Triangulation, Charleston WV, Myrtle Beach and Cincinnati
New Air Service at Yeager Airport!
From the Charleston Daily Mail
Wednesday November 29, 2006
Direct Myrtle Beach flights to be offered
by George Hohmann
Daily Mail business editor
Direct flights between Charleston's Yeager Airport and Myrtle Beach, S.C., a favorite haven for vacationing West Virginians, will be available starting in March.
Kanawha County Commission President Kent Carper and Yeager Airport Director Rick Atkinson were to announce today that Charleston has obtained the new direct air service.
Carper said Southern Skyways will fly between Charleston and Myrtle Beach twice a week beginning March 2, "in time for golfing season and beaching and other things." The service will continue through Labor Day, he said.
"There's a bonus," Carper said. "The plane will come in from Cincinnati and go back to Cincinnati. So you can ride to or from Cincinnati for $39. The trip to or from Myrtle Beach starts at $99 each way."
As of Tuesday afternoon, the lowest published Charleston-Myrtle Beach round-trip fare was $178 for December travel and $369 for a March flight.
Atkinson said the Southern Skyways plane will leave Cincinnati on Mondays and Fridays at 9 a.m., arriving in Charleston at 9:45 a.m. It will leave Charleston at 10:30 a.m., arriving at Myrtle Beach International Airport at 11:45 a.m.
The plane will leave Myrtle Beach on Mondays and Fridays at 6 p.m., arriving in Charleston at 7:15 p.m. It will leave Charleston at 8 p.m. and arrive at the Cincinnati Northern Kentucky International Airport at 8:45 p.m.
The airline said it is planning additional flights on Wednesdays during the summer months.
Carper said Southern Skyways will use 148-seat Boeing 737-300 jets.
Kent Elsbree, president of Southern Skyways, said in remarks prepared for delivery at today's 11 a.m. announcement, "We see the opportunity to connect the dots between two greatly underserved markets by the network and low-fare carriers.
"Myrtle Beach is a major golf and beach destination without any nonstop air service to West Virginia," Elsbree said. "Myrtle Beach is ‘the beach' for West Virginians and we expect the flights to be very popular. There's also a fairly large population of retirees from West Virginia who now reside in Myrtle Beach with no easy way to visit friends and relatives back home."
Carper said the airport and its supporters have been working for a long time with the state Division of Tourism to secure the Myrtle Beach flights.
"We can't appreciate them enough," Carper said. "They're quite excited about this because of the opportunity for former West Virginians and others to come to West Virginia for the summer for such things as whitewater rafting, rock climbing -- things we have in West Virginia that aren't down there. There are the same opportunities in Cincinnati."
Elsbree said he expects the Cincinnati service to increase weekend visitors in both West Virginia and the Cincinnati area.
Charleston-based National Travel has been appointed the official travel agency of Southern Skyways, he said.
Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday, a golf destination promoter, will help the airline market its service to golfers in the Charleston area.
Mickey McCamish, president of Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday, said in prepared remarks, "With these new Southern Skyways flights, golfers from Charleston will enjoy the convenience of jumping on a plane and being out on one of our 100-plus golf courses two hours later."
Southern Skyways' Web site is at www.southernskyways.com.
Carper said he tried before to get direct service from Charleston to Myrtle Beach.
"We were undaunted, we just kept plugging," he said. "Rick Atkinson and the Yeager staff worked tirelessly on this.
"It's a whole new way of running an airport," Carper said. "The old days of sitting around and waiting on someone to knock on your door are not smart.
Carper said he's committed to bringing additional service to Yeager, and hinted that there soon might be another announcement about another new route.
Atkinson said, "This scheduled charter-type air service is, I believe, the wave of the future for mid-size communities to have affordable air service to vacation destinations. We'll continue to look at opportunities as they present themselves."
The success in attracting direct service to Myrtle Beach comes just three weeks after Allegiant Air launched low-cost, twice-a-week flights linking Huntington's Tri-State Airport to Orlando-Sanford International Airport in Florida.
Back in 2004, the Charleston area had hopes that Hooters Air would provide service to Myrtle Beach, but the plan fell through.
Contact writer George Hohmann at business@dailymail.com or 348-4836.
