BY JIMMY LAWTONNorth Country This Week

OGDENSBURG -- Breeze Airways is set to offer flights to Washington D.C. in October, but those looking to go further south will have a new route to Florida in November.

Ogdensburg Airport Manager Charlie Garrelts said Breeze flights from Ogdensburg to Dulles will be able to connect to Provo Airport in Utah October. 1. On Nov. 8, connecting flights can be made to South Bend Airport in Indiana and on Nov. 21 flights from Dulles will take passengers to Vero Beach, Florida.

Those connections will be welcome additions to the $45 flights from Ogdensburg to Dulles.  Garrelts said expects flights to Vero Beach to start at $99.

Breeze Air was recently awarded the Essential Air Service contract, which is a federal subsidy that allows rural airports like Ogdensburg to get air service that would otherwise be cost prohibitive.

Airline officials said that the Ogdensburg flights will provide a low cost option for Canadian residents looking to visit Washington D.C. and provide St. Lawrence County residents with a flight to a major hub.

One weakness of the Breeze Airways flights is that they do not have interline agreements with other airlines at this time. That can make it difficult for those looking to make connections to other flights.

Essentially it means that passengers would need to book any flights out of Dulles separately. This means claiming and rebooking luggage and removes flight connection guarantees.

Garrelts said that Breeze is still working to secure interline agreements and said that he is expecting they'll have some arrangements in place by the end of the year.

As for strengths, the larger jet planes tend to be more palatable for some fliers and the planes will include Wifi and options of three levels of seating ranging from general to first class.

Ogdensburg Bridge and Port Authority officials said the Breeze flights fit well with their vision of making the city airport a regional hub.

Breeze Airways proposal provides a 137-passenger jet with one daily round trip flight from Ogdensburg to Washington D.C. Breeze currently offers that service in Plattsburgh and says market data suggests that such flights could be profitable in Ogdensburg, despite being ineligible for federal subsidies.