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PenAir adds hub in Portland, OR; plans to expand

PenAir

The airline aims to offer essential air service to rural communities in Oregon, Washington and Idaho. 

PenAir is opening a new hub in Portland, Oregon. The airline is aiming to offer flights for essential air service areas in rural parts of the Northwest. PenAir made a similar move when it started offering flights around Boston and the Northeast in 2012.

Missy Roberts is the Vice President of Sales and Marketing for PenAir and says, like most companies, PenAir is always looking for opportunities to expand.

"We’ve expanded about as far as we can in the Alaska market. So we’ve already dabbled and have been successful on the Northeast of the United States, and we’re now looking at the Northwest markets," says Roberts. 

A daily flight from Portland to Crescent City, CA is the only flight the airline will be running for now. That service will begin on September 15th.

Roberts says they are looking to expand into other communities in Washington, Oregon and Idaho that lack services.

“Many of the smaller communities, much like rural AK, are not necessarily big enough for a large regional plane or a jet, but they’re perfect for a turbo prop type aircraft such as ours," says Roberts. 

Roberts says that this expansion will have no effect on their current service to rural communities in Alaska.