Space-A changes affect Europe

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Olenda Kleffner
  • 65th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
LAJES FIELD, Azores (AFPN) --  Regular space-available travel from Lajes to Italy and Spain will end Oct. 1, while a new stop finds its way onto the weekly channel route.

Although the weekly "Patriot Express" L-1011 will no longer stop at Aviano Air Base, Italy, the aircraft will land at Rhein Main AB, Germany, beginning with the Oct. 8 flight, according to Tech. Sgt. Tom Piott, noncommissioned officer in charge of the air terminal operations center here.

The L-1011 will fly from Atlanta to Baltimore, Lajes Field, Rhein Main AB and Kuwait.

With the change to Rhein-Main AB, it is unclear how many seats there will be for bookings and space-A travel. However, there are multiple missions flying straight from Baltimore to Rhein Main AB both before and after missions through Lajes, Piott said.

"Sometimes these direct flights run the same day, within a few hours before and after our flight," Piott said. "Looking throughout October and November, sometimes there are as many as three flights leaving Baltimore direct to Rhein Main per day."

With the additional flights from Baltimore to Rhein Main, there could be an increase in the seats available for space-A travelers from here, Piott said. The downside is that none of those direct flights go to Kuwait; so seats will be lost to Kuwait-bound passengers.

"We won't know the seating impact until the mission begins and runs for a few weeks, but I think our space-A seats will remain high, and (the change) may even provide us with more seats than before," Piott said.

Meanwhile, a regular flight going to Naval Air Station Rota, Spain, is ending, according to 65th Medical Group officials here.

With the retirement of the C-9 Nightingale, space-A travelers will have to find an alternate route to Rota, Spain. The once-a-week medical flight will stop Oct. 1, according to officials.

Group officials are creating options for people to be seen at the clinic here instead of having to leave the island, according to Staff Sgt. Eveline Kown, 65th Medical Operations Support Squadron aeromedical evacuation clerk.

While there will be some changes, everyone will still receive the care they need, and the process should be easy for everyone, she said.

"The work centers for our active-duty patients should feel a positive impact," Kown said. "The patients won't have to be gone for an extended period of time after their appointment while waiting for aeromedical transportation."

While people here might not feel much of an impact medically, the real loss may be the handful of seats that gave space-available travelers a gateway opportunity to Spain.

Kown said a C-141 Starlifter mission will still fly to and from Andrews Air Force Base, Md., every two weeks in case additional medical care is needed. For medical emergencies, a C-21 is on alert 24 hours a day. (Courtesy of U.S. Air Forces in Europe News Service)