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Downtown St. Pete to Get Commercial Air Service

tropic ocean

By JON WILSON, Consulting Editor, TB Reporter

Tropic Ocean Airways will begin service to Fort Lauderdale in February.

ST. PETERSBURG — A new airline will start commercial service to Fort Lauderdale out of Albert Whitted Airport in downtown St. Petersburg starting Feb. 1. Tropic Ocean Airways CEO Rob Ceravolo made the announcement at a morning press conference held today (Dec. 17) on the edge of the airport property. One of Tropic Ocean’s planes served as a backdrop.

Four flights weekly will be scheduled, two on Monday and two on Friday, Ceravolo said. “We love the community and hope you will support us,” he said. Tropic Ocean was founded in 2009 and has a fleet of seven aircraft with both land and seaplane capability. The fleet includes a range of sizes. The Cessna 206 can seat up to four people with a possibility of five depending on weight. Tropic Ocean’s Cessna 208 Caravan Amphibian can seat up to eight people and its Cessna 208 Wheeled Caravan up to nine.

St. Petersburg Area Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Chris Steinocher welcomed the airline, saying Tropic Ocean’s arrival will be helpful to businesses and create jobs.

The airline currently has regularly scheduled service to the Bahamas and charter flights to other destinations around Florida. Future destinations may include Key West, Tallahassee and Jacksonville, Ceravolo said.

Ceravolo is a Ft. Lauderdale native who was a Navy pilot with 10 years of active duty. He was awarded two Air Medals for missions flying the F-14 Tomcat during Operation Iraqi Freedom. He attended the Navy’s Top Gun program and was an air combat instructor. He is a University of Florida graduate with a business degree.

For more information, visit http://flytropic.com/

St. Petersburg | Business | Albert Whitted | Travel | TB Reporter

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