Chautauqua County has again been denied in its effort to restore Essential Air Service at the Jamestown Airport. The U.S. Department of Transportation denied the request in a letter to the county and Southern Airways Express, which was sent on June 26th. In the proposal, both entities estimated that a Jamestown to Dulles in Washington connection would produce between 6,642 and 9,407 annual outbound and inbound commercial air passengers a year. However, the DOT said that number would not be enough to sustain the funding the county received in 2016. The DOT states it did not find the proposal "likely to result" in the 10.6 passengers per day needed to reinstate the service. They added that there are also regional air hubs such as Buffalo and Erie within a 175-mile radius of Jamestown.
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