Kenmore Air Express today announced it will cease air service between Oak Harbor and Seattle starting Jan. 1.

The airline will cut back to two flights daily between Dec. 5 and Dec. 31.

“This decision was reached with great difficulty after many months of increasing financial losses in the Oak Harbor market and the failure of many efforts by the airline, the community and the Navy to reverse this trend,” said airline general manager Todd Banks.

“We are proud of the safe, convenient service our dedicated flight crews and ground staff have provided on Whidbey Island and are very regretful that passenger volumes have simply not been sufficient to maintain viable commercial air service,” Banks said.

Kenmore Air Express started service on Whidbey Island in May 2006 and has since flown more than 26,000 passengers between Seattle and Oak Harbor. In the airline’s peak month, in June 2007, more than 1,300 people flew to or from Oak Harbor. By last month, however, the number had fallen to less than 750 passengers.

“The number of folks we flew in our best month ever is about the minimum we needed to be flying every month in order to make a living in Oak Harbor,” said Craig O’Neill, Kenmore Air’s marketing director. “We worked very hard and many of our supporters in the community worked very hard to make this succeed, but in the face of a declining economy and tough competition, our efforts simply did not prevail.”

The company said a major hurdle was attracting Navy travelers.

“Back in the 1990s when Harbor Air was serving Oak Harbor, close to 90 percent of military personnel traveling to or from Naval Air Station Whidbey Island flew,” Banks said. “Due to technological changes in how the Navy plans its travel and an altered competitive landscape, we have been unable to capture more than about 25 percent of that travel.”

“If there is a ‘silver bullet’ for ensuring the success of airline service in Oak Harbor, it’s getting the Navy onboard, and if agreement could ever be reached to assure a sufficient level of Navy flying in the future, we’d certainly be interested in restarting Oak Harbor service,” he added.