AirTran to add Twin Cities-Orlando service in October Liz Fedor, Star Tribune Published June 5, 2003 AIR05 AirTran Airways, a growing low-fare carrier, will announce today that it is adding a daily Twin Cities-Orlando flight in October. The Florida-based airline currently serves the Twin Cities with four daily departures to its hub in Atlanta, and it will add a fifth Atlanta flight in July. AirTran's expansion into the Twin Cities-Orlando market means it will directly compete with Eagan-based Northwest Airlines for vacation travelers seeking nonstop service. "Minneapolis-St. Paul has been a strong market from Day One," said Kevin Healy, AirTran's vice president of planning and sales. Currently, Twin Cities travelers can fly to Atlanta and take a connecting flight to Orlando. Healy said AirTran believes there will be enough demand to support nonstop service between the Twin Cities and Orlando. While much of AirTran's flight schedule is based out of its Atlanta hub, the Twin Cities and Dallas will become AirTran's 13th and 14th nonstop destinations out of Orlando. AirTran will serve the Twin Cities-Orlando route with new Boeing 717s, which seat 105 in coach and 12 in business class. The lowest one-way leisure fare for the flight is $109, which doesn't include taxes and fees. The one-way business-class fare is $281. Sun Country Airlines, based in Mendota Heights, also flies to Orlando, but not daily. Joe Leonard, AirTran's chief executive, said recently that he doesn't think the Twin Cities market is any tougher to enter than other cities. "We expect, when we go into a market, that competitors are going to add flight capacity and that they're going to match our fares," Leonard said in an interview. Healy said Wednesday that AirTran will continue to evaluate the Twin Cities for additional service. AirTran serves 43 destinations with 488 daily flights. *************************************************** The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site/TnTisland.com Roj (Roger James) escape email mailto:ejames@xxxxxxxxx Trinbago site: www.tntisland.com Carib Brass Ctn site www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ Steel Expressions www.mts.net/~ejames/se/ Mas Site: www.tntisland.com/tntrecords/mas2003/ Site of the Week: http://www.natalielaughlin.com/ TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************