Contour Airlines gets approval to be Page's air carrier

The airline expects to be servicing Page my mid-August.

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The U.S. Dept. of Transportation has approved Contour Airlines bid to serve as Page’s air carrier.

Before the City of Page gives final approval to the Alternate EAS program it will first be vetted by city attorney Joshua Smith, said Mayor Bill Diak. It will then go before the mayor and city council on July 11 for final approval.

Mayor Diak said he doesn’t foresee any problems and expects the council to approve it.

If approved, contour will begin its Page service in August, said Matt Chaifetz, CEO for Contour Aviation, on Tuesday.

Ticket sales will begin in about two weeks, he added.

Contour will provide 12 roundtrip flights to Phoenix per week. The company will consider adding flights to Las Vegas in the future if Page desires it.

“We thought for a long time we were the right fit for Page,” said Chaifetz. “We have the right aircraft  and the right level of operational knowledge for a region like Page.”

Contour will fly an ERJ135 jet, manufactured by Embraer. The Embraer is a 37 seat jet, but for Pages operations Contour will remove seven seats. U.S. DOT regulations for public charter flights using jet aircraft limit seating to 30.

“Our passengers will have quite a bit more leg room because of the reconfiguration,” said Chaifetz.

“We’ll have air service again and that’s good,” said Mayor Diak.

Diak believes Contour will be a great fit for Page and its potential growth.

“This will be the first time we’ve had an airline with more than nine seats,” he said. “If Page continues to grow it will be beneficial for us to have a larger airline that can handle that.”