Direct Air offers $140 round-trip Fla. flights

New nonstop service brings scheduled runs to Worcester airport

The discount air service Direct Air will offer $140 round-trip fares to two cities in Florida and one in South Carolina to launch its service from Worcester on Nov. 22 - the first regular commercial flights to originate in the city since 2006.

Ed Warneck, Direct's president, yesterday said the air service will reserve 10 percent of seats for the special fares "and will obviously let more in if we have available seats."

Direct, based in Myrtle Beach, S.C., will fly nonstop on Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays into and out of Worcester Regional Airport, which has been without regular commercial service since Allegiant Air, a discount airline and charter company based in Las Vegas, pulled out two years ago.

The schedule calls for one arrival and departure daily to Direct's Florida destinations: Punta Gorda, near Fort Myers, and Sanford, outside of Orlando. Service to Myrtle Beach will take place on Thursdays and Sundays.

The sale is set to begin today on the company's website, www.visitdirectair.com, and run through Nov. 21. Travel must be completed by Oct. 31, 2009, and the fare certificates are transferable. Customers will be limited to 20 certificates.

Direct limits baggage to two pieces per passenger, and there is a prepaid fee of $20 per bag per direction, $25 if paid at the airport.

Direct is an air service, which means it doesn't own planes but leases them. For its Worcester service, the company plans to use Virgin America planes and flight crews for its Florida flights, at least through spring of 2010, and USA Jet Airlines for trips to Myrtle Beach.

That will give Bay State travelers an opportunity to sneak a peek at Virgin, which has garnered attention for its luxury approach to lower-fare travel by featuring leather seats, satellite TV, on-demand movies, streaming radio, and a selection of MP3 music files.

Virgin, which serves New York, Washington, Seattle, San Francisco, San Diego, and Las Vegas, plans to enter the Boston market, but probably not in the next year, said Abby Lunardini, a spokeswoman. Amid the current economic slowdown, the carrier decided to lease planes to Direct "to maintain flexibility with our current fleet size in the short term," Lunardini said.

Warneck, who formerly ran Championship Golf Tours, said he is one of five partners who own and run Direct. Three of the partners have experience in running airline operations, including defunct Hooters Air, and one, Robert Keilman, is a retired Bank of New York comptroller.

Direct largely flies north-south, carrying leisure travelers, and prefers secondary markets, to save money on airport fees.

The airline also serves Newark, Niagara Falls, and Plattsburgh in New York, Pittsburgh and Allentown, Pa., Kalamazoo, Mich., and Toledo, Ohio.

As an inducement to bring Direct Air to Worcester, the Massachusetts Port Authority waived most fees for the company for two years.

The authority and the City of Worcester also will spend up to $300,000 in federal grant money to help promote the new service, which was first unveiled in September.

Paul Makishima can be reached at makishima@globe.com.