AKRON-CANTON Airline offers cheap N.Y. trips

A travel agent said the cheap fares might bring down fares at the Cleveland airport.
GREEN, Ohio (AP) -- AirTran Airways has announced it will offer twice daily nonstop flights from the Akron-Canton Regional Airport to New York for less than $100 round-trip.
"This is the most important air-service increase here in 30 years," said Fred Krum, director of aviation for the airport.
One-way flights between Akron-Canton and New York's LaGuardia Airport will cost $49 and begin March 4. AirTran also will offer business-class service for $159.
Cost out of Cleveland
The same trip out of Cleveland Hopkins International Airport would cost $240.50 round-trip on American Airlines and $175.50 on Continental. The price would double if you didn't stay over a Saturday, according to Travelocity.com.
AirTran's only requirement is a 14-day advance purchase -- and not a Saturday night stay.
"A lot of people who never considered going to New York for business or leisure are going to go," said Kevin Healy, AirTran's vice president of planning and sales.
David Luke, a corporate travel agent for Traveline in Mentor, said the new cheap fares may bring down fares at Hopkins.
Happened before
That's what some travel agents say happened when the discount airline first came to Akron-Canton and offered low-cost flights to its hub in Atlanta -- driving down prices for Atlanta flights from Hopkins.
The New York flights are the latest expansion for Akron-Canton, located about 50 miles south of Cleveland.
Although the small airport counts travelers in the hundreds of thousands while Hopkins counts in the millions, the number of travelers using Akron-Canton has grown 25 percent since last year. Hopkins remains down about 15 percent.
AirTran's costs for the New York flight will be subsidized by a $950,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation, which wants to improve air service for smaller communities.
Krum expects the grant to yield about 120,000 additional passengers to the 900,000 who already fly in and out of Akron-Canton airport annually.
"In Northeast Ohio, the three biggest travel destinations are Chicago, Atlanta and New York," Krum said. "Having New York service at the right price will bring a lot of people here for the first time."