Lancaster Airport to offer daily flights to Dulles, weekly to Nantucket

Lancaster Airport will offer daily flights to Washington Dulles International Airport beginning in June and will no longer offer direct flights to Baltimore.

Southern Airways Express, the Lititz-based airport’s commercial airline, announced on Monday that it is moving its East Coast hub from Baltimore to Dulles, beginning on June 28.
Travelers to Dulles can now book connecting flights to 92 domestic and 55 international destinations, said Marc Cestari, chief commercial officer at the Palm Beach-based airline.

The airline also announced on Monday that it will be offering seasonal Saturday service to Nantucket, Massachusetts starting June 5.

“It’s a quick and easy trip from here versus a many hour drive and ferry ride,” said Cestari. “We think this will be a very successful service.”

Along with the change in hub, Southern Airways said it is in late-stage discussions with United Airlines to execute an interline partnership, which would allow Southern Airways passengers the ability to board a United Airlines flight without the need to recheck their bags or re-enter security.

Southern already has interline agreements with American and Alaskan airlines.

“It would be seamless, you check in here and you go to your final destination,” said Ed Foster, Lancaster Airport’s director. “Previously, for example, I flew from here to Baltimore, switched planes through Southwest and I had to gather my luggage, go back through security and recheck again. It’s a little bit of a headache and your flights can’t be as tight because you have to go through a second time at the next airport.”

This February was Lancaster Airport’s busiest in 12 years, according to Foster, who said that the airport saw a decline in 2020, alongside its peers, but has seen business travel pick up quicker than airline passenger travel.

“A lot of businesses look at all the models and connectivity when they travel,” he said. “We hope that they will look here, see that they can take the same flight here, get their business done and be back on the same day.”

Along with its flights to Dulles, Southern plans to continue to offer two daily departures from Lancaster to Pittsburgh.