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AirTran Folds Casino Route

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By TED JACKOVICS

tjackovics@tampatrib.com

Published: December 9, 2008

TAMPA - AirTran Airways will discontinue its daily flight between Tampa International Airport and Gulfport-Biloxi (Miss.) International Airport, effective Jan. 5, after a casino discontinued subsidies for flights between Tampa, Fort Lauderdale, Atlanta and the Mississippi gambling destination.

"We have flown under a contract with the casinos since we began the market in 1999, since that is the bulk of the business flying into the market," AirTran spokeswoman Cynthia Tinsley-Douglas said in a statement.

"The casinos have made the decision to operate without a contract for flying, and the market is just not financially viable for us without that support especially in today's volatile economic times."

George P. Corchis Jr., president and chief operating officer of MGM Mirage's Mississippi operations, released a statement to the SunHerald in Gulfport and Biloxi: "For nearly 10 years we have subsidized the airline and in this economy, we simply can no longer afford to do it alone."
AirTran served the Tampa-Gulfport route with 117-seat Boeing 717 aircraft. The Beau Rivage Hotel and Resort Casino offered flight and hotel packages between Tampa and Biloxi beginning at $238 for one night.

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