Amidst a long agenda that included multiple items of critical importance for the North Central West Virginia Airport came word for Director Rick Rock that flights can now be booked for the new daily flight service that begins Oct. 1 from Bridgeport to Baltimore-Washington International Airport. And that wasn’t the best news.

 

Rock to the Benedum Airport Authority today that the daily flights – the schedule for it listed below – for the month of October will be hard to pass up. In fact, what he told the airport’s governing body almost appears too good to be true.

 

“The fare structure for that first month on the Baltimore flights are going to be one penny, along with the cost of taxes that involved.  You’re looking at booking a one-way flight for between $10 and $13,” said Rock of the introductory offer that goes to the end of October.

 

Toward the end of the meeting, Rock said those flights can be booked on www.flyviaair.com. He said the information that the flights were ready for booking was provided by way of an email confirmation this afternoon.

 

The airport, starting Oct. 1, will offer twice daily flights to and from Baltimore-Washington International. There will be single flights on Saturday and Sunday. Via will replace Silver Airlines, whose last day is Sept. 30, as the new federally subsidized daily carrier under the FAA’s Essential Air Service Program.

 

Part of the new airline’s service is also four flights on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday to Charlotte Douglas International Airport. Rock said those flights will also have the same first month deal. However, those flights are not yet loaded and ready for booking yet on the Via Air Web site.

 

“It should be available within a week at the latest,” said Rock. “It could be sooner. (Via) is actively loading the Charlotte information (to their Web site) so it would be within the next few days.”

 

The flights to Baltimore through Via will land at the D Gate. The reason that is important is that anyone who arranged their own connecting flight (as of now, with no code share agreement, those looking to connect will have to do so on their own) that connects to an airline not using the D Gate terminal will have to have to once again go through the TSA process with luggage and screening.

 

Rock is working with Via Air to remedy that situation. Only the existing airline, Silver, had a code share agreement with a major airline. However, due to canceled flights, delayed flights, and high air fares members of the Benedum Airport Authority frequently complained about – backed by plummeting passenger numbers on the daily service – they are hoping the new service will provide an alternative. Apparently, other airlines thought so as well. Rock said at a previous meeting that airlines with Silver through EAS, to the best of his knowledge, all dropped them on this round of EAS proposals.

 

More from this meeting in the days ahead on Connect-Bridgeport.com.

 

Editor's Note: Rick Rock is shown addressing the Authority above. Below is the fare schedule provided by Rock.