New air taxi in northeast promises airline-competitive rates

A new air taxi company called Hopscotch Air, which is awaiting FAA certification, says its new service in the northeastern U.S. – which it hopes to begin this spring – will offer prices competitive with major airlines in dozens of markets. The company said its service will be available for travel between New York metro-area airports in Westchester, Long Island, New Jersey and Connecticut to “hundreds” of airports within 500 miles of New York. The service area extends from Maine in the north to Ohio in the west and Virginia in the south. Hopscotch said it will use a fleet of three-passenger Cirrus SR22, a single-engine propeller aircraft that flies at 180 mph, and will charge a flat rate of $275 per 100 miles for the entire plane. “Two people can fly from New York to Boston for less than a walk-up ticket on the Delta or US Airways shuttle,” a spokesman said. For information on the airline, go to www.flyhopscotch.com.