Portland-Nova Scotia flight suspended
A daily flight from Portland to Nova Scotia, the Portland International Jetport's only international flight, has been scrapped before it hit its first anniversary.
Montreal-based Starlink Aviation, which operated the flight from Yarmouth and Halifax, N.S., to Portland, is suspending the flight as of today due to a lack of funding, according to a release from the company. The company had been receiving an Air Service Development Fund subsidy to operate the flight from the Yarmouth International Airport Corp., but was notified last week the fund was depleted as of Nov. 25. Starlink was unable to secure short-term government financing and was forced to suspend the flight until additional funding can be found, according to the release. Starlink received $2 million in subsidies, according to Maine Public Broadcasting Network.
The flight launched in February as a twice-daily service, and was the first international service for Portland since 2002. Starlink officials say the flight needs support in order to become a self-sufficient service, but Paul Bradbury, director of the Portland jetport, told MPBN that support will not come from the United States, since the federal government would likely not subsidize a foreign country's air service. "In a different economic time, things could have worked out differently," he said.
About 3,000 passengers took the flight, Bradbury said.
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