Delta to Offer More Daily Flights Out of Brunswick Starting Next Month

A month ago, Brunswick Golden Isles Airport was bracing for the loss of the one and only daily commercial flight offered by Delta Air Lines.

On Friday, the Glynn County Airport Commission announced Delta’s plans to begin offering two flights a day between Brunswick and Atlanta starting July 2.

That’s not all. Delta’s flight schedule lists a third flight starting in August.

“(Delta) has a good handle on the demand and passengers,” said Robert Burr, executive director of the airport commission. “They wouldn’t make this move without some indication of more interest in flight.”

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak, Delta is only booking half seating capacity. That reduces flight capacity to 50 seats.

“It’s a reflection of what the community is doing, getting back to the normal,” Burr said.

Business at the airport is strongly tied to Glynn County’s tourism economy, which is also picking back up following a busy Memorial Day weekend, he said.

And right now, tourism is on the rebound. “Coming off a very strong finish to the month of May, bookings continue to come in at a record pace,” said Scott McQuade, president and CEO of the Golden Isles Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Hotels and short-term rentals are reporting strong demand for summer bookings either for leisure or business, McQuade said.

Group bookings have yet to spring back, he explained. They’re not absent entirely, however, as many have simply pushed their events back to late summer and fall.

“This would also explain why fall so far is performing better than last year, as so much group business has been pushed back,” McQuade said. “That certainly beats being canceled altogether.”

The Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Brunswick, suspending training during the height of the pandemic, also is reopening. Students will begin arriving at the U.S. Homeland Security training base this week.

While sales taxes likely won’t recover for another year, Glynn County Manager Alan Ours told county commissioners at a Friday meeting that the loss may not be as bad as anticipated.

“Not that a 27 percent decrease (in sales tax revenue) is good news, but I thought it was good because it was a lot better than what I originally thought it was going to be,” Ours said.

Burr said the airport hasn’t forgotten about the COVID-19 outbreak. The terminal, airline and the Transportation Security Administration each have bolstered health and safety measures and ramped up cleaning and decontamination.

For the time being, TSA is allowing passengers to carry hand sanitizer bottles up to 12 ounces in carry-on bags, but all other liquids are still subject to the same 3.4-ounce limit.

The airline also announced Friday that it would resume passenger flights in June from Atlanta to cities in Germany, England, France, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Mexico and several airports in South America and the Caribbean Sea.

“The great news is we’re part of that,” Burr said.

Delta has only provided one round trip per day between the Brunswick airport and the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport for the last few months.

Before the outbreak, it operated three round-trip flights a day, with plans to add a fourth in May. The COVID-19 outbreak and subsequent government-mandated shutdowns led to a roughly 95 percent drop in passengers within weeks.

Local officials feel the recent decision was a good move, as business is once again picking up.

“The CVB and the airport commission have been steadfast in the goal of increasing air service to the area,” McQuade said. “We will remain committed to try to reinstate the additional Delta flight capacity and larger aircraft originally planned for May.”

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