New air service coming to Myrtle Beach International

Myrtle Beach International Airport will welcome new air service later this month.

Starting July 31, Florida-based ViaAir will offer seasonal service from Charlotte Douglas International Airport to MYR. ViaAir also offers service from Charlotte to Raleigh County Memorial Airport in Beckley, West Virginia.

“We like Myrtle Beach,” said Janelle Davis, ViaAir’s digital marketing specialist. “Being based in Florida, we have miles of coastline, but there’s something about Myrtle Beach that just seems very classic … that summer beach feeling. You’ve got the boardwalk, and it’s easy to imagine going to the beach and eating ice cream.”

After the initial flight, the service will be offered on certain dates through Aug. 21. Promotional fares will drop as low as $77 each way to and from Charlotte, and down to $52 to southern West Virginia. The company began offering West Virginia-to-Charlotte service in December.

“At ViaAir, we still believe that air service is not just a means of transportation,” company President Irit Vizer said in a news release. “We are offering the Myrtle Beach community the opportunity to experience again the Golden Age of Flight. Our experienced team understands that client satisfaction is critical to the creation of successful flight service. We pride ourselves at being more than just transportation, as such we always go above and beyond, as proven in our excellent client satisfaction rate.”

Myrtle Beach is a popular tourist destination for Beckley residents, Davis said, and the air carrier’s expansion to the Grand Strand seems natural. She said the company began planning the route in February and fine-tuned the marketing in June.

The service will also give Myrtle Beach residents new travel options, said Kirk Lovell, assistant director of airports at MYR.

“It’s a great way for people to get away from the heat in Myrtle Beach and go check out whitewater rafting and all kinds of fun, outdoor activities that Beckley has to offer,” he said. “Also, it gives passengers another choice to fly nonstop between Myrtle Beach and Charlotte.”

The seasonal Myrtle Beach flights could lead to regular service in the future, Davis said.

“We are trying it out at this point,” she said. “Even though Beckley has professed such an interest in it, we want to make sure that the route does do well before we move forward with any sort of permanent arrangement.”

This story was originally published July 15, 2015 at 6:16 PM with the headline "New air service coming to Myrtle Beach International."