Huntsville Really Wants Low Fares

Huntsville airport has the highest airfares in the country, according to DOT data. Recently, the airport applied for a grant through the Small Community Air Service Development (SCASD) program to help a attract a low-fare carrier in the form of marketing assistance and revenue guarantees (a sweet deal for the airline!). Huntsville ended up scording one of this year's grants, in the amount of $1,000,000 (less than what they wanted) to help get service to Baltimore/Washington and Orlando. United isn't very happy about that because they already serve Dulles nonstop,  but that's another story for another day.

 But Huntsville isn't just happy with its new service, hence its new website, "We Want Low Fares!" The airport writes:

There is more work to be done, however, because AirTran also flies into Atlanta. We must add the Atlanta market – AirTran's gateway to the entire United States – and that depends solely on the support of the North Alabama community....This Atlanta service is the determining factor in our passengers saving an average of 40% on airfares, yielding a total savings of $60 million per year for our community. Now more than ever is the time when we look toward the community to pledge is financial support to bring the Atlanta service to Huntsville.

Delta, however, already flies the Atlanta route, so that's probably a concern for AirTran.

My question, however, is if these moves are short-sighted. Low fares are great for the community, but a balance needs to be struck. Yes, fares to Atlanta and Washington might be high, but these are global hubs for Delta and United that have a much farther reach than AirTran does, and that's important for a local business community.

So, what say you? What's more important? Low fares, access to many destinations, or a bit of both?