TRENTON, Maine — Weather and refueling delayed it on Friday, but Silver Airways plans to start its new flight service to Bar Harbor on-time.
Executives from the regional passenger airline flew to Bar Harbor Airport from Fort Lauderdale on Friday to launch its seasonal air service. Silver’s senior vice president of ground operations, Kurt Brulisauer, joked that he hoped that Friday’s delays would be the airline’s last.
[PenAir ends its service to Presque Isle airport a month early]
Silver and airport officials had to scramble to fill a void in service created when Alaska-based PenAir announced in May that it would not renew its contract as the airport’s seasonal carrier. The airport went about a month without a seasonal airline to supplement its year-round carrier, Cape Air.
“A lot of work has gotten us to this point,” airport manager Bradley Madeira said Friday.
Brulisauer promised excellent service from the airline, which will make daily commutes to Boston’s Logan International Airport over the summer, with connecting flights through Silver’s partners to more than 70 destinations.
[Florida airline to start serving Bar Harbor Airport on July 1]
“This is a very serious opportunity for us,” Brulisauer said. “We want to make people proud.”
The lack of a second carrier could have decreased the passengers Bar Harbor serves, which could have led to a reduction in its federal maintenance funding, officials have said.
Silver Airways will leave the 34-seat Saab SF-340 B twin-engine turboprop its executives flew up in at Bar Harbor Airport until its service starts Sunday, Madeira said.
Airport officials and Hancock County’s Board of Commissioners had recommended Silver to the Federal Aviation Administration over competing airline Boutique Air. The FAA took the recommendation.
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