CINCINNATI — While air travel as a whole is nearing pre-pandemic levels, one company with two Ohio locations said that forecasting the future of business travel remains too challenging to continue operations.
Ultimate Air Shuttle, which has hubs in Cincinnati and Cleveland, announced Tuesday it is suspending shuttle flights starting Dec. 16. The company said it plans to relaunch operations in the future.
Ultimate Air Shuttle is based in Cincinnati and utilizes smaller jets akin to private charters and caters to business travelers.
The company suspended its shuttle program during the onset of the pandemic in 2020 and did not resume flights until spring 2021, the company said.
“The Shuttle division will remain idle until further notice due to the continued challenging environment the pandemic created,” the company said Tuesday. “Forecasting business travel in 2022 is a challenge with travel restrictions by multiple corporations still in effect and new ones taking place.”
Overall, air travel has started to approach pre-pandemic levels, federal data indicates. The number of travelers at airports have nearly doubled from this time last year. But daily travel throughput remains about 10% below 2019 levels, per the Transportation Security Administration.
Ultimate Air Shuttle operates out of Cincinnati’s Lunken Airport and Cleveland’s Burke Lakefront Airport.
