Pan American Airways has asked the US Department of Transportation (DoT) for authority to serve busy Washington National from several under-used airports at which Pan Am is currently the only provider of a scheduled service.
It would connect Washington DC to Portsmouth, New Hampshire; Sanford, Florida; Gary, Indiana and Belleville, Illinois.
The scheduled service would be operated using Pan Am's fleet of seven Boeing 727-200s configured with 149 seats.
Pan Am says 65% of available slots at National Airport are controlled by Delta Air Lines, American Airlines and US Airways. In July, eight US air carriers won new access to slot-restricted Washington National after federal legislation in April added 24 daily take-offs and landings at the airport.
"Even with the recent grant of a limited number of slots-fares will remain relatively high compared to other similarly sized markets," says Pan Am.
"Granting Pan Am's request for slot access to DCA will promote the improvement of air travel to and from this vital market by encouraging the utilisation of previously under-utilised airport assets which supports Pan Am's metro-convenient strategy," says the carrier.
Source: Flight International
