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Traveling to far-away places like Machu Picchu is a bit less of a hassle from two of Florida's less well-known portals.
 Avoid the crowds of OIA and MIA by starting your travels to Peru, where you can visit Machu Picchu, from Fort Lauderdale. |
Smart globetrotters know there are other jumping off points for rare destinations besides the megaports in Miami and Orlando.
Heading to Lima, Peru? The Inca trail starts at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International. Fancy a dram of single-malt and a tour of the Scottish highlands? A flying carriage to Glasgow takes off regularly from Orlando-Sanford International Airport, 30 miles north of the busier Orlando International Airport.
Despite the slowdown in the airline industry and the economy, some international flights have remained a growth segment. The innovations of maverick low-cost carriers have combined with enterprising local authorities to give Florida two useful if less well-known international portals.
» Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL) — While Miami International remains a crossroads of the hemisphere and beyond, Fort Lauderdale now funnels 4 million passengers a year all across the Caribbean, South America and Canada.
The majority of FLL overseas travelers fly on Spirit, a Michigan charter that moved to Miramar and has since become the largest low-cost carrier to the Caribbean. Spirit has trimmed its flights in the recession, but FLL flights head out to Bogota, Colombia; Guatemala City; and a dozen more foreign destinations plus U.S. islands.
Spirit can also count on traffic from Florida’s large Hispanic community flying to families and business in San Pedro Sula, Honduras; Cartagena, Colombia; and beyond. JetBlue now flies to Cancun, Mexico, and Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Other carriers, big and small, from Avianca and American to Lynx Air and Caribbean Air extend the connections farther.
 Sanford’s airport has seasonal flights to Reykjavik, where travelers can escape to the nearby Blue Lagoon geothermal spa. |
Three U.K. charter airlines handle only passengers on charters originating overseas, but one British carrier, Flyglobespan, offers scheduled flights for U.S. passengers direct from Sanford to Glasgow, Scotland, and Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Sanford’s been a treasured secret among Floridians heading to Scandinavia because Icelandair serves the airport from October to May. That provides a magic passage from central Florida to its most exotic designation, icy Reykjavik and direct connections to Stockholm, Sweden; Amsterdam, the Netherlands; and Paris.
With many airlines, there’s an extra bargain: Overseas round trips for $400 or less, although low prices mean low frills and sometimes luggage fees and aggravating rules.
The good news? You can get there from here in more ways than you knew.
There could be more “there’’ in the future. The leading few-frills airline, Southwest, has a new alliance with Volaris in Mexico and could set up international connections in 2010.
Business Beat - Week of May 10th
