June 06--Silver Airways is aggressively expanding in select Florida and national markets in an effort to serve more travelers and carve out a spot as a top regional airline.
The Fort Lauderdale-based carrier launched new daily scheduled service from Fort Lauderdale to Tampa and to Gainesville June 1.
Company officials say more growth is in the pipeline as it works to connect fliers to more cities statewide.
"We intend to expand our network to include several other gateways in Florida by year-end," said CEO Darrell Richardson, in a statement announcing the new flights from Fort Lauderdale
In January, Silver opened a new 61,000-square-foot maintenance facility at Gainesville Regional Airport, after relocating it from the Fort Lauderdale airport due to the south runway expansion project.
Richardson said the move was "another important step forward in our drive to become the No. 1 regional airline in the country."
Since its re-branding last December, Silver has acquired new planes and added routes as it strives to become a financially safe and sound airline. It's also worked to shed some of the negative image of its former corporate name -- Gulfstream International Airlines.
"They're re-capitalizing the airline ... that's good" said Henry Harteveldt, an airline and travel industry analyst at Atmosphere Research Group. "It was pretty spotty before with older airplanes that were often difficult to maintain."
As part of its new lease on life, in December Silver took delivery of its first new plane -- a Saab 340B plus -- the first of 12 to be added to its fleet by September.
Last month, Silver took possession of two more Saab 340s bringing its total to six.
Harteveldt called Silver's addition of the Saab 340 "smart," noting its reputation as a fuel efficient, reliable and comfortable aircraft.
The Saab 340s are replacing 19-seat Beechcraft 1900D planes on its Florida to Bahamas routes.
Richardson said the Saab 340s will allow Silver to increase flights on its Florida and Bahamas routes by 30 percent, and grow seat capacity by nearly 75 percent.
Silver operates more than 100 daily scheduled flights including to and from 29 Florida gateways, the Bahamas, Montana, Ohio and New York. It operates under codeshare and alliance agreements with United and Copa airlines.
This summer Silver should start service from Washington Dulles International to several cities in West Virginia and Pennsylvania as part of its United agreement.
"The big benefit is they rely on United for bookings," said Harteveldt. In turn, Silver is "helping United have some presence in certain markets."
Copyright 2012 - Sun Sentinel, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
