[HOMEPAGE   ROUTE MAP   FLEET   NEWS    LINKS ]

Thursday, March 2, 2000

Pan Am launches flights from Bangor

By Christine Gillette, Portsmouth Herald Staff Writer

PORTSMOUTH - Pan American Airways yesterday launched its service between Bangor, Maine, Pease International Tradeport and Sanford, Fla.

As with flights between now and May, the Clipper Portsmouth left Bangor this morning and stopped at Pease to pick up passengers and head to Florida. The first flight between Bangor and Pease carried dignitaries, airline personnel and about 15 paying passengers. Once at Pease, the flight picked up about 120 more.

"Flight 81's wheels-up this morning was good news for Pan Am and Bangor. By providing service to this region we are expanding our market and filling seats, but more importantly, this service is providing Bangor with a critical business connection to central New England, as well as a terrific option for the Orlando leisure travelers," said Pan Am President David Fink in a statement yesterday.

The airline yesterday also unveiled plans to begin service May 1 from Bangor to Florida through Pittsburgh, eliminating the Pease stop. Flights will continue to be offered nonstop between Pease and Sanford.

The additional flight from Bangor to Florida is necessary, Pan Am Marketing Director Dan Fortnam said, because the demand for service to the Orlando area from the Seacoast is so high. The airline sold out eight of its 149-seat flights to Florida from Pease in February. Fortnam estimated the airline will do the same at least 15 times this month.

Pan Am begins service to Pittsburgh from Pease on March 20. Pittsburgh will be added as a stop on Pan Am's current flights between Pease and Gary, Ind.

"I'm quite optimistic," said Fortnam.

The airline also announced its new "Boston Clipper Connection," which will fly passengers from Bangor to Pease, put them on buses operated by C & J Trailways and drive them to Boston, all for fares starting at $49 one-way. The trip is expected to take passengers about two hours.

"We think the Boston connection makes a lot of sense," Fink said. "The two-hour travel time while avoiding Logan (International Airport) for $49 should provide business travelers a fantastic option."

Fortnam said the cooperative effort between the airline and bus company "really made a lot of sense."

Officials from Pan Am _ including goodwill ambassador Eileen Foley _ and Bangor and Maine's congressional delegation toasted the first flight from Bangor yesterday morning with champagne and cake while the Bangor High School band played. Tours were also held of the Clipper Portsmouth before the flight departed from Bangor, Fortnam said.

"We let people get on and just say, `Wow,' " he said.

Also taking part in the festivities were representatives of Frederickton, Moncton and St. John, New Brunswick, Canadian destinations Pan Am is considering serving from Bangor.

The airline has already booked about 1,000 passengers from the Bangor area in the few weeks reservations have been available, he said. "The response has been phenomenal."

Since several major airlines decided to cease service from Bangor in the last year, Pan Am is now the only airline offering domestic flights aboard a wide-bodied aircraft, a Boeing 727. Bangor's airport is served by a number of airlines using smaller, regional jets.

With the addition of the new Bangor flights and the addition of Pittsburgh later this month, Fortnam said Pan Am is growing at the pace it planned to when it launched its first scheduled passenger flights last year following the airline's purchase out of bankruptcy in 1998 by Fink and Timothy Mellon.

The flights are making money for the airline, Fortnam said, but "we've a long way to go for that one flight to cover an upstart airline."

The airline owns seven 727s and some smaller Jetstream commuter aircraft, he said. In addition to paying passengers, Pan Am is carrying 3,000 to 4,000 tons of live lobsters from the Kittery Lobster Pound on its daily flights to Florida.