Hooters Air abandons Myrtle Beach

Hooters Air is pulling out of Myrtle Beach. The company, whose owner, Bob Brooks, lives in Myrtle Beach, will no longer have public charter flights as of April 17, according to company officials, though it will continue to fly private charters for big groups.

The move doesn’t come as a complete shock. The airline pulled direct flights from Pittsburgh to Myrtle Beach earlier this month, and there had been rumors of the airline’s plan to leave Myrtle Beach.

The move is obviously a blow to the Grand Strand’s tourism-based economy. The airline was averaging 1,000-1,200 passengers into Myrtle Beach a week, Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce president Brad Dean told the Myrtle Beach Sun newspaper.

Still, golfers can find alternate routes and need not cancel their golf vacation plans, according to area golf packagers.

“We’ve had some of our groups re-route their plans,” said Kay Harris of Myrtle Beach Tourism. “We had a big group that called us last week, sayng their flight from Pittsburgh had been cancelled. “We re-routed them to Wilmington, N.C. That was cheaper than flying directly into Myrtle Beach. We’ve been telling anyody who calls us now with flight cancellations to get on Travelocity and find flights to Wilmington. It’s only about a 45-minute drive, closer if they’re staying at the north end (of the Grand Strand).”