Airline service will return to Dodge City, Liberal on Jan. 1

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) - Airline service will return to Dodge City and Liberal beginning Jan. 1.

The federal Transportation Department on Wednesday approved San Francisco-based Boutique Air and St. George, Utah-based SkyWest Airlines as providers of air service to the Kansas cities.

The Wichita Eagle reports the cities lost service when Alaska-based PenAir filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in August.

Under the Essential Air Service program, Boutique Air will provide 18 weekly nonstop round trips to Denver International Airport. Boutique, which operates a fleet of Pilatus PC-12 and Beechcraft King Air turboprop airplanes, will receive an annual subsidy of $3.6 million.

SkyWest, operating as United Express, will operate 12 weekly nonstop or one-stop round trip flights to Denver using 50-seat Bombardier CRJ200 regional jets. It will receive an annual subsidy of nearly $3.8 million.

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Information from: The Wichita (Kan.) Eagle, http://www.kansas.com