Delta's hot new route? It's Boston to Trenton By Peter J. Howe, Boston Globe, 08/19/2006 The newest hot destination that airlines can't wait to serve nonstop from Boston isn't in Florida or the Caribbean. It's the capital of New Jersey. Starting an unexpected route battle, Delta Air Lines Inc. is moving to offer three Boston-Trenton round-trips by year-end. That would create the first alternative to Boston-Maine Airways' Pan Am Clipper Connection to Trenton from Hanscom Field in Bedford, which ranges from three to five weekday round-trips. For many Bostonians, the old industrial city may only bring up visions of the famous "Trenton Makes, The World Takes" bridge seen on train rides to Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. But the Trenton Mercer County Airport sits close to a hotbed of pharmaceutical, life-sciences, and high-tech companies, including Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer Inc., clustered around Princeton and Rutgers universities. "We think Trenton is an underserved market" from Boston, Delta spokeswoman Gina P. Laughlin said yesterday. The new service, on 50-seat commuter jets, meshes with Delta efforts to expand in the mid-Atlantic, including new operations in Atlantic City and Wilmington, Del., and expanded service to Philadelphia. Stacy Beck , a Pan-Am Clipper spokeswoman, said, "We wish Delta all the best of luck. We don't think it's going to hurt our business at all." Beck said it appears Delta -- which is also moving to offer a daily flight from Trenton to its main hub in Atlanta -- seeks to pull travelers from central New Jersey into its network for connections elsewhere, while Pan-Am can maintain a strong franchise in point-to-point travel between central Jersey and the metropolitan Boston Route 128 belt. County commissioners in Trenton late Thursday unanimously approved the new Delta service, which also requires a normally pro-forma approval by the Federal Aviation Administration. Delta has not published fares for the proposed route, but Pan Am Clipper fares from Boston-to-Trenton range from $325 to $404, not including taxes and fees. Richard Walsh , a spokesman for the Massachusetts Port Authority, which runs both Logan and Hanscom, said it was "premature to comment directly" on Delta's Trenton plans but said: "Massport in general is always interested in providing customers with direct service to as many markets as possible." While Trenton could become the 78th US destination served nonstop from Logan, Walsh said Massport is focusing intensely on somewhat more cosmopolitan destinations as well. "We're looking forward to adding our first direct flights to China soon," Walsh said. "Other prime markets we're actively working to connect with include Brussels, Madrid, Tel Aviv, Tokyo, Seoul, Hong Kong, and the resumption of daily service to Mexico City."