Contour Airlines (LF, Tupelo) has been awarded the Alternate Essential Air Service (AEAS) contract at Page, Arizona, signalling the resumption of large-scale commercial services to the airport, Lake Powell Life has reported.
The carrier will provide 12x weekly public charter flights to either Phoenix Sky Harbor or Las Vegas Harry Reid using E135 equipment operated by its parent, Contour Aviation. The US Department of Transportation (DOT) has already authorised the resumption of the AEAS flights as of July 1, 2018, although the carrier is not expected to launch the operations before August. The contract will run through September 30, 2020.
The DOT has authorised a maximum annual grant of USD4.45 million for the AEAS flights to Page.
AEAS is a grant-based scheme launched in 2004 under which the DOT provides financial support for air service to communities under less restrictive terms than the traditional Essential Air Service (EAS) rules require. The options allowed under the AEAS rules, and not under the EAS terms, include more frequent service with smaller aircraft, on-demand air taxi service, scheduled or on-demand surface transportation, regionalised air service, or purchasing an aircraft.
Until March 26, 2018, Page was served under an EAS contract by Great Lakes Airlines (Cheyenne). The carrier, which used to operate a variable schedule including services to each of Phoenix, Denver International, and Los Angeles International with 9-seater Beech 1900Ds, terminated further operations without the required 90-day notice period. Subsequently, the DOT issued an emergency order requesting proposals for new EAS flights to Page.
However, as the received proposals did not meet the community's requirements, Page asked for a grant under the AEAS programme.
According to the ch-aviation capacity module, Page is currently served exclusively by Grand Canyon Airlines (YR, Grand Canyon National Park) which operates from the city to each of Las Vegas Boulder City and Grand Canyon National Park.
