PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — The Presque Isle International Airport will begin going to both Newark and the Washington, D.C., metro area starting in October.
Starting on Oct. 1, United Airlines will fly one round trip each to Washington Dulles Airport — located in northern Virginia about 25 miles west of Washington, D.C.’s city center — and to Newark Liberty International Airport every day except Tuesday and Wednesday. On those days, flights will only go to Newark.
Flights to Newark have long been controversial in Presque Isle, where many residents desire air service to Boston instead of the New York City area. The scheduling change will not provide that connection to New England’s largest city, but it will give passengers across Aroostook County more options as they seek to travel.
The airport announced the change in a tweet on Saturday. While United’s Essential Air Service contract until May 2022 was slated to hold flights exclusively to Newark, the U.S. Department of Transportation approved a request from the airline to permanently switch flights to Dulles in June. Presque Isle flights had already gone to and from Dulles since April.
At the time, the DOT said United could choose to alter its destinations at any time.
While New Jersey and New York are exempted from Maine’s travel restrictions, Washington, D.C., and Virginia are not. Travelers returning from those locations — as well as any other state besides Vermont, New Hampshire or Connecticut — are legally required to either quarantine for 14 days or receive a negative COVID-19 test, though many vacationers have chosen not to follow those rules.
