Five towns in Montana get air service back

Five towns in Montana, a state in the western United States, have regained daily flights in and out of the state.

The air services started on February 1, 2009, one year after the five towns lost passenger air service.
Air service to the five towns in Montana had come to a halt in February 2008 when Big Sky Airlines, the regional airline which had started operations in 1978, closed shop. (Big Sky Airlines, headquartered in Billings, Montana, the United States, had operated scheduled commuter passenger services to 10 cities and maintained a hub at Billings Logan International Airport in Billings, Montana.)

The five routes in which Big Sky Airlines stopped service – between Billings, Glasgow, Glendive, Havre and Wolf Point – have now been taken over by the regional airline Great Lakes Aviation.

Based in Cheyenne, Wyoming, the United States, Great Lakes Aviation operates scheduled and charter services. Its main base is at Cheyenne Regional Airport and it has another hub at at Denver International Airport. Great Lakes Aviation currently serves 59 airports in 17 states across the United States.
Great Lakes Aviation said in  a press release that the daily flight times between Glasgow and Billings are at 6 a.m; and flights from Billings to Glasgow are at 3:30 p.m. on Saturdays and at 7 p.m. Sunday through Friday.

The flight from Glendive to Billings is at 10 a.m. Monday through Saturday and at 4:40 p.m. Sunday through Friday. A flight departs from Billings to Glendive Monday through Saturday at 8:22 a.m. and Sunday through Friday at 3:30 p.m.

From Havre to Billings, the flight leaves daily at 2:25 p.m.; from Billings to Havre, the departure is at 1:15 p.m.

The Great Lakes Aviation’s flight from Wolf Point to Billings takes off at 6:33 a.m. daily; and from Billings to Wolf Point on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. and Sunday through Friday at 7:00 p.m.

The press release added that though most cities will have just one flight daily,

Great Lakes Aviation would acquire additional aircraft in order to bring the service up to two daily trips for each of the five cities in Montana, as per the contract for the Essential Air Service.

Already, Great Lakes Aviation is operating flights to the cities of Lewistown, Miles City and Sidney in Montana – all these towns had lost air service when Big Sky Airlines stopped flying in 2008.