Saturday is going to be a big day at Charleston’s Yeager Airport as flights return and Delta steps up its daily service to Atlanta.
Yeager Assistant Manager Brian Belcher says for the first time since shortly after Sept. 11, 2001 a major airline will be offering first-class service out of the state’s largest airport. Delta’s 125-seat mainline flight will leave Charleston at 7 o’clock every morning.
“It allows them to carry more passengers and it also allows them to have more seats in the market, which allows them to offer lower fares to all their destinations,” Belcher said.
The addition brings Delta’s daily flights from Charleston to Atlanta to five.
US Airways was the last carrier to offer first-class service from Yeager. The airline canceled the service shortly after the major shake-up in the industry following the events of 9/11.
Also Saturday, Spirit Airlines will resume its twice weekly service to Myrtle Beach. Belcher says it usually doesn’t begin until May but Spirit decided to start it earlier this year.
“Tickets have been selling very strongly and I know there are over 100 people on that first flight,” he said.
Spirit will travel to and from Myrtle Beach on Saturdays and Wednesdays usually until Nov.
Belcher says Delta is also set to resume its twice daily flights to Detroit on Saturday. The airline decided last fall to pause the service for a few months. He says passengers can connect to points west through Detroit and to international flights to the Pacific Rim.