Myrtle Beach-Toronto non-stop flights from February 28, 2010

After a gap of over 3 years, Myrtle Beach International Airport in South Carolina, the United States, is offering its first non-stop international flight, starting in early 2010.

From February 28, 2010, Porter Airlines, the regional airline based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, will operate 2 flights a week – on Thursdays and Sundays – between Myrtle Beach International Airport and Toronto Island Airport.

The Myrtle Beach-Toronto flights have been scheduled through May 30, 2010.

Flights can be booked on Porter Airlines’ website www.FlyPorter.com

One-way fares start at $179, plus taxes, and Porter Airlines has begun accepting reservations.

Myrtle Beach International Airport in South Carolina, the United States, had stopped offering flights to an international destination ever since Hooters Air (which was headquartered in Myrtle Beach) that operated flights to Nassau, the capital of Bahamas, closed down in 2006.

Robert Deluce, president and chief executive officer of Porter Airlines, told reporters that Canadians have always liked visiting Myrtle Beach and that the new air service will make it “a whole lot easier for them to do so.”

Deluce said that the carrier has already got a large number of calls from people interested in the new flight and that Porter Airlines has never before received such a “tremendously positive” response to a new destination.

Bill Golden, president of Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday, a marketing group consisting of lodging providers and golf courses, said in a statement that the Myrtle Beach-Toronto air service is certain to give a boost to tourism in general and golf tourism in particular since a larger number of Canadians would be visiting Myrtle Beach’s golf courses.

According to Hugh Owens, president and CEO of the Myrtle Beach Regional Economic Development Corporation, the new flights will not only promote tourism – thanks to Myrtle Beach’s golf course and beaches – but also give a fillip to the business between Canada and South Carolina’s Myrtle Beach and Horry County.

Toronto, a city with a population of about 6 million people, is known as one of the main business centres in Canada.

The Council of Horry County has lowered the landing fees for the Myrtle Beach International Airport and also has offered an incentive scheme with a view to attracting new carriers as well as new flights to the airport.

According to Brant Branham, board chairman of the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce, the timing of the new Myrtle Beach-Toronto flights is ideal for Myrtle Beach’s Canadian-American Days festival that takes place from March 13 through March 21 and attracts around 100,000 visitors.