It’s official — commercial flights will be flying from Bradford to Pittsburgh once again.
The
U.S. Department of Transportation made public last week an order
selecting Sun Air Express to provide subsidized flight service between
Bradford and Pittsburgh.
“It’s great news for the community and great news for the airport,” said interim airport director Alicia Dankesreiter on Monday.
The
airport is currently in the midst of a lapse of service, as former
subsidized carrier Silver Airways ended its Bradford flights on
Halloween. While the Essential Air Service (EAS) contract with Sun Air
began Nov. 1, the provider has not yet been able to start.
“We’re
waiting to hear from Sun Air Express as to when they can start,”
Dankesreiter said. “We expect that to happen before the end of 2014.”
Silver
Airways had served Bradford since 2008. However, at the beginning of
2014, the company announced its intention to pull out of Bradford,
saying it was losing its United Airlines hub in Cleveland, Ohio, and was
retiring the type of planes used to serve the community.
Because
service to Bradford was guaranteed under the federal Essential Air
Service subsidy contact, the DOT sought proposals to replace Silver. Sun
Air had the most attractive offer, airport officials said.
However,
before a proposal was selected, the DOT announced Bradford’s passenger
counts had fallen to the point where the airport was no longer eligible
for the subsidy. Bradford airport officials set out to obtain a one-year
waiver, which was granted in September. The DOT selected Sun Air on
Oct. 24 as the carrier to replace Silver.
“This is great news,”
Dankesreiter reiterated. “We went down and toured the gate we’re going
to come in to Pittsburgh on. It’s very conveniently located. I think
everyone is going to be happy with the service.”
The proposal is
for Sun Air to provide Bradford with 24 weekly non-stop round trips to
Pittsburgh International Airport for a two-year term, from Nov. 1
through Oct. 31, 2016 — although passenger counts will be reassessed on
Sept. 30, 2015 to determine continued eligibility. The weekly ceiling on
the subsidy is $40,224. Sun Air will use an 8-seat Piper Chieftain
aircraft.
The order, signed by Brandon Belford, deputy assistant
secretary for aviation and international affairs of the DOT, indicates
Sun Air and a “coalition of stakeholders, including Pittsburgh
International Airport, promise to make this service attractive to
passengers, with interline ticketing and baggage transfer, and more
frequent service using aircraft with fewer seats than the previous
carrier.”
- Source: http://www.bradfordera.com
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