Skybus Adds St. Augustine to RIC Service

By Linda Dunham, Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va.

Mar. 19–Skybus Airlines will start service to St. Augustine, Fla., from Richmond International Airport beginning June 1.

“We would welcome a new nonstop service to an attractive Florida destination at the kickoff of the summer travel season,” airport spokesman Troy Bell said before the announcement was official.

The Richmond airport does not offer a direct nonstop flight to the Jacksonville/St. Augustine area.

“We’re especially pleased to begin offering service from two more markets to our very popular Florida destinations,” said Skybus CEO Bill Diffenderffer. “Beginning June 1 we’ll be flying to Florida from five locations: Columbus, Ohio; Greensboro/Winston-Salem/High Point, N.C.; Portsmouth, N.H., in the Boston area; Richmond; and Chicopee, Mass., in the Hartford/Springfield area.”

Skybus will be offering limited $10, one-way tickets for flights on Aug. 1 to Sept. 2 starting at 6 a.m. today.

Citing the high price of fuel, the airline will discontinue service from Columbus to Niagara Falls, N.Y., and a second daily flight to Milwaukee, as of April 1.

Skybus also will end service from Greensboro/Winston-Salem/High Point to Gulfport-Biloxi, Miss., on April 15, while the number of flights from Greensboro/Winston-Salem/High Point to Gary, Ind., Wilmington, Del., Punta Gorda, Fla., and Newburgh, N.Y., will be reduced from two daily nonstops to one.

Service between Columbus and Chattanooga, Tenn., will stop, and service between Columbus and Newburgh and Columbus and Chicopee, Mass., will be reduced from two flights to one on April 15.

The Columbus-based, no-frills airline began service nationwide last spring. It uses smaller, less-congested airports, such as Richmond’s, to achieve quicker turnarounds for planes, and online bookings for lower operating costs. Contact Linda Dunham at (8045) 775-8126 or ldunham@timesdispatch.com.

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