SeaPort Airlines catches air out of Yakima

March 02--YAKIMA, Wash. -- The first flight from Yakima to Portland by SeaPort Airlines was quiet.

Terri Unglesby, 54, of Yakima was one of two ticketed passengers -- along with a man who connected to Yakima from Wenatchee -- on the nine-passenger Cessna Caravan aircraft for the 12:10 p.m. flight.

A late-afternoon flight to Portland was nearly full, but most of those passengers were connecting from Wenatchee as well.

It's a reminder that starting new air service in Yakima is only half of the battle.

"We need to do our business with our local airlines and airport if we want it successful," said Verlynn Best, president of the Greater Yakima Chamber of Commerce.

Flights for the first seven days were about 75 percent pre-booked, with 40 percent of the bookings coming from Yakima passengers, said Tim Sieber, SeaPort's vice president of strategy and corporate development.

"The market is probably exceeding where we thought it would be in terms of advance sales," he said.

Portland-based SeaPort Airlines joins Alaska Airlines as the Yakima Air Terminal's second air carrier and is the first new service since Delta Air Lines ended service in July 2008.

The airline has three round-trip flights between Portland, Yakima and Wenatchee Monday through Friday, as well as one flight from Yakima to Portland on Saturday and a flight from Portland to Yakima on Sunday.

The majority of the bookings have been from business travelers, making them an ideal focus for future promotions, Sieber said.

The Yakima Valley has plenty of business connections to both Portland and Wenatchee, said David McFadden, president of New Vision, the county's economic development arm.

"The biggest question that surrounds their service is (if) it's convenient and attractive enough to folks in Yakima where they will get out of their cars and get on a plane," he said.

That's not to say the airline can't attract leisure travelers.

Darleen Johnson, a 73-year-old Yakima resident, flew to Portland on the late-afternoon flight to visit her son.

Johnson usually flies to Portland during the winter. When she flew out of Yakima in the past, she would have to stop in Seattle before heading to Portland.

Now she won't have to.

"This couldn't be better," she said.

Copyright 2012 - Yakima Herald-Republic, Wash.