BANGOR – PanAm Airlines will temporarily suspend direct jet service from Bangor International Airport to Florida’s Orlando Sanford International Airport for a few weeks this winter, but airport officials emphasize that travelers will enjoy better service and more choices when flights resume.

“These are positive changes that reflect changes industry-wide,” said BIA manager Rebecca Hupp. PanAm will use the hiatus to reorganize its schedule, she said, “to better serve passengers with services they want at the times they want them.”

The suspension will be in effect from Jan. 7 through Feb. 12, 2003, coinciding with the airport’s slowest travel period. Winter-weary Mainers desperate for Florida sun during this period will be able to schedule connecting flights through other carriers.

Beginning Feb. 13, direct flights will resume on a limited basis, and starting in March PanAm will offer four direct flights weekly that leave Bangor at 8 a.m. and set down in Orlando at 12:40 p.m., with a brief stopover in Portsmouth, N.H. Additionally, one nonstop flight per week will be offered.