SeaPort Airlines

Published 5:00 pm Sunday, May 31, 2009

It’s now been two months since the initiation of scheduled air service to the North Coast, and the state of that service is strong.

Since March 15, SeaPort Airlines has operated 305 flights between Astoria Regional Airport and PDX. We are proud to report a completion factor over that time of 98.9%.

While SeaPort is a new service and a new brand on the North Coast, the word is spreading about the convenience and affordability of flying to and from Portland. Customers have originated from as far south as Wheeler, and as far North as Oysterville. Our traffic to and from the Long Beach Peninsula has been particularly strong–where a 25 minute flight contrasts strongly with a 2.5 hour drive.

But it’s not just coastal residents discovering the service. Portlanders, Seattleites, and folks from all over the country are discovering this convenient conveyance to the incomparable Oregon and Washington coast.

The early adoption of this service by so many has allowed SeaPort to consistently operate below our contractual subsidy cap–meaning we’re seeing more revenue than originally anticipated. This, coupled with our operational reliability, bodes well for the future economic self-sustainability of the service.

May 16, our passenger traffic for the week was up 35% over the week prior. This is of course too short a period to statistically signify a solid trend, but it’s an encouraging indicator. After just two months, we have nearly reached our 6-month goal for passenger load factors to Astoria and Newport.

Scheduled air service to the Oregon Coast is a tremendous asset to coastal communities and our state. In the last two months we’ve seen scheduled air service improve coastal businesses’ access markets, ability to ship goods, and connection with professional services not found on coast. Air service is bringing more Portland, Seattle and even foreign tourists to the Oregon coast just when fragile economies need that spending most. And air service is helping local hospitals attract doctors who wouldn’t otherwise consider relocating. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is seriously considering re-locating it’s Northwest marine research vessel fleet to Newport. This could bring tens of millions of dollars of additional economic activity to the Central coast, a move that would be impractical and unlikely were scheduled air service unavailable.

These are just some of the benefits of the air service program the Port of Astoria, North Coast legislative delegation and Congressman Wu and Senator Wyden worked so hard to secure, and one we feel could be a model for other communities across Oregon. Only time will tell, but that is exactly what we need–time to take hold, and your support by choosing to fly versus drive.

But despite the good showing thus far, we still have a lot of work to do.

Coastal air service’ long-term viability will be what we all make of it. So join us for a flight, and hit the sky running.

Kent Craford is the Co-founder and CEO of Portland-based SeaPort Airlines.

SeaPort operates 3 daily roundtrips between Astoria Regional Airport and Portland’s PDX, with 10 connecting flights daily to Seattle’s Boeing Field.

For flight schedules and fares, visit www.seaportair.com or call (888) 573-2767.