Stewart Airport Adds Nonstop International Flight to Faroe Islands

New York Stewart International Airport in New Windsor, N.Y., on Feb. 22, 2023. Cara Ding/The Epoch Times

New York Stewart International Airport will soon start direct flights to the Faroe Islands, a popular European tourist destination.

It’s the nation’s first nonstop flight service to the island group halfway between Norway and Iceland, according to Alex Minton, Port Authority manager of air service development and industry relations.

Port Authority is a bi-state agency of New York and New Jersey that operates and maintains a network of major transportation and infrastructure assets on the East Coast, including Stewart Airport.

“It has been a goal of [Faroe Islands] for some time to connect their country with the United States,” Minton told The Epoch Times. “We are very excited that we get to be a part of a historic milestone.”

Minton said Stewart was a natural fit because of its size, which is close to that of the main airport in the Faroe Islands, and its level of operational efficiency due to its new arrival facility.

The Faroe Islands’ national airline, Atlantic Airways, will operate the new flights, with outbound services from Stewart on Wednesdays and return flights on Tuesdays.

Each one-way trip takes about six hours.

Tickets will be available from May 15, and services will run from Aug. 22 through Oct. 4.

The new flights are expected to serve between 1,800 and 2,700 riders this year, according to Minton.

In June 2022, Stewart Airport started new daily flights to Iceland through the low-cost carrier PLAY, which was the first international service back at the facility since it lost Norwegian Air in 2019.

In the latter half of 2022, about 53,000 travelers flew PLAY Airlines through Stewart, Minton said.

On the heels of losing Norwegian Air, Port Authority came out with a strategic plan to recruit new international flights to Stewart, positioning the airport as a low-cost alternative with access to New York City area and Hudson Valley attractions.

Between 2017 and 2019, Norwegian Air served about 600,000 international passengers at the airport.

When Port Authority acquired Stewart in 2007, its leadership envisioned Stewart to be the fourth air traffic hub—with Kennedy, La Guardia, and Newark—in the New York City area.

It has since invested $200 million in the airport’s infrastructure, part of which funded a new 20,000-square-foot terminal allowing for the screening of 400 international passengers in an hour.

Minton told The Epoch Times that Port Authority remained committed to developing Stewart, including seeking more international flights and domestic services.

The airport currently carries domestic flights to several destinations in Florida.

New Rail Study

For Stewart passengers heading for New York City, buses are the quickest and most affordable means of transportation.

Last year, Orange County was awarded $500,000 of federal money with the help of former Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney to conduct a feasibility study on connecting Stewart Airport and Beacon train station in Dutchess County.

The proposed link would essentially connect the airport with Manhattan through rails.

“We see any improvement to access for customers to and from the airport as being really critical for our ability to increase services to the airport, and we'd welcome the opportunity to discuss any future projects related to that,” Minton said.

The Orange County Transportation Council is tasked with developing the scope of work and preparing bids for the study, which is expected to take years to complete.

In 2008, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority proposed a light rail linking Stewart Airport directly to Manhattan, but the idea failed to come to fruition.