Passengers who arrived at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport Thursday morning on Jet Blue flight 835 were treated to a water cannon salute. And they walked through a balloon arch as they entered the terminal and were serenaded with a band.

There was a reason for all that fanfare. The low-cost airline known for its cool factor made its debut at MSP after airport officials worked for eight years to lure Jet Blue to town.

The flight arrived about 8:50 a.m. The first departure took place about 10:40 a.m. when the plane returned to Boston.

Jet Blue will operate out of Terminal 2 and will offer three daily non-stop flights between the Twin Cities and Boston on Airbus A320 aircraft.

From Boston, passengers will be able to connect to more than 100 cities in the United States, the Caribbean and Latin America.

Based in New York's JFK Airport, the nation's sixth largest airline also has a substantial presence in Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, Boston and Long Beach, Calif.