The Telluride region has gained yet another new flight this winter, with the addition of a second flight on America West Airlines from Phoenix.

The new Phoenix flight is especially beneficial because it leaves Phoenix late enough in the day – at 11:47 a.m. – to accommodate passengers from connecting flights from the East Coast, said Nick Trakas, director of transportation services for the Telluride Ski & Golf Co.

"Air service into Telluride continues to improve," Trakas said.

The flight, aboard a 37-passenger plane, will operate for the entire length of the ski season, from Dec. 18, 2004 through April 5, 2005. It brings the total number of flights into the Telluride Regional Airport to nine, seven from Denver via Great Lakes Airlines and two from Phoenix on America West.

The new flight was made possible thanks to a Small Community Air Service Grant from the Department of Transportation obtained by Telluride Airport Manager Richard Nuttall. "The grant allowed us to expand our marketing program which led Great Lakes increasing their flights from Denver," said Nuttall, in a prepared statement. "We have also partnered with the Telluride/Montrose Regional Air Organization to secure this additional flight from Phoenix."

Along with the new Phoenix flight, new flights into the Telluride or Montrose airports this ski season include an additional Saturday flight on Continental Airlines from Newark, and new daily service on Continental to Montrose from Los Angeles, from Jan. 4 through Feb. 16.

Those flights are in addition to flights continued from last year from Denver, Newark, Houston, Dallas, and Chicago. All together, the two airports boast almost 92,000 inbound seats during the ski season, an increase of 27 percent over last year. All of the flights into Montrose are on jets.

Most of those flights are guaranteed by the regional air organization. But up to seven daily flights from Denver to Montrose on United Express and up to seven daily flights from Denver to Telluride on Great Lakes are not under the program.