Mar. 28—Nonstop air service to the other Charleston — the one in South Carolina — as well as to Orlando, Florida, will begin operating at West Virginia International Yeager Airport starting May 31.
Low-cost carrier Breeze Airways will offer the two new flights, with plans to add nonstop service to at least three more cities, including New York, within the next two years.
The new air service, announced Tuesday by Gov. Jim Justice and other state, county, airport and airline officials, more than fills a void that will exist starting May 1, when Spirit Airlines ceases operations at the Charleston airport, ending existing nonstop service to Orlando and Myrtle Beach.
With Spirit's pullout, the number of nonstop destinations available at the Charleston airport dropped to four — Atlanta, Chicago, Charlotte and Washington, D.C. With Breeze Airways offering flights to Orlando, Charleston, South Carolina, and three to-be-announced destinations, the number of cities directly linked to Charleston will more than double, Justice observed.
"We could have taken a step back, but, instead, we're taking a step forward, which gives us more and more potential for growth," Justice said, since airports and airlines "fuel our economy, bring in tourism, and produce ripple effects that are off the charts."
Breeze Airways' arrival at the Charleston airport follows three weeks of discussions between state, county, airport and airline officials that produced an two-year agreement through which the airline would be compensated for empty seats if passenger boardings drop below certain levels.
"We started out just talking about restoring the flights to Orlando, but we decided we wanted to do something more with someone who would be here for many years to come," said state Tourism Secretary Chelsea Ruby.
Ruby said landing the Breeze flights marks the first step of "expanding the way we're marketing tourism." Instead of focusing on visitors driving to West Virginia vacation and recreation sites, her agency also is now working on "bringing people in by flight."
Breeze Airways "started operating two years ago in May, straight out of the pandemic," said Angela Vargo, the airline's vice president for marketing, who was on hand for Tuesday's announcement.
"We flew to 16 cities to start," she said, "and now we're up to more than 40."
Vargo attributed the rapid growth rate, in part, to the airline ignoring the practice of connecting flights to hub airports and, instead, focusing on directly connecting mid-size cities, resulting in shorter travel time.
"As we look to fill the gaps left by larger carriers in mid-sized markets, Charleston is a great fit for Breeze's business model," David Neeleman, Breeze's founder and CEO, said in a news release.
"With our new Charleston to Charleston service, we'll connect the West Virginia and South Carolina cities for the first time," added Neeleman, who also co-founded low-cost carrier JetBlue.
Breeze operates Airbus A220-300 aircraft seating 120 to 150 passengers and Embraer 190/95 jets seating 98 to 108.
The new carrier's service to Charleston, South Carolina, will operate twice weekly, summers only, with introductory rates starting at $49 one-way. Service to Orlando will be year-round, with one-way fares starting at $59.
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