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A Contour Airlines Embraer RJ140 30-seat passenger jet sits on the tarmac Tuesday during a visit at the Augusta State Airport in Augusta. (Joe Phelan/Staff Photographer)

AUGUSTA — Contour Airlines, a Tennessee-based small-plane service and one of three airlines that submitted a proposal to provide air service from the Augusta State Airport, brought one of its 30-seat jets to the airport Tuesday.

The company seeks to provide about 12 flights weekly to Boston Logan International Airport or Washington Dulles International Airport — or both.

Currently, Cape Air, owned by Massachusetts-based Hyannis Air Service, currently holds the contract and has flown in and out of Augusta State Airport since December 2010. The airline’s contract runs out Oct. 31, and it also hopes to maintain its service of nine-seat planes, three or four times daily.

California-based Boutique Air also submitted a bid to operate eight- or nine-seat planes on a similarly frequent schedule to Cape Air.

Three companies have submitted proposals to the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Holly Hunt, a flight instructor for Maine Instrument Flight and University of Maine at Augusta’s aviation program, snaps a selfie Tuesday during a tour of a Contour Airlines 30-seat Embraer regional jet at Augusta State Airport in Augusta. Hunt and others in the airport’s flight school said a long-term goal is to train pilots to fly passenger jets like this one. (Joe Phelan/Staff Photographer) Purchase this image
Contour Airlines President Ben Munson, left, guides Matt Nazar, Augusta’s development director, through a 30-seat Embraer regional jet Tuesday at Augusta State Airport. Contour is one of three companies bidding to provide passenger service there. (Joe Phelan/Staff Photographer) Purchase this image

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