Bluegrassrivals

[B]MEDIA ADVISORY[/B]


Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2008 Contact: Sheldon Compton
For Immediate Release (606) 432-6247 Office


Pike receives commercial air service proposal

PIKEVILLE – Pike County Judge-Executive Wayne T. Rutherford announced a proposal today from a Florida-based company that hopes to bring a commercial air service program to Pike County.

“This would be part of our overall energy development plan,” Rutherford explained Tuesday. “Having an expansion of travel alternatives for representatives and visitors to this area can only benefit our efforts.”

The 12-page proposal was presented on behalf of the service company Air Azul during the court’s regular meeting.

Unlike some air service providers, Air Azul has what is referred to as a three-pronged advantage. Rutherford says the company would be able to provide commercial, charter and freight flights.

In addition, Air Azul has its own stand alone reservation system to support direct bookings, connections for travel agents and online agencies.

The essentials of the plan would see the air service placed at the Pikeville/ Pike County Airport, where the company says it could place a temporary terminal facility adjacent to the existing facility.

County officials are acting as mediators for this venture, according to Rutherford, who says the air service would be a next step in an overall energy plan for the future.

Air Azul hopes to bring the airport into full service following the temporary facility option in two phases.

The first phase would see flights leaving from Pikeville with destinations to Cincinnati, Ohio and Pittsburgh, Penn., while the second phase would further those airline capabilities to include Charlotte, N.C. and Nashville, Tenn.

There has also been discussion to include Louisville as one of the connecting communities, according to the proposal, as it may provide “low cost air service via South West Airlines” and “possible commercial and business reasons for traveling there.”

“This is the first proposal and sets out a plan based on providing nine and 19 seat schedule air service,” said Roger Ford, Pike County Director of Energy and Technology. “I think it’s a major tool when looking to recruit companies for the purpose of county-related business and well as regional business.”

Air Azul representatives say they have identified a company in Kentucky that leases temporary building structures. Such a structure could be placed on ramp adjacent to the existing facility and would cost approximately $70,000 to $80,000 to see installed.

The offer of a temporary terminal affords the county, city and airport board something other proposals have not – a trial-basis situation that would allow officials involved to work gradually at expanding on the service while enjoying the benefits far more quickly.

The idea came in the form of a proposal and is something Rutherford says would be a regional bonus, benefiting surrounding areas as well as Pike County, and will now be shared with Pikeville City officials and later taken to the Pikeville/ Pike County Airport’s board of directors.

Rutherford says the next step is to get a final proposal following a meeting between the county, the city and the airport board

The company also sets out the idea in its proposal to introduce a 30 seat aircraft to provide leisure destinations to popular locations such as Myrtle Beach, S.C. and Tunica, Miss.

Air Azul reported some $500,000 already available in operating capital and another $1 million in a line of credit through the Department of Transportation.

Airplanes the company would operate if the proposal is finalized would be a Merlin Metro 111 and possibly a Cessna 402, as well as a Jetstream 31/32 aircraft.

Rutherford said as early as May of 2007 that the development of Pike County as America’s Energy Capital was dependent on the availability of commercial air service.

At the time, Rutherford and other Pike officials were awaiting the results of a study conducted by aviation consultants R.A. Wiedermann and Associates, of Georgetown.

The study, which was spearheaded by representatives with the Big Sandy Area Development District in November of 2006, picked Pikeville/ Pike County Airport as being the most “cost-efficient, convenient location” of the airports considered across a five-county region.

I think it could really benefit the county

You would see a lot of new businesses opening in this area, and the economy would develop around here very quickly.

*Central_Cheer_Chick Wrote:I think it could really benefit the county

Not just the county, the whole tri-state area. Hopefully it can get big enough within 15-20 years that Southwest Airlines could start coming here. I hate driving all the way to Louisville just to catch a flight.