Essential Air Service at Ely, Nevada

Order 2005-11-19
OST-1995-361

Issued November 29, 2005 | Served December 2, 2005

Order Requesting Proposals - Bookmarked

By this order, the Department is requesting proposals from carriers interested in providing essential air service at Ely, Nevada, for a new two-year period, with or without subsidy, beginning March 1, 2006.

Proposals should provide sufficient capacity to accommodate historical levels of traffic. Specifically for Ely, we request proposals for service consisting of six nonstop round trips a week with two-pilot, twin-engine aircraft with at least 15 passenger seats. We encourage proposals that meet those requirements in an efficient manner. Carriers are also welcome to propose more than one service option, if they choose; they need not limit themselves to those requirements if they envision other, potentially more attractive service possibilities -different hubs, for example - with subsidy requirements that remain competitive.

Scenic Airlines inaugurated service to Ely in October 2001 in response to our selection, after a service hiatus of several months. Prior to that, Ely had been served by Sunrise Airlines until the carrier ceased all operations due to difficulties with its aircraft lease agreement. For the year ended December 31, 2004, Ely generated a total of 3,395 O&D passengers, an average of 5.4 enplanements per day, which was virtually identical to 2003, when it generated 3,332 passengers, or a daily average of 5.3 enplanements.

By: Todd Homan