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Ithaca Tompkins Regional Airport will offer non-stop air service to Washington, DC beginning this fall, a development that is drawing praise from local air service officials.  United Airlines has announced that, effective October 4th, it will replace its Ithaca to Newark service with direct flights to Dulles International Airport. Airport Director Mike Hall indicates that service will begin with two round-trips per day, with the potential to expand to four round-trips daily, based on demand.

"I'm very excited about the new service. It should produce much greater reliability than is possible to have at Newark," Director Hall remarks. "Washington, DC is a very strong market for us, with our travelers such as those from Cornell University, Ithaca College, and Lockheed Martin having significant business in the DC area." There is already strong, reliable surface transportation to the New York metro area, he notes.

"This is exactly what we have been trying to accomplish in our discussions with key decision makers at the airlines," says Tompkins County Area Development President Michael Stamm, who chairs the Tompkins County Air Services Board. "United service to Dulles provides a hub for Ithaca outside of the heavily congested northeast air traffic corridor and also connects travelers to Washington, DC. Dulles International Airport will soon have a direct connection to the DC Metro system making access to our nation's capital even easier."

"United has follow-on service to virtually all destinations," adds long-time Air Services Board member and past chair Larry Baum. "There are 35 other carriers that fly at Dulles—with more international connectivity to more destinations out of Dulles than we ever had before. Point-to-point connectivity from Washington has been an opportunity and request that the Air Services Board has had ever since it was formed."

United announced the new ITH Washington/Dulles service as part of a series of schedule changes for its East Coast hubs, which will fly larger aircraft at United's smaller capacity Newark hub and offer its regional connecting customers a more optimal schedule and better flight reliability through Washington/Dulles.

Word of the new Washington service follows the announcement by Governor Cuomo earlier this month of a $22 million expansion of Ithaca Tompkins Regional Airport as part of the Upstate Airport Economic Development and Revitalization Competition. Work on that project will begin this fall.

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