Cape Air to stop winter service to Hyannis due to low demand

Cape Air has announced it is discontinuing its off-season flights between Hyannis and the Island because of steep decline in passenger traffic. The Hyannis-based Cape Air said that the flights between the two destinations would stop operations effective from October 22, 2013.

Michelle Haynes, Spokesperson for Cape Air, said that continuing with the service now has become unsustainable. The passengers are just not adequate so as to sustain the business here in the long term. With such a low passenger demand, it after all doesn’t make good business sense to keep the seasonal service running.

Ms. Haynes said that you can just imagine that so far only four passengers had confirmed their reservations on the route after October 22. So, the numbers are grossly inadequate to sustain the service after that date. She said that airline is taking steps to refund these four passengers who have already made their reservations. She also said that three other regular customers who fly the 15-minute commuter route almost every day have also been individually notified.

Ms. Haynes said that though the winter service is being discontinued from October 22 this year, Cape Air will however resume the service once again between the Island and Hyannis from May 22, 2014, when the demand for the route will be higher.

Cape Air has been operating its flights services for the past 25 years, and has been offering year-round flights to the Island almost since the beginning. Cape Air began its service between Martha’s Vineyard and Hyannis with the purchase of Edgartown Air in October 1990.