Long Beach Airport could start seeing JetBlue flights headed south – as in south of the U.S. border.

JetBlue Airways Corp. is in the “early stages” of discussions with Long Beach officials on plans to bring international flights to Long Beach Airport, the airline’s president said in an interview Friday.

“We are very keen to build international service out of Long Beach that would require the building of a (U.S.) Customs and Border Protection facility,” said JetBlue President Robin Hayes, who was at The Grove retail hub in Los Angeles to promote the New York-based airline’s new Mint seating business class service on flights between Los Angeles International Airport and New York.

JetBlue is the biggest airline at Long Beach Airport, where it has up to 32 flights daily to cities including New York, Boston, Las Vegas and San Francisco. Hayes didn’t say which international destinations are under consideration, but said Long Beach would be a hub for flights to Mexico, Central America and South America.

Hayes’ comments come as Long Beach Airport is facing some challenges.

It recently lost its director, Mario Rodriguez, to Indianapolis International Airport, where the former executive is getting paid $260,000 annually – $90,000 more than his Long Beach job, according to data provided by the two cities.

Long Beach Airport is also seeing a drop in passenger traffic despite award-winning recognition from trade groups for its renovations to the terminal, parking garage and other areas.

“It’s a really stunning airport,” Hayes said. “Long Beach works for us because the average cost per customer is so low.”

Still, the airport saw total passenger traffic fall 6.4 percent in April versus that same month in 2013, and 6.9 percent from January to April versus the same four-month period in 2013. Meanwhile, passenger growth surged 8.5 percent at LAX in April versus a year ago.

The drop in traffic at Long Beach was even more pronounced for JetBlue.

The airport reports JetBlue traffic fell 7.8 percent in April from a year earlier, and was down 7.4 percent in the January to April period. Hayes suggested that JetBlue wouldn’t pursue more flights than the 32 departures the city permits.

Long Beach regulates the number of daily flights, a step taken by the city years ago to limit noise. Hayes wants to reallocate the existing slots so that the airline offers more international flights.

“We are not looking for more slots than what we have today,” he promised.

Hayes said the West Coast has too many “short-haul” regional flights.

“There is a lot of capacity between LAX, Orange County and Long Beach. We think opening up an international operation from Long Beach is a way to make it work,” Hayes said. “This is why we are committed to work with Long Beach and Customs and Border Protection and other agencies to get it built.”

One obstacle that restricts international flight growth out of LAX is an agreement between Mexico and the United States that limits how many flights the airport’s carriers can send to our southern neighbor. Adding international flights at Long Beach would offer new options, Hayes said.

However, he said he didn’t want to put a specific timeline on starting international flights from Long Beach.

“This is not a quick act. First, we have to convince the city that this is something it wants to do, then approach Customs and Border Protection to make a case,” he said. “These things take time, but we do believe this is something worth persevering with.”

Reggie Harrison, the deputy city manager for Long Beach who was named recently as the interim airport director, was not immediately available for comment Friday. Harrison is running the airport until a replacement can be recruited by the end of the year.

Brett Snyder, a Long Beach-based aviation industry analyst who runs the Cranky Flier airline indstry blog, said it’s unlikely JetBlue would pull up stakes in Long Beach should the airline not get the international facility.

“It’s hard to see them close Long Beach, but I’ve been wrong before,” Snyder said. “The airport, I hope, is evaluating it.”

Contact the writer: pmaio@lbregister.com or 562-243-5497