WESTERLY — If it seems as if there’s a bit more activity at Westerly Airport lately, it’s because of a new tenant that’s offering four daily flights to and from Block Island.
Fly The Whale, an air travel company that has routes in the U.S. Virgin Islands and to Puerto Rico, started the round-trip flights Monday morning. The Westerly to Block Island route is its first foray into scheduled service in the Northeast.
The company is based in New Haven, and its management saw an opportunity in the current building boom on Block Island.
“We’ve kept and eye on this market, watched it for quite some time,” Chief Operating Officer David Ziemer said. “Block Island’s been growing. They’ve got a lot of work going on over there, there’s a lot of construction, a lot of tradespeople going back and forth.”
FTW has done supplemental flying for another tenant, New England Airlines, which also offers scheduled service to and from the island.
“We just look for niche markets that work for our organization and our business plan. This is one of those markets, short haul,” Ziemer said.
Founded in 2009, Fly The Whale offers on-demand aircraft charter services in the Northeast, Florida, and the Bahamas. It’s scheduled service between St. Croix and St. Thomas began in April 2023. A year later, in March, it launched scheduled service between St. Croix and San Juan, Isla Grande Airport.
Its home base is out of Tweed New Haven Airport in Connecticut.
Flights leave Westerly at 7 a.m., 8 a.m., 4 p.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday; departures from the island back to Westerly take place a half-hour after those scheduled times. Total time in the air is about 10 minutes, making it an extremely short hop of about 15 minutes total from boarding to disembarking.
“It’s an easier commute, that’s why think the trades folks would rather rely on this, because there’s so much more time involved in taking ferries,” Ziemer said. “You’re trying to get as much time out of a working day over there. Plus, that takes a lot out of you, especially if it’s rough.”
The aircraft used is a Cessna Caravan, one of a fleet of several planes the company has including seaplanes and a couple of private jets.
Director of Operations Eric Christiansen is a pilot, and the company also has a couple of other pilots that commute from New Haven.
“And we’re actually in the process of hiring a full-time pilot that’s located here in Westerly,” Ziemer said. “That’ll grow as the schedule grows.”
Christiansen said the plane holds up to six passengers and is “a comfortable ride.” Another Caravan the company plans to soon use will hold up to nine passengers, he said.
Fares start at $77 each way, with discounts for children and senior citizens.
Ziemer said the company hopes to start offering weekend service, likely next spring or summer as demand increases. It’s set up now to provide a commuter option for the tradespeople.
“But it’s also for anyone that needs to come over to the mainland for a day to do what they need to do,” Ziemer said.
The airline offers frequent travel commuter pass programs, including WhalePass for individuals and WhalePak for businesses and families. Additionally, it will offer counter-to-counter freight transport services.
“There’s a couple of options there to book online, or people can walk up or call reservations,” Ziemer said.
Westerly Airport lists 33 privately owned aircraft-based tenants, including FlightLevel Aviation, New England Airlines, an 8-passenger commuter airline with service to Block Island and Simmons Aviation, which provides banner towing, aerial tours, vintage aircraft rides and flight training.
The airport is part of the Rhode Island Airport Corporation.
“FlightLevel and NEA have been wonderful, both airports have been wonderful,” Ziemer said. “RIAC’s been very supportive. Everyone’s been very supportive in helping us out.”