The Florida Keys Marathon Airport, 50 miles
east of Key West International Airport, resumed commercial air
service after a nearly seven-year lapse when Delta Connection
inaugurated daily nonstop service between Atlanta and Marathon Feb.
15.
Both Delta
Connection and Continental Connection, operated by Gulfstream
International Airlines, had committed to beginning service last
fall, but the Transportation Security Administration said it did
not have enough staff to provide security at the
airport.
Nearly $4 million
from federal and state government aid and private sector funding
had already gone into the revival of the airport when the TSA
announced it could not operate there.
But after an
onslaught of protest from the community, enlisting Florida
congressional representatives Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and John Mica,
the TSA reversed its previous decision and agreed to provide the
required security screening.
Gulfstream
International Airlines President David Hackett told TravelWeekly.com
that Continental Connection plans to start flying out of Marathon
in fall 2007.
To contact reporter David Cogswell, send e-mail to [email protected].