orlando to Aruba on February 13, 2010.

AirTran Airways will launch the flights from Orlando to Key West in Florida – in the run-up to Christmas – on December 17, 2009. The flights will let holidaymakers from the United Kingdom “to experience both the peaceful Florida Keys and the bustling theme parks of Orlando,” the airline said in a statement.

Key West, situated at the southernmost tip of the Florida Keys, and is about 4 miles long and 2 miles wide.

The flights to Aruba will be AirTran Airways’ 5^th destination to the Caribbean – the airline had recently announced launching services to Montego Bay (Jamaica), Nassau (Bahamas), besides the existing services to Cancun (Mexico) and San Juan (Puerto Rico).

In the statement, AirTran Airways said it will also start additional flights from LaGuardia Airport in New York and from Reagan Washington National Airport on November 4, 2009.

In addition, the airline will launch flights to Indianapolis from New York’s LaGuardia Airport, and raise the number of flights to Orlando and Atlanta from Reagan Washington National Airport.

Aruba, the popular tourist destination, will also connect to dozens of other cities served by AirTran Airways, the statement said, adding that all the proposed flights to and from Aruba would be subject to final government approval.

AirTran Airways is to fly on the Orlando-Key West route every Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, using the Boeing 737-700 aircraft. The flight is scheduled to take off from Orlando International airport at 11:30 hours (local time) and land in Key West International Airport at 12:40 hours. On the return leg, the flight will leave Key West at 13:30 hours (local time) and reach Orlando at 14:40 hours.

From December 19, 2009, AirTran Airways Flight 871 will depart from Atlanta Airport at 11:10 a.m. and arriver at Aruba at 4:05 p.m. on Saturdays. In the return direction, Flight 872 is to leave Aruba at 4:50 p.m. and reach Atlanta at 7:50 p.m. on Saturdays.

Starting February 13, 2010, AirTran Airways Flight 494 is scheduled to take off from Orlando International Airport at 10:06 a.m. and land in Aruba at 2.15 p.m. on Saturdays.  On the return leg, Flight 495 will leave Aruba at 3:00 p.m. and reach Orlando at 5:13 p.m. on Saturdays.