DELTA'S ARRIVAL

New service offers another destination, more ways to get here

Curtis Bare will have a shorter drive to the airport when he leaves town for a January vacation in Hawaii.

“Believe it or not, it was cheaper to fly out of here than to fly out of Raleigh,” he said Monday, standing in the main concourse of Craven Regional Airport. Bare joined fellow members of the airport authority and local business leaders to welcome Delta Connection to Craven County at a Monday afternoon open house.

The Delta Air Lines regional carrier offers two daily flights to its Atlanta, Ga. hub, joining US Airways Express, which serves Craven Regional Airport with seven daily departures to Charlotte.

Bare said passengers are glad to have a second airline — and a second destination for connecting flights — to choose from when making their travel plans.

“It gives them another place to depart from and another place to go,” he said. “Atlanta’s a great jumping-off point for everywhere else in the world�Charlotte’s a good airport, but they were just looking for some other place to jump off.”

The Craven Regional Airport Authority toasted Delta’s arrival with an open house and New Bern Area Chamber of Commerce ribbon-cutting in front of a Delta Connection jet on the windswept tarmac.

Travelers hope the addition of another carrier will create competition and lower fares. Airport Director Tom Braaten said local residents are “thrilled” to have a second airline to choose from.

“They have a choice in carriers,” he said. “Atlanta just opens up a different market than Charlotte does. From a tourism point of view, there are a lot of people further southeast who are going to discover New Bern, Morehead City (and) Beaufort because it’s easier to get to us. We think that’s special.”

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport is billed as “the world’s busiest passenger airport,” according to its Web site. It served 84.8 million passengers on more than 900,000 flights in 2006, and it is a hub for Delta Air Lines and AirTran Airways.

Delta Connection operates two Atlanta-bound flights from Craven Regional Airport daily — at 6:20 a.m. and 2:10 p.m. — and return flights to New Bern arrive at 1:41 and 9:42 p.m.

Delta had previously offered regional service to Atlanta from the Kinston Jetport, but the carrier withdrew its flights when bookings endured a heavy decline.

Braaten recently sent a letter to area business leaders encouraging them to support the new airline and fly Delta when possible.

Theron McCabe, Craven County’s District 5 commissioner, predicted that the new airline would encourage growth and stimulate tourism by providing residents with another regional destination.

“I know the people are very happy,” he said. “More people will be interested in flying now. People in the area are very happy, because it’s very convenient.”

WHERE DID WE GET THIS?

Three Havelock News staffers divided the 10 destinations listed and searched for the lowest round-trip coach fare for one adult passenger on Delta Air Lines and US Airways’ Web sites Monday and Tuesday. We used a departure date of June 7 and a return date of June 10. These are the lowest advertised fares and may include more connecting flights and longer layovers than some travelers would prefer.