Cape Air Set To Fly In Montana Dec. 10

Cape Air, the nation’s largest commuter airline, will begin serving eastern Montana with Essential Air Service beginning Tuesday, Dec. 10. From its hub in Billings, Cape Air will operate daily, year-round flights to five regional communities, Glasgow, Wolf Point, Sidney, Havre and Glendive.

Each community will have two daily round-trip flights except Sidney, which will have five daily round-trips.

All seats are priced at $49 each way, and include all taxes and fees. While service does not begin until early December, reservations can be made now by visiting capeair.com or by calling 800-CAPE-AIR.

Flights will depart Glasgow at 7:15 a.m. and 2:20 p.m. Billings to Glasgow flights are to depart at 10:45 a.m. and 5:45 p.m. Flight time is one hour and 36 minutes.

Cape Air was chosen from among three candidates in July, after Silver Airways announced it would not seek to renew its contract after two years of operation in Montana. This decision was in part because Essential Air Service flights to Lewistown and Miles City were cut off by new caps on passenger subsidies.

Silver Airways has pledged to continue service until Cape Air takes over.

Cape Air president Linda Markham said, “We are viewing the start of service in Montana as an exciting chapter in our organization’s history. The opportunity to provide frequent, consistent air service, create new jobs and become a community partner to these six cities is one that we eagerly welcome.”

The airline said it will budget $45,000 per year for each EAS community for marketing, getting involved with activities like Little League.

In its 24th year, Cape Air is one of the largest independent regional airlines in the United States, annually flying over 750,000 passengers to destinations around the world including New England, New York, the Caribbean, Florida, the Midwest and Micronesia.

With seventy-five Cessna 402s, three Britten-Norman Islanders and two ATR-42s, the employee-owned company operates up to 850 flights per day. Montana will be served by the Cessnas, twin-engine nine-passenger aircraft.