Sun Air Express to lease three Cessna Caravans

Key Lime Air clinches EAS contract at Ironwood, Michigan

Key Lime Air (KG, Denver Centennial) - through its Denver Air Connection (DAC) brand - has clinched a two-year Essential Air Service contract at Ironwood, Michigan/Ashland, Wisconsin after the previous contractor, Boutique Air was forced to terminate its contract early due to safety concerns.

Boutique Air resigned its two-year contract - due to have run until July 31 next year – on May 19 after two operational incidents caused the local Gogebic-Iron County Airport Board to unanimously vote to seek a new EAS provider, according to a regulatory notice by the US Department of Transportation (DOT).

In the first incident, a Boutique Air flight lost a wheel prior to landing in Chicago O'Hare on January 21, 2021. Then, on the Minneapolis/St. Paul to Ironwood route on May 5, 2021, a cargo door opened during take-off, spilling luggage and alarming passengers who alerted the crew to abort the take-off.

Boutique Air had provided Ironwood with 13 weekly nonstop return flights to Chicago and five weekly nonstop rotations to...

Contour Airlines pitched for AEAS contract at Greenville, MS

Contour Airlines (LF, Tupelo) has been put forward to replace Boutique Air (4B, San Francisco, CA) as the essential air service (EAS) provider at Mississippi’s Greenville, MS in terms of a grant application by the airport to the US Department of Transportation (DOT).

According to a regulatory filing by the DOT, the current EAS to the airport provided by Boutique Air expires on September 30, 2021. Four airlines – Boutique Air, Key Lime Air operating as Denver Air Connection (KG, Denver Centennial), Multi-Aero trading as Air Choice One (3E, St. Louis Lambert Int'l), and Southern Airways Express (9X, Memphis Int'l)- have submitted offers to provide traditional EAS services for either two- or four-year periods commencing on October 1, 2021.

After thoroughly reviewing each proposal, the airport applied to the DOT in June for participation in the Alternate Essential Air Service (AEAS) programme for four years, beginning on October 1, 2021, with service to be provided. Contour Airlines with 12 weekly round trips...

Tailwind Air connects Manhattan and Boston by seaplane

Air taxi operator Tailwind Air Service (PGN, Farmingdale) has announced the launch of the first nonstop seaplane connection from New York Skyports SPB in Manhattan to Boston Harbor SPB on Tuesday, August 3, 2021.

The daily 75-minute flight operated on weekdays from August through November will be the fastest connection between Manhattan and Boston Harbour, from where a dedicated, seven-minute water taxi will transfer travellers to the South Boston waterfront. The service will cut conventional flight times by 40-60%, by allowing passengers to avoid congestion at Boston, as well as lengthy check-in and security procedures, the company said in a statement.

Flights will be operated with eight-seater Cessna (single turboprop) Grand Caravan EX amphibians and will be sold as a codeshare with Southern Airways Express (9X, Memphis Int'l). According to Southern's website, the company operates more than 30 aircraft, including Cessna Caravans and Grand Caravans, Piper (twin turboprop) Chieftains, and the Cessna (twin piston) Citation Bravo.

Tailwind Air plans to add additional routes in 2022, as well...

Mokulele Airlines to deploy B1900s on Hawaii island service

Mokulele Airlines (MHO, Kona) - through its parent company Southern Airways Express (9X, Memphis Int'l) - has announced it will introduce a 19-seat Beech 1900D for weekday return flights from Honolulu to the Hawaiian islands of Moloka'i and Lanai starting Autumn 2021, pending approval from the US Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

The pressurised twin-engine Beechcraft turboprop, the Hawaiian carrier's first beyond its current fleet of twenty-seven Cessna Aircraft Company single turboprops, will be operated under the Southern Airways Express brand, and will also be available for special charters, Mokulele Chief Marketing Officer Keith Sisson told The Molokai Dispatch.

As previously reported, Mokulele on January 13, 2021, took over the Essential Air Service (EAS) to the two islands from Ohana by Hawaiian. Mokulele had provided unsubsidised services to Lanai City, as well as Kalaupapa and Ho’olehua both on Moloka'i with Cessna (single turboprop) 208 EX Grand Caravans, but as part of its EAS application, had committed to increasing capacity using twin-engine...