Westport and other area air travelers will soon have a new airport choice for commercial jet service—for the first time since 1996, commercial jet service is returning to Tweed-New Haven Airport.
Delta Air Lines announced today that beginning May 27, one of its Delta Connection carriers, Comair, will fly three daily round-trip jet flights between Tweed and Delta’s Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport hub.
Delta Connection will be the first new airline to serve New Haven since United, United Express and Continental Express all pulled out in 1996.
“This is a huge milestone for the city and the region,” Tweed-New Haven Airport Authority Chairman Lawrence DeNardis said.
Delta will add its Cincinnati service to US Airways Express existing turboprop service to Philadelphia.
The Delta service will be on 40-seat Bombardier Canadair regional jets, according to Joe Kauffmann, Delta Connection-Comair director of corporate marketing and communications.
Mayor John DeStefano Jr. and Bruce Alexander, Yale University vice president for New Haven and state affairs, said the deal was sealed after businesses guaranteed $1.9 million in revenues for the airline, an effort that Alexander led.
“What it does is, for the first time in nearly a decade it provides jet service to a major hub,” DeStefano said. “It puts Tweed in a place where it can be a meaningful factor in supporting business.”
