Hagerstown Regional Airport getting another commercial air service

The name of the new service is to be revealed Thursday morning

March 21, 2012|By HEATHER KEELS | heather.keels@herald-mail.com

Herald-Mail file photo

Washington County has landed a new commercial air service to fly from Hagerstown Regional Airport, county officials announced Wednesday in a news release.

The name of the new service is to be revealed at 10 a.m. Thursday in the Hagerstown Regional Airport terminal, the release said.

“Washington County has been committed to securing destination-oriented air service carriers and has been successful in landing a partnership to offer this service to area residents,” the release said.

The county has been searching for a new destination-oriented air service since Direct Air ended its service to Myrtle Beach and Lakeland, Fla. in August.

The only commercial air service currently at the airport is Cape Air’s federally-subsidized commuter flights between Hagerstown and Baltimore Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport.

U.S. Department of Transportationrecords contained no clues as to the new airline or its destination.

DOT filings of public charter routes for 2011 and 2012 do not include any that fly from Hagerstown Regional Airport, DOT spokesman Bill Mosley said.

However, if an airline were to offer scheduled instead of charter service, it would not have to file anything with the DOT, Mosley said.

The new service will be the county’s third vacation destination-oriented air service in two years.

Allegiant Air flew from Hagerstown to theOrlando-Sanford International Airportfrom November 2008 through July 2010, when it ended the service, citing “lack of market demand.”

Direct Air began its flights from Hagerstown in June 2011 and ended them less than two months later in August.

Direct Air Managing Partner Ed Warneck said “sales were soft,” but that the airline would consider resuming the service in the spring.

Last week, Direct Air canceled all of its flights and filed for bankruptcy protection.

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