Yeager Airport resumes Philadelphia flight Thursday, marking full return from pandemic

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — After 15 months of disruptions of service, Wednesday will mark the first day since pre-pandemic that Yeager Airport will have a full slate of flights.

American Airlines’ non-stop service from Yeager Airport (CRW) to Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) will resume Wednesday. With the restart of this flight, all temporarily paused routes at CRW due to COVID-19 have returned.

The flight will arrive from PHL at 5:20 p.m. take off at 6:30 p.m., daily with the exception of Saturdays.

Chris Williams, the Public Affairs Manager at CRW said it’s a full-circle moment, as one year ago in June no one knew what the future held.

“When we see this Philadelphia flight come in, it’ll be nice to see all of our services restored. We love seeing our passengers back in the airport. We are super thankful for them and we are glad they trust us to come to fly,” Williams said.

The services restored from various airlines include flights to Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Atlanta, Chicago, Charlotte, Orlando, and Myrtle Beach. Williams said the airport saw an average of 851 people fly per day from May 27 to May 31 on Memorial Day Weekend. In 2020 on those dates, it was an average of 96 people.

Williams said that CRW has not dipped below 400 daily passengers in several months even with some COVID-19 guidelines still in place. Williams said a person still has to wear a mask when coming into CRW or any airport in the country. All airlines still require a mask to be worn on the flight.

Many passengers on the Philadelphia flight coming into Charleston are interested in West Virginia’s outdoor activities, Williams said.

“A lot of people come in from the Philadelphia area to Charleston to go to Fayetteville, do Adventures on the Gorge, ACE, and all the outdoorsy stuff that West Virginia has to offer,” he said.

Williams said it was like that way pre-pandemic, as well. He said West Virginia natives flying from CRW to PHL often use PHL to fly internationally. He expects more of that pattern once international travel opens back up.