Wednesday, September 14, 2011

New Pease airline grounded before takeoff. Portsmouth International Airport at Pease (KPSM), Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

PORTSMOUTH — A plan to bring air passenger service back to the Portsmouth International Airport at Pease failed to get off the ground.

Streamline LLC was slated to be the first commercial carrier at the local airport since Skybus in 2008. The new flight service had announced plans to offer initial service between Portsmouth and Trenton, N.J., and potentially to Atlantic City, N.J.

A one-way flight was expected to cost around $199. The service, planned to be offered five days a week, was expected to begin Sept. 6. Company officials said there is now no planned date to start the service.

Mark Cestari, managing director at Streamline Air, said the decision to reconsider service at Pease was based on what he called "internal factors related to aircraft availability, implementation of a new, more robust reservation system and a last minute need to shift capacity to an existing market for the time being.

"We received excellent support from the PDA at every touch point and continue to believe (Portsmouth International Airport) will be a strong market for Streamline as both as destination and a place for originating business passengers in the future," Cestari said.

In August, the Pease Development Authority's board of directors approved an incentives package designed to sweeten the pot for the air passenger service. The package included use by the airline of the facilities at Pease free of charge, plus free parking for passengers. Dave Mullen, executive director of the PDA, said it is unclear when Streamline will look to begin offering service from the local airport.

"They have not crossed us off the list," he said. "We're disappointed it didn't happen in the time frame we were hoping. It's important that they will be ready to do it right when the time comes."

Mullen said Pease is fully prepared for the air service whenever it chooses to begin its local operation. "Developing an air service and playing the lottery are very similar. They are both gambles," he said. "If you don't play, you can't win."

By Charles McMahon, Seacoastonline.com
September 14, 2011 2:00 AM

http://www.seacoastonline.com

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