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The MBTA recently launched train service that can get people from New Bedford to Boston in 98 minutes. Cape Air says it can do it in 35.
New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell trumpeted plans for the new direct daily flight travel option from his city to Logan Airport, with his office calling it “a new way to beat Boston traffic” and “high parking rates.”
The year-round flights are expected to begin Sept. 29, departing daily at 8:15 a.m. and 2 p.m. and returning from Boston at 1 p.m. and 6:40 p.m. The flights are on sale at Cape Air’s website, with one-way tickets to Boston priced at $99.
According to Mitchell’s office, passengers heading to Boston to start a longer journey will be able to pass through a U.S. Transportation Security Administration checkpoint in New Bedford, making it easier for them to connect to domestic and international flights when they get to Logan. Parking near the airport’s main entrance costs $10 per day.
“New Bedford Regional Airport’s best days are ahead,” New Bedford Regional Airport Manager Scot Servis said. “We’re expecting more passengers this year with the new flights to Boston, and the increased interest will surely drive more carriers to explore opportunities in New Bedford.”
New Bedford Regional Airport, one of nine commercial service airports in Massachusetts, supports 300 direct and indirect jobs, according to Mitchell’s office.
At the airport, early work has begun on a new control tower and terminal, a project estimated at up to $76 million, which city officials hope will draw new tenants. The state would pay for nearly all of the project, if the city contributes $3 million.
Cape Air, the lone passenger carrier at the airport, has lost about three-quarters of its outbound New Bedford passengers in 10 years, The Light reported last month.
The airline currently operates flights from New Bedford to Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard.
It plans to offer more flights to the islands this summer than last summer. The new mid-June to mid-October schedule, shared with The Light, shows four flights to Nantucket four days a week, and two trips three days a week. The Martha’s Vineyard schedule shows two flights a day two days a week, one trip on five days.
The Light contributed reporting to this story.
So the truth is finally revealed. The NB airport has only one commercial carrier that has hardly any passengers. So why will millions of taxpayers dollars be spent on a new terminal? Let me guess, to support the elite private jet traffic and the local private plane owners who are fortunate enough to be able to afford a plane and use the airport for their recreational flights. Tllaxpayer dollars supporting the fortunate few. How many New Bedford residents own a plane? Very few I’d bet. Stop this total waste of money supporting the fortunate eliteists. That property should be used to support industries that create jobs that benefit all the residents of New Bedford and pay property taxes to the city.