The Charlotte Harbor & the Gulf Islands Visitors Bureau announced last week that a new commercial airline, Direct Air, which is based in Myrtle Beach, SC, will begin a new schedule with service the the Port Charlotte area at the Charlotte County Airport (Punta Gorda Airport) (PGA). This service will begin on Saturday November 22, 2008, just before the winter season as well as the Christmas travel season. Of course, this is the busiest time for home and land purchases in the area as well! Service will be from Punta Gorda to Worchester, MA; Niagara Falls, NY; Plattsburgh, NY; and Myrtle Beach, SC.
Their planes will be leased from and staffed by Virgin America and will be Airbus A319 and A320 planes. The A319 has 8 first-class and 111 coach-class seats, and the A320 has 8 first-class and 141 coach-class leather seating. The service also offers plasma TV, touch service screens, satellite radio and telephone, as well as computer connectivity aboard each flight.
The Charlotte County Airport is a 16,000 square-foot $5.5 million terminal building rebuilt after Hurricane Charlie in 2004 and is is less than 15 minutes from most of port Charlotte and Punta Gorda. It is also close to many newly rebuilt hotels and meeting facilities (also rebuilt after Hurricane Charlie came through in 2004) with many amenities that are open or will be opening by November 2008 to Spring 2009.
Prior to the expansion, Direct Air provides service to the cities of:
- Myrtle Beach, SC
- Columbus, OH
- Newark, NJ
- Niagara Falls, NY
- Pittsburgh, PA
Their normal fares are $99 each way, with a $100 upgrade to First Class. Tickets may be purchased by going to http://www.directairus.comor calling them directly 877-432-DIREct (877-432-3473).
I know this will be a tremendous boost to the economy as well as the area in general to have regular commercial airline flights into the county airport.
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Hi Ron- I know how you feel! It's always great to get news that's good for the local economy, but in this climate it's even more meaningful. It was the same with our Port expansion in Canaveral, excellent news for our economy in Brevard County :-) Hope it keeps you busier than ever. Another small sign of a recovery - YAY!!!