Cape Air celebrated its new flight service from Lebanon Municipal Airport to Boston's Logan Airport with an official inauguration ceremony at the Lebanon Airport on Wednesday. The new service will include six nonstop flights daily, but the airport will cease direct flight services to New York's LaGuardia Airport.
The termination of flights to LaGuardia is due to the changes in the airport's airline service contract, which is up for bid every two years. The airline that holds the service contract controls the airport's routes. Previously, U.S. Airways, which ran the service to LaGuardia, held the contract, but the airline was replaced by Cape Air earlier this month. Cape Air began the new service to Boston Nov. 2, according to Andrew Bonney, vice president of planning for Cape Air.
On average, a plane ticket for the 55-minute trip between Lebanon and Boston will cost $54 each way and $99 for same-day round-trip travel, according to Bonney.
"Our real goal here is make Lebanon air service more accessible to people," Bonney said. "We will connect with transcontinental flights and international flights, neither of which are available at LaGuardia."
But New York City is an important destination to the College because of corporate recruitment, fund raising and alumni activity, Dartmouth's director of community relations Peter Glenshaw said. Flight service out of Lebanon Municipal Airport has changed considerably since 2001, when there were approximately six flights per day to New York and Philadelphia, he added.
The main difference between the switch from New York City to Boston destinations will be the amount of travel time for LaGuardia-bound travelers, Glenshaw said.
"If you're talking about a recruiter in New York City who was getting here door-to-door in a couple hours, they will feel something different," Glenshaw said.
Travelers will still be able to fly to New York City through connections with Cape Air's interline partners, he said.
"If you need to be in Boston for a departure into an international or transatlantic flight early in the morning, now you don't have to go the night before," Glenshaw said. "In that respect it's more effective than taking the [Dartmouth] Coach, but some people don't have that need."
The Dartmouth Coach currently offers bus service from Hanover to Logan Airport and Boston's South Station, but Glenshaw does not believe the Coach's service will be affected.
Because of the service changes, the College is considering a luxury bus line between New York City and Hanover similar to one operated by Cornell University, Glenshaw said. The line would be operated by an independent contractor.
"People have adjusted to the decline in service but losing it altogether is unfortunate," he said.
Glenshaw said the College must still determine whether the new bus service is feasible, and address concerns like market demand and scheduling.
According to Bonney, the flights to Boston will provide "access for a smaller community into the national air transportation system."
"We were requested to take over the service by local community members," he said. "They were the ones who sent recommendations to the Department of Transportation in Washington."
Lebanon Airport participates in the U.S. Department of Transportation Essential Air Service program, which guarantees that communities are served by certified air carriers at a minimal level of scheduled air service. The Department subsidizes commuter airlines to serve approximately 140 rural communities across the country that otherwise would not receive any scheduled air service, according to the program's web site.
