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Sculptors carved a knight, a dragon, a discus thrower, a heart with wings and more out of ice during the 12 annual Ithaca Ice Fest.
Matt Steecker, ithacajournal.com | @MSteecker

United Airlines is adding a third daily flight between Ithaca Tompkins Regional Airport and Washington Dulles International Airport.

The new flight to Washington, D.C., is scheduled to begin on April 29, a United Airlines news release stated. Tickets are now available for purchase.

“Ithaca is a vital economic centerpiece for business and tourism in upstate New York, and United Airlines is proud to offer customers the only non-stop service between Washington, D.C., and Ithaca,” said Jill Kaplan, United Airlines’ president of New York and New Jersey. “The addition of a third daily flight to our schedule offers our customers more choice and convenience to travel between Ithaca and Washington-Dulles.”

The flights to Dulles are scheduled on 50-passenger jets, and are an hour and 20 minutes in duration. Current flights leave from Ithaca at 6 a.m. and 2:30 p.m., and they depart Washington Dulles at 12:30 and 5:30 p.m.

A preliminary schedule shows the third flight will leave from Ithaca at 7:20 p.m. and will depart Washington at 10:10 p.m.

“I’m very excited — but not surprised — that it took only a few months for our community to show that we’d make great use of United’s convenient nonstop service between Ithaca and Washington, D.C.,” said Martha Robertson, chair of the Tompkins County Legislature.

United’s service between Ithaca and Washington Dulles replaced service between Ithaca and Newark Liberty International Airport in October.

Washington Dulles provides flights from more than 30 carriers. From Washington Dulles, United offers flights to more than 70 cities across the U.S. and nearly 40 destinations in Asia, Europe and Latin America.

“Cornell University is thrilled by today’s announcement by United Airlines,” said Joel M. Malina, Cornell’s vice president for university relations. “Many of our faculty and staff engage with federal policymakers on a regular basis, and having an additional daily flight from Dulles to Ithaca will make day trips to our nation’s capital more feasible.”

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