Airline Drops Plans for Service Here

By Kerry Duke

Southern Skyways scrapped plans to offer service at Cincinnati/ Northern Kentucky International Airport for leisure travelers and golfers bound for South Carolina.

The Atlanta-based airline began making refunds this week to all passengers who had booked flights for travel to Myrtle Beach, S.C., or to the flight’s Charleston, W.Va., stopover.

Cary Evans, executive vice president, said Tuesday customer response to the airline’s summer travel program that went on sale the first of the year failed to even come close to the airline’s expectation.

“I would say we were extraordinarily disappointed in the response,” said Evans.

“We had expected strong traffic to Myrtle Beach based upon historic travel patterns,” Evans said. The service featured fares as low as $99 one-way to Myrtle Beach.

To promote the service, he said the airline drew on a mailing list of some 70,000 travelers from the region who had expressed interest in visiting the Myrtle Beach area and directly marketed to them.

“It was like issuing an invitation and nobody coming to the party,” Evans said.

Airport spokesman Ted Bushelman said more advertising and promotion by Southern Skyways might have improved advanced bookings.

“They should have done a lot more than they did,” Bushelman said.

The airline, which focuses on leisure travelers and touts its quick connection to more than 100 South Carolina golf courses, plans to go ahead with seasonal service between Charleston and Myrtle Beach with the first flight beginning on May 25.

Southern Skyways’ decision to abandon its plans leaves USA 3000 as only discount fare carrier at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky. USA 3000 began operations at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky in 2002 with twice weekly flights to Cancun, Mexico, and has since expanded with flights to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, and Fort Myers, Fla.

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