The US Department of Transportation (DOT) has awarded Boutique Air (4B, San Francisco) the Essential Air Services (EAS) contract for Thief River Falls in Minnesota.

The Californian operator says it will offer an 18x weekly return service to Minneapolis St. Paul International using 8- or 9-seat PC-12 aircraft beginning June 1, 2016. The contract runs until May 31, 2018, at an annual subsidy rate of USD3,537,794.

Other operators that submitted proposals included Air Choice One (St. Louis Lambert International) which offered two- and four-year term options to serve Thief River Falls from Minneapolis using 9-passenger Cessna (single turboprop) Grand Caravan aircraft. The options varied in weekly frequency and cost from USD2,618,579 for a two-year term or USD2,592,393 annually for a four-year term.

Community AirLink (Salem, OR) proposed 14 weekly nonstop round trips to Minneapolis/St Paul, using 19-passenger Jetstream turboprop aircraft, at an annual subsidy of USD2,594,790 while Great Lakes Airlines (Cheyenne), the current EAS contractor, proposed a continuation of its 12 weekly nonstop round trips to Minneapolis/St Paul, using Beech 1900Ds, at an annual subsidy of USD3,062,272.

The DOT said the town's airport eventually came out in favour of Boutique Air given several factors among which were its "history of reliable operations, pressurized aircraft, on-board lavatory, introductory fares to encourage passengers to return to the market, marketing dollars for the same purpose, and expedient travel to Minneapolis/St Paul.”