Archive: News

The Ithaca Airport, a small airport that works daily to ensure constant, collaborative communication with its airlines, tenants, customers, business and leisure travelers, and the community at large, is pleased to announce an increase in jet service and welcome a new airline this fall.

"The addition of jet service for NWA and welcoming a new airline (Continental Airlines) for fall 2008 are two pieces of extraordinary news," said Robert A. Nicholas, A.A.E., Airport Manager for ITH. "During a time of cutbacks, increased service bucks the trend we're witnessing at airports around the country, particularly smaller ones," said Nicholas.

"We'll continue to update the community we serve throughout the summer and the fall," Nicholas concluded. A community celebration with federal and airline officials is planned for later this year.

With airlines and airports adjusting to cutbacks related to the constantly soaring price of fuel, the Ithaca Airport Air Service Board and Administration unveiled these two announcements at an update meeting given by the Tompkins County Legislature on Tuesday evening.

The first announcement outlined the addition of jet service for NWA, beginning this fall for at least one quarter. The other, was the announcement that Continental Airlines will be coming to ITH, bringing the total complement of airlines at ITH to three. US Airways already offers jet service, so the perk of Northwest Airlines offering jet service is a welcomed one for the airport's travelers, of which there were 170,000 in 2007 (source: Michelle C. Berry, marketing consultant for ITH).

Northwest to Add Jet Service
Effective August 19, Northwest Airlines will introduce jet service from Detroit to Ithaca.

The flights below will upgrade to a CRJ200, operated by NWA'sAirlink partner, Pinnacle Airlines.

• 2918 CRJ DTW-ITH 2123-2245 daily (was flight 2742 Saab DTW-ITH 2123-2313 in the summer schedule)

• 2919 CRJ ITH-DTW 0600-0725 daily (was flight 3178 Saab ITH-DTW 0600-0802 in the summer schedule)

"Northwest's CRJ900 series from Bombardier will provide a best-in-class product for our customers. The aircraft is configured with 12 seats in first class and 64 seats in coach class. The 12 seats in first class are arranged in a one seat-aisle-two seats configuration and will feature 37 inches of pitch (the space between rows). Coach class seats are arranged in a two seats-aisle-two seats configuration, and have 31 inches of pitch. The CRJ900 has a range of nearly 1,400 miles (2,253 km)," said Kristin Baur from Corporate Communications at NWA.

"Northwest Airlines is one of the world's largest airlines with hubs at Detroit, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Memphis, Tokyo and Amsterdam. Northwest, with its regional partners, operate approximately 2,400 daily departures. Northwest is a member of SkyTeam, an airline alliance that offers customers one of the world's most extensive global networks. Northwest and its travel partners serve more than 1,000 cities in excess of 160 countries on six continents." Baur concluded.

Continental Airlines to Add Four Daily Non-stop Flights From ITH to Newark, NJ
"We're excited to let you know that Continental has just added four times daily nonstop service from Ithaca to New York/Newark," said Mark Y. Nasr, Manager, Revenue Planning and Marketing Distribution (HQSDP) for Continental Airlines.

"The new flights mark the largest expansion from ITH in years, they more than double the number of one-stop international cities serviced from Ithaca, and they significantly enhance ITH's accessibility: in fact, the new service can cut total travel time to popular SHA/Johnson destinations like Hong Kong by 6 hours (from over 27 to 21 hours), Singapore by 4 hours, London Heathrow by 3 hours, Sao Paulo by 2 hours, and it more than doubles connection opportunities to the West Coast," said Mark Y Nasr, Manager, Revenue Planning | Marketing/Distribution (HQSDP) |Continental Airlines.

"The initial published fares offer an over 50% discount on the current lowest published nonstop fare between Ithaca and New York. Also, last week Continental announced its intention to join US Airways, United, Singapore and Lufthansa in the Star Alliance. Soon you'll be able to earn miles and Preferred/Elite status with US Dividend Miles or UA Mileage Plus when flying on any Continental flight, pending regulatory approvals." said Nasr, a 2007 alumni from Cornell University's Hotel School.

Joel Raymond, Vice President of Marketing and Route Planning for Commutair has confirmed that Continental Airline will be coming into ITH in October - four roundtrip flights a day as Continental Connection (using 37-seat Dash 8s).

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