NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) – Delta Air Lines announced this week that it will discontinue service between Tweed New Haven Regional Airport and Cincinnati in January.

Delta, which is reorganizing under protection from the federal bankruptcy court, also announced plans this week to discontinue its discount carrier Song, which flies from Bradley International Airport and 15 other locations.

Song’s fleet will be incorporated into Delta’s regular service.

New Haven officials said that while they’re disappointed Delta will no longer fly out of Tweed, they believe the airport is better off now than it was when the service started in May 2004. They also said the decision is not a reflection of the New Haven market.

“At the end of the day, I think that this is fundamentally about their bankruptcy and their financial position,” said Henry Fernandez, vice chairman of the Tweed New Haven Airport Authority. “Even with Delta leaving, we have double the number of passengers. With Delta here, we had triple the number of passengers.”

A spokeswoman for Delta subsidiary Comair said Delta had determined that it could not achieve cost-effective operations in New Haven over the long haul.

US Airways Express, the other major airline at Tweed, has doubled its service since Delta arrived and is now flying six daily flights to and from Philadelphia instead of three.

Fernandez said airport officials will look for other airlines to fly out of Tweed.

—

Information from: New Haven Register, http://www.ctcentral.com