Airline seeks more Hanscom routes
BEDFORD -- For some time, commercial aviation at Hanscom Field has taken a back seat to corporate jet activity. But big changes are afoot as Boston-Maine Airways prepares to launch service to the Washington, D.C., area in mid-May and to Pittsburgh by the end of June.
Portsmouth, N.H.-based Boston-Maine has been serving Trenton, N.J., from the Bedford airport since March 2004. It offers five round trips a day, five days a week.
''Positive input" from business travelers from throughout the suburbs served by Hanscom prompted the small airline to expand its service, Boston-Maine Chief Executive David Fink said in a telephone interview Wednesday.
Approval by the Federal Aviation Administration will be required before the airline can increase operations. A regional FAA spokeswoman, Holly Baker, said the agency has received a proposal from Boston-Maine to operate between Bedford and Dulles (Va.) International Airport.
The Massachusetts Port Authority, owner-operator of Hanscom Field, had not heard of Boston-Maine's plans as of the middle of last week. ''But we are encouraged by hearing this news," spokesman Richard Walsh said.
This was disheartening news, however, to opponents of the airport's expansion.
''We have fought commercial service [at Hanscom Field] since 1999, when Shuttle America began operations," said Sarah Lazarus of Concord, a spokeswoman and board member of the Safeguarding the Historic Hanscom Area's Irreplaceable Resources group. ''With the continued support of our communities, we expect that Boston-Maine will suffer the same fate as Shuttle America did -- namely, that they won't be successful here" with their new ventures.
The communities Lazarus was referring to are Bedford, Concord, Lexington, and Lincoln, which adjoin the airport.
Shuttle America ceased Hanscom operations in late 2004 to concentrate on its operations in and out of Pittsburgh.
Concord Selectwoman Anne Shapiro said she's waiting to hear detailed information about Boston-Maine's plans for both Pittsburgh and Dulles. Shapiro is also a former chairwoman of the Hanscom Field Advisory Commission.
The airline has not yet firmed up specific flight plans for Pittsburgh, but it will offer service to that city's airport from Hanscom as well as from Portsmouth and Trenton, Fink said.
With FAA approval, he said, Boston-Maine will have three round trips a day, Monday through Friday, between Bedford and Dulles. One-way fares likely will range from $90 to $135, depending on the time of departure, he said.
Dulles is located in the heart of Fairfax County, Va., ''which is the fastest-growing destination from Logan" International Airport, Fink said. ''And we want to take advantage of that phenomenon."
Until now, Boston-Maine has had a checkered experience at Hanscom Field.
It inaugurated service to Martha's Vineyard in July 2002, but subsequent operations to other destinations, including Nantucket, Bangor, Maine, White Plains, N.Y., and St. John, New Brunswick, drew insufficient demand.
The regional airline then pulled out of Hanscom in April 2003, only to return 11 months later with its service to Trenton.
In 2005, Boston-Maine's Hanscom operations totaled 3,627, with planes transporting 17,457 passengers, according to Massport. There were about 33,000 jet operations at Hanscom last year.
