PLATTSBURGH — Direct flights to Myrtle Beach are coming to Plattsburgh International Airport next May.
PBG’s airline Allegiant Air announced the new destination to Myrtle Beach International Airport, which now expands on its current Florida offerings from Plattsburgh, last week.
“Today, we’re excited to celebrate Allegiant Airlines’ continued commitment to our airport and community by adding three exciting new routes,” Judi Olmstead, Director of Airports, said in a statement.
“Allegiant has been an exceptional airline partner for many years, consistently providing convenient and affordable travel options for our customers. These new routes will provide better access between the Grand Strand and underserved regions in Michigan, upstate New York, and Canada, with high demand for nonstop flights. We look forward to welcoming even more passengers on Allegiant this summer.”
‘REALLY, REALLY EXCITED’
The first flight to Myrtle Beach out of Plattsburgh will leave May 15, but it can’t come any sooner for Clinton County Legislator and chairman of the airport committee, Bobby Hall, who said he has been trying to get an airline to fly to Myrtle Beach for two years.
“Allegiant figured out the numbers, and they thought it was a great idea,” Hall (D-Area 10, City of Plattsburgh) said.
“Now, I am really, really excited, and I think it’s going to be a great flight and I really hope Clinton County uses it, because it’ll be a nice, direct flight all year round.”
Hall said he owned a bar in Myrtle Beach for five years and noticed there was a high demand locally for flights there.
“There’s a ton of people who go to Myrtle Beach from Plattsburgh, New York, a ton of them. I know all kinds,” he said.
“(At my bar), we used to have Plattsburgh Day — Clinton County Day — and we would get 250-300 people there.”
The expanded airline is especially good news for PBG, which will be adding flights to Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD) in 2025 as well.
In October, it was announced that Contour Airlines, the airport’s alternate essential air service, would be continuing to fly out of PBG and at the beginning of the New Year, would be offering flights to IAD instead of Philadelphia, which it has done since July of 2022.
Hall is optimistic that PBG will continue to build off these expansions by potentially adding an international flight.
“With Contour flying to Washington starting the first of the year, that’s going to be great,” he said.
“Washington’s the easiest place from up here to go anywhere in the United States or anywhere in the world, really. Now, I’m really working hard, the whole committee is working hard, (Airport Director) Chris Kreig is working hard, we’re trying to get a flight to the Caribbean or the Bahamas, somewhere in that destination. I do see that coming,” Hall continued.
“I think it’s a good possibility we can get something to the Caribbean next year.”