Delta Connection to fly out of Binghamton By WILLIAM MOYER Gannett News Service _____ TOWN OF MAINE -- Leaving on a jet plane could be cheaper and easier early next year when Delta Connection begins three daily round-trip flights between the Binghamton Regional Airport and Cincinnati. The non-stop flights on a Bombardier regional jet will land at Delta's hub at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, and give passengers another route by which they can reach the Western and international destinations from the Broome County-owned and -operated airport. Comair's move into Binghamton Regional will create up to 20 jobs, airline spokesman Michael Keithley said. The new service will begin Jan. 29, on Delta Connection carrier Comair, a Delta Air Lines subsidiary that operates 829 flights to 103 U.S. cities. Delta Connection will add its name to a ticket booth at Binghamton Regional, joining US Airways Express, United Express and Northwest Airlink. The added competition will give passengers extra flight options and could mean lower air fares, Broome County officials said Monday, when the new Comair service was announced at an airport news conference. "Competition is a good thing," Aviation Commissioner Carl G. Olson said. "Competition usually has a positive effect on fares." Jet Away Travel owner Gail Kreppel agreed. "Hopefully, it will make fares out of Binghamton a little more competitive," she said. "Hopefully, (passengers) will stay at Binghamton Regional," rather than fly from a competing Upstate New York airport, like Syracuse's or Albany's. County Executive Jeffrey P. Kraham said Comair picked Broome's airport from among 40 sites where the airline has thought about expanding. "It really sets us up as a regional hub with more accessibility," he said. The airport's $13.7 million renovation, completed two years ago, helped woo Delta officials to the Binghamton area, Kraham said. The deal, finalized late last week, marked a safe landing for the negotiations that started in 1998. "It makes sense to bring in the new service," said Joseph B. Kauffmann, Comair's director of sales and marketing. "Customers have to drive to nearby airports if they want to fly Delta." The airline hasn't set fares for the new routes, Kauffmann said, but the rates will be "competitive and aggressive."