Delta Adds Flights to Florida Keys

Commercial air service has returned to the middle Florida Keys after a six-year hiatus, promising to bring a financial boost while giving tourists more direct access to the island chain.

The return to service took place February 15 with the landing of a 40-seat Delta Airlines regional jet. The fully booked flight was greeted by about 200 people, including someone dressed as a 6-foot-high conch shell. Two fire trucks parked on the 5,000-foot runway sprayed arching streams of water over the plane.

Marathon is a city of 11,000 people about an hour’s drive from both the fishing and diving destination of Key Largo and historic Key West.

For the past six years, tourists have had the inconvenient option of flying into Miami and driving up to three hours or more to reach their Keys destination by using U.S. Highway 1. They also fly into Key West’s busy airport, which has 60 flights per day, and drive to Marathon.

The restored service means a more direct path for tourists who have the Keys and the waters surrounding them on their agenda. Tourism generates $2.2 billion a year in the Florida Keys.

The Marathon airport remained open for charter and corporate flights, air taxis and private lessons after commercial service ended in April 2000. At that time, the airport was suffering from decreasing capacity stemming from sluggish summer traffic.

Tourists likely will make up the bulk of Delta’s passengers, with Keys residents also taking advantage of the flight to Delta’s busy Atlanta hub. Flights aren’t cheap, ranging from about $600 to more than $1,000 per ticket.