News

Olympia may get Big Sky flights to Spokane

Olympia Regional Airport, which has been without
regularly scheduled passenger flights since 1993, may
land its first air carrier this fall.

By Kyung M. Song
Seattle Times aerospace reporter

Big Sky Airlines of Billings, Mont., is considering starting
three daily flights between Olympia and Spokane as early as October.

But before it does, Big Sky wants financial commitments from the state government and Olympia’s
businesses and residents. The Port of Olympia Commission will hold a public meeting Aug. 5 to
discuss the proposal.

Olympia Regional Airport now is used only for private general aviation flights. Empire Airlines of
Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, was the last carrier to fly out of the state capital. Empire stopped its
Olympia-Spokane service after a year because it couldn’t compete with bargain fares offered out of
Seattle by Morris Air.

The Port of Olympia has been wooing Big Sky for more than a year. Big Sky is proposing to
operate 19-seat Fairchild Metroliner turboprops between Olympia and Spokane. Service to
Portland may follow.

Seattle-based Alaska Airlines and sister carrier Horizon Air both fly between Seattle and Spokane
and Portland.

The Port of Olympia estimates that residents in the five-county area around the state capital take
1.2 million trips annually by flying out of Seattle or Portland. Business fliers make up 40 percent of
that traffic, 32 percent come from government employees, and leisure travelers make up the rest.

Port spokeswoman Patti Grant said Big Sky is not looking to presell tickets before it opens the route.
But "they are looking for a commitment of some kind," Grant said.

Kyung M. Song can be reached at 206-464-2423 or [email protected].

Copyright © 2002 The Seattle Times Company

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