Sunday, February 10, 2013

Multiple airlines expressing interest in Arcata/Eureka Airport; Additional service could start by summer

Eastbound? Flights from the Arcata/Eureka Airport could touch down in Denver, Phoenix or Salt Lake City as soon as this summer.

Humboldt County is currently negotiating with airlines to provide flights to and from the regional airport, in the hopes that additional service will reduce ticket prices and increase flight traffic.

Multiple destinations are being discussed, but Redwood Region Economic Development Commission Executive Director Don Ehnebuske said they are not releasing which airlines are in negotiations.

”We're not naming names yet,” he said.

Ehnebuske said they've spoken with one airline twice, and are meeting with another at their headquarters in March.

”We don't expect to have any real news until April or May,” he said, adding that service would likely start within weeks of an agreement. “They start quite rapidly.”

First District Supervisor Rex Bohn also declined to name airlines, but said several destinations are being explored: Phoenix, Los Angeles, Seattle, Salt Lake City and Denver.

The county is luring airlines with a subsidy partially funded by a $750,000 Small Community Air Service Development Program grant. An additional $250,000 in funding came from the Headwaters Fund and more than 70 local donors, including businesses, tribes, individuals and local governments.

The air service grant -- funded by the U.S. Department of Transportation -- comes with restrictions, including that a newly secured destination must be east of the Arcata/Eureka Airport, and cannot be a destination that grant money has been used to connect to previously, Ehnebuske said.

Humboldt County was awarded an air service grant in conjunction with Redding to provide air service to the Los Angeles International Airport in 2004.

”That's where we had Horizon for nine years flying,” Ehnebuske said.

Restrictions dictate that the county can't use grant money to seek service to Seattle or Los Angeles, Bohn said, but airlines are still expressing interest in connecting to those markets.

Because Los Angeles is a common destination for flyers out of Humboldt County, the Board of Supervisors had been seeking relaxation on the federal grant restriction through lobbying efforts.

Humboldt County spokesman Sean Quincey said the county recently abandoned the effort, directing lobbying firm Waterman & Associates to push for other federal changes of interest to the county.

”The DOT made it clear that (the grant) couldn't be used for LAX,” Quincey said. “Even if we pursued legislation for it, DOT wouldn't be open to legislation that would be retroactive.”

Some have raised concerns about the revenue guarantee, stating they don't want what happened with Delta Airlines to repeat itself. Delta ended its local service in 2010, surprising many county residents, after accepting a $500,000 Headwaters Fund revenue guarantee in 2008.

RREDC has been seeking a second airline since Horizon stopped flying out of the Arcata/Eureka Airport in 2011. The commission said it hopes bringing back a second carrier would reduce prices for residents and convince more to fly again.

About 50,000 fewer passengers fly out of the airport now, according to RREDC, which results in a loss of about $5 million to the community. United Airlines, the county's lone carrier, flies to San Francisco International Airport.

Bohn said airport staff has been putting in an “immense amount of work” on securing the second airline, which he hopes will help local businesses and the tourism market.

”We hope to see something come to fruition soon,” he said.


Source:   http://www.times-standard.com

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