PORT HADLOCK — With at least 766 passengers having flown Kenmore Air’s seaplane service between Seattle, Port Hadlock and Port Ludlow, the airline is seeing success and extending service until July 15, a company representative said Wednesday.
The service was originally launched at the May 1 construction closure of Hood Canal Bridge to serve passengers between Seattle’s Lake Union and the Inn at Port Hadlock and the Resort at Port Ludlow.
Kenmore Air lands and deboards passengers at the marinas at Lower Hadlock and Port Ludlow Bay.
Nearly 900 passengers
The company has booked a total of 890 passengers for flights through June 15, he said.
“So far, so good,” said Craig O’Neill, Kenmore director of marketing. “The real wild card is when the bridge reopens.”
If Kenmore continues to see the same level of passenger bookings beyond the bridge closure, O’Neill said the company would consider extending service through the summer months until Labor Day, Sept. 7.
A decision on further extension of the service will likely be made in early July, he said.
O’Neill said the company was excited about the prospect of landing at Port Townsend, where Clam Cannery developer Kevin Harris is developing a five-boat mini-marina at the old Quincy Street ferry dock downtown.
Harris, whose hotel would be next to the dock, is working with the Port of Port Townsend, which owns the old Quincy dock, to properly engineer floating docks for boat moorage during the spring and summer months only.
The docks would be towed out and stored during fall and winter months.
“A seaplane dock would determine service for Port Townsend,” O’Neill said, adding that the company reviewed Harris’ original floating dock design and approved.
O’Neill said the company’s decision to continue service was based primarily on the feedback of the passengers they have flown since the beginning of May.
‘Worth a try’
“We feel this is worth a try,” he said.
Kenmore Air has offered three flights a day between Lake Union in downtown Seattle and the marinas at Port Hadlock and Port Ludlow since May 1, the day the bridge closed for renovation.
A survey sent to these passengers received a robust response, according to O’Neill. Of the respondents, a clear majority indicated that they would prefer to fly back and forth to Seattle even after the bridge reopens.
“The survey results were very encouraging,” O’Neill said. “They made it clear that we had successfully introduced a lot of people to the value and convenience of flying relative to the often unpleasant experience of driving around the Puget Sound area. We’re now counting on these folks to put their money where their mouths were and book some flights with us during this additional trial month.”
Fares will be lower for passengers from June 16 through July 15, he said.
The regular one-way fare between Seattle and Port Hadlock or Port Ludlow will be reduced to $65 from its current $79 level. Web specials as low as $39 each way will be available on selected flights.
The flight schedule will remain unchanged at three flights a day, seven days a week. The airline will also continue to offer complimentary shuttle connections between Lake Union and Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, but these shuttles will be better coordinated with the Jefferson County flight schedule to shorten overall connection time to and from Sea-Tac.
“We’ll be keeping a very close eye on our results as the bridge re-opens,” O’Neill said. ” We would like nothing better than to be able to extend this service through the end of summer, but we can only do so if enough people choose to fly to make it profitable for us.”
________
Port Townsend-Jefferson County Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.