New Air Service at Yeager Airport!
From the Charleston Daily Mail
Wednesday November 29, 2006
Direct Myrtle Beach flights to be offered
by George Hohmann
Daily Mail business editor
Direct flights between Charleston's Yeager Airport and Myrtle Beach, S.C., a favorite haven for vacationing West Virginians, will be available starting in March.
Kanawha County Commission President Kent Carper and Yeager Airport Director Rick Atkinson were to announce today that Charleston has obtained the new direct air service.
Carper said Southern Skyways will fly between Charleston and Myrtle Beach twice a week beginning March 2, "in time for golfing season and beaching and other things." The service will continue through Labor Day, he said.
"There's a bonus," Carper said. "The plane will come in from Cincinnati and go back to Cincinnati. So you can ride to or from Cincinnati for $39. The trip to or from Myrtle Beach starts at $99 each way."
As of Tuesday afternoon, the lowest published Charleston-Myrtle Beach round-trip fare was $178 for December travel and $369 for a March flight.
Atkinson said the Southern Skyways plane will leave Cincinnati on Mondays and Fridays at 9 a.m., arriving in Charleston at 9:45 a.m. It will leave Charleston at 10:30 a.m., arriving at Myrtle Beach International Airport at 11:45 a.m.
The plane will leave Myrtle Beach on Mondays and Fridays at 6 p.m., arriving in Charleston at 7:15 p.m. It will leave Charleston at 8 p.m. and arrive at the Cincinnati Northern Kentucky International Airport at 8:45 p.m.
The airline said it is planning additional flights on Wednesdays during the summer months.
Carper said Southern Skyways will use 148-seat Boeing 737-300 jets.
Kent Elsbree, president of Southern Skyways, said in remarks prepared for delivery at today's 11 a.m. announcement, "We see the opportunity to connect the dots between two greatly underserved markets by the network and low-fare carriers.
"Myrtle Beach is a major golf and beach destination without any nonstop air service to West Virginia," Elsbree said. "Myrtle Beach is ‘the beach' for West Virginians and we expect the flights to be very popular. There's also a fairly large population of retirees from West Virginia who now reside in Myrtle Beach with no easy way to visit friends and relatives back home."
Carper said the airport and its supporters have been working for a long time with the state Division of Tourism to secure the Myrtle Beach flights.
"We can't appreciate them enough," Carper said. "They're quite excited about this because of the opportunity for former West Virginians and others to come to West Virginia for the summer for such things as whitewater rafting, rock climbing -- things we have in West Virginia that aren't down there. There are the same opportunities in Cincinnati."
Elsbree said he expects the Cincinnati service to increase weekend visitors in both West Virginia and the Cincinnati area.
Charleston-based National Travel has been appointed the official travel agency of Southern Skyways, he said.
Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday, a golf destination promoter, will help the airline market its service to golfers in the Charleston area.
Mickey McCamish, president of Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday, said in prepared remarks, "With these new Southern Skyways flights, golfers from Charleston will enjoy the convenience of jumping on a plane and being out on one of our 100-plus golf courses two hours later."
Southern Skyways' Web site is at www.southernskyways.com.
Carper said he tried before to get direct service from Charleston to Myrtle Beach.
"We were undaunted, we just kept plugging," he said. "Rick Atkinson and the Yeager staff worked tirelessly on this.
"It's a whole new way of running an airport," Carper said. "The old days of sitting around and waiting on someone to knock on your door are not smart.
Carper said he's committed to bringing additional service to Yeager, and hinted that there soon might be another announcement about another new route.
Atkinson said, "This scheduled charter-type air service is, I believe, the wave of the future for mid-size communities to have affordable air service to vacation destinations. We'll continue to look at opportunities as they present themselves."
The success in attracting direct service to Myrtle Beach comes just three weeks after Allegiant Air launched low-cost, twice-a-week flights linking Huntington's Tri-State Airport to Orlando-Sanford International Airport in Florida.
Back in 2004, the Charleston area had hopes that Hooters Air would provide service to Myrtle Beach, but the plan fell through.
Contact writer George Hohmann at business@dailymail.com or 348-4836.
posted by Charleston West Virginia Economic Development
@ 10:10 AM
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