Pan Am not planning to leave Pease facility

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. – Pan American Airways has been dropping flights from Pease International Tradeport, but it says it is not considering leaving the former Air Force base.

Adding flights at other airports simply has been a matter of expanding business, airline vice president Dan Fortnam says.

“We’re growing in directions where it makes sense to grow at this stage of our life. You go where there are opportunities to do business and we’re going where the business is,” he said.

Pan Am is based at Pease and has a maintenance facility there. Pan Am began flying from Worcester, Mass., to Florida earlier this year, dropping flights from Pease.