Worcester Regional Airport adding Hyannis flight
Photo | Grant Welker
One of Rectrix's Beech Super King Air B300 turbo-prop planes sitting on the tarmac at Worcester Regional Airport.
Grant Welker
Officials, including Worcester Area Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Tim Murray, Rectrix Aviation CEO Richard Cawley, Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito and Massport CEO Thomas Glynn, spoke Tuesday morning at a ceremony marking new air service between Worcester and Hyannis.
Grant Welker
The planes used by Rectrix Aviation for Worcester-to-Hyannis flights are so small that the two pilots sit directly in front of passengers. There are seats for nine passengers, and the flight — as short as 20 minutes from take-off to landing — reaches only about 3,000 to 5,000 feet in altitude.
Worcester Regional Airport has added a third destination, with flights beginning Thursday to Hyannis from the company Rectrix Aviation.
Flights will head to Hyannis each Thursday, Friday, Sunday and Monday, with return flights each of those days to catch a share of travelers looking to get to and from Cape Cod each weekend.
The flights will take 30 minutes, or less from wheels up to wheels down, drastically shortening a trip that by car takes upwards of two hours - not counting traffic backups. Flights start at $150 each way, with higher-cost tickets costing $400, according to Rectrix's online ticket scheduling.
The new air service was announced Tuesday morning at a press conference at the Worcester airport.
"This is very exciting for Worcester," said Richard Cawley, the CEO of Rectrix, which has its 50,000-square-foot maintenance operations already based at the airport. Rectrix, which calls itself the state's largest private-jet operator, began flying between Hyannis and Nantucket last year. Those flights only had one or two passengers per flight at first before taking off in popularity, Cawley said.
"Now we're full," he said. "That's what we're expecting here."
Rectrix, a private-jet operator based at Hanscom Field in Bedford, noticed business growth moving westward from Boston to Worcester and wanted to take advantage of an opportunity to cater to the Worcester area's business community, Cawley said.
Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito, a Shrewsbury native, called the new service to Barnstable Municipal Airport in the Cape's largest town "a great milestone" and "a game-changer for business travelers especially."
Rectrix Aviation uses a fleet of Beech Super King Air B300 turbo-prop planes each featuring nine first-class passenger seats.
Rectrix said last fall it planned to add flights from Worcester to Baltimore/Washington International Airport, with continuing service onto Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport in Florida. The company hasn't given more information on when that connection may begin.
The new Worcester-to-Hyannis route is the second new route added from the Worcester airport this year. In February, JetBlue said it will begin flying from Worcester to New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport starting this fall. For now, JetBlue offers Worcester's only commercial flights, to and from the Florida cities of Fort Lauderdale and Orlando.
The flight schedule announced by Rectrix:
Thursday and Friday:
Hyannis to Worcester, 3:45 p.m. - 4:15 p.m.
Worcester to Hyannis, 4:45 p.m. - 5:15 p.m.
Sunday:
Hyannis to Worcester, 7 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.
Worcester to Hyannis, 8 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Monday:
Hyannis to Worcester, 7:30 a.m. - 8:00 a.m.
Worcester to Hyannis, 8:30 a.m. - 9:00 a.m.
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