Oct. 8—Breeze Airways' inaugural flight from Orlando, Florida, to Lancaster Airport on Tuesday morning became more of an evacuation for passengers fleeing the Sunshine State as it braces for Hurricane Milton to make landfall on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, bookings for the airline's first departure from the Manheim Township airport to Florida dropped dramatically in the days leading up to what an Associated Press report described as a ferocious storm that could make landfall in Tampa, Florida, as a Category 3 storm with winds of 111-129 mph. Tampa is about 84 miles southwest of Orlando.
"This is a once in a lifetime storm," said Patrick Thompson, who was on the inaugural Breeze Airways flight into the Lancaster Airport on Tuesday. "Although I live inland, I wasn't comfortable staying there."
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When Thompson learned Monday that Hurricane Milton was forecast to bring powerful winds to his home near Orlando, he said he knew he needed to evacuate, no matter the destination. He said he found a Breeze Airways flight to Lancaster Airport that was reasonably priced and would put him out of harm's way — unaware it was the airline's first-ever flight between the two cities.
Breeze Airways Flight 808 arrived from Orlando International Airport at 10:15 a.m. with 134 passengers on board. Just 16 passengers were on board when the Airbus A220-300 plane left on its return trip to Florida at 12:38 p.m.
Between Sunday and Tuesday morning, the number of passengers booked on the flight to Lancaster County more than doubled because of people trying to escape the storm, including college students from as far away as Maryland who couldn't find flights into Baltimore and Washington. They arrived under sunny skies. The Lancaster Airport Authority greeted them with a water cannon salute, which is customary for milestone airline flights.
Jalen Riley, a student at Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne, Florida, flew to Lancaster County en route to his hometown of Columbia, Maryland. He said couldn't find tickets to any airports closer than Lancaster County.
"Thank God we got out today," Riley said. "( Orlando International Airport) was closed on Wednesday."
Scott Pelletier had already planned to fly to Pennsylvania later in the week to attend a funeral, but changed to an earlier flight when he saw the forecast. While he has lived through many hurricanes, he said he's particularly concerned about Milton.
"We haven't had one this bad in about seven years, and now it looks like it's coming straight towards us," said Pelletier, who lives about 30 miles east of Tampa.
Return flight
The storm caused many people originally booked on the flight from Lancaster County to Orlando to change their travel plans, according to airport officials. Some of the passengers were aviation enthusiasts who hoped to be part of history by taking the first flight.
Owen Theeck of Houston, Texas, and James Charalambous from Long Island, New York, fly more than 100 times per year, seeking out inaugural flights, working remotely along the way. They had also booked tickets to fly out of Orlando Tuesday night.
"It's a very easy airline flying to small cities that don't have service right now, where typical airlines are participating," Theeck said of Breeze.
Glenn Minnich of Harrisburg reluctantly gave up a seat on Breeze's first flight from Lancaster Airport to Orlando that he had booked months in advance because his return flight Thursday was canceled and hotels in Orlando were fully booked. While he said losing the opportunity to be on the first flight was a huge disappointment, he still showed up to watch the flight arrive and take off.
"It's beautiful, it's a great day to fly, just not to Orlando," he said.
New service
Going forward, regularly scheduled flights will take place Thursdays and Sundays, leaving Orlando at 7:25 a.m. and arriving at Lancaster Airport at 9:50 a.m., and departing Lancaster Airport at 10:50 a.m. and returning to Orlando at 1:15 p.m.
One-way tickets begin at $54. There are additional charges for bags, seat selection and tickets that can be refunded or transferred.
In advance of Breeze's arrival, the airport has been upgrading its terminal using a $2.7 million federal grant. A secure screening area is currently under construction, and a baggage carousel will be added to the terminal early next year.
Breeze Airways' service was announced in March, after years of efforts by the Lancaster Airport Authority to attract jet airline service to the Manheim Township airport. Southern Airways Express also provides service from Lancaster Airport to Pittsburgh International Airport and Washington Dulles International Airport using nine-seat turboprop planes, subsidized by a grant from the federal Essential Air Service program.
Jim Cunningham, chairman of the Lancaster Airport Authority board, said Tuesday that the airport has been working toward getting nonstop service to Florida for many years.
"It's finally here, we're happy, and we hope the area supports it," Cunningham said.
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