Yuma-A direct flight from Yuma to Monterey, California could be offered at Yuma International Airport if there is enough demand.
As KAWC’s Stephanie Sanchez reports, a small Maine-based airline is exploring the possibility of a new air service that could facilitate travel for business commuters between the agriculture centers of Yuma and Salinas, California.
The Yuma Center for Excellence in Desert Agriculture is gauging demand for a proposed air service providing direct flights between Yuma international airport and California’s Monterey regional airport.
The survey for Elite Airways, a small carrier based in Portland, Maine, is asking for information from agriculture companies about how many times a year employees would use their service or what kind of flight schedule would be best for them.
Executive Director of the Yuma Center, Paul Brierly, said so far they have received a large response and the feedback has been positive.
"There is more than just the farmers, it’s also the shippers and the companies that provide the supplies and the equipment," Brierly said. "Researchers...there are a whole different kind of people that move within the industry between Salinas and Yuma for vegetable production at different times of the year.”
The City of Salinas is about 30 minutes away from the Monterey airport.
That’s where many Yuma area farm workers and growers go when Yuma’s peak harvest season dies down during the summer months.
Brierly said travelers currently flying from Yuma to Salinas, have to go the opposite way and connect a flight through Phoenix before arriving in California.
The survey is available through Yuma’s Limelight Creative Group.