JOHNSTOWN, Pa. -- Flying out of Altoona instead of Johnstown could actually save you money.

Dennis Heller, a Johnstown businessman, searches for flights out of Johnstown because he appreciates the convenience of a smaller airport.

"You park outside, you walk in and you're right at the desk, you check in and wait a short amount of time and you go through security and get on the plane," Heller said.

When researching flights out of local airports including Johnstown and Altoona to Newark, N.J., Heller noticed some drastic price differences.

Both airports operate under Colgan Air, owned by Pinnacle Airlines in Tennessee.

Flights leaving from both airports connect in either Johnstown and Altoona then to Dulles in Washington D.C. where passengers can connect to a plane to their final destination.

Heller said he was surprised by some of the rates because prices were drastically higher for the same flight.

"If you drove from Altoona and got the flight from there, flew down to Johnstown to Dulles then to Newark it was actually $900 less than flying out of Johnstown," Heller said.

So Channel 6 News did some research, and found in numerous cases, the Johnstown fares were anywhere from $1 more expensive to almost $1,000 more.

Using www.priceline.com traveling to Orlando, Fla. in August, the prices was $250 more out of Johnstown. To fly to Miami was $200 more expensive.

On www.expedia.com, a July visit to Minneapolis was $500 higher than an Altoona flight and Boston was $400 more expensive.

Officials from Pinnacle Airlines did issue a response to the investigation.

"The two airports are under the same airfare structure, so there should never be discrepancies. If anyone finds an error they should contact United Airlines immediately to find a more appropriate fare. We do try to establish the best fares to stimulate traffic at both airports," Pinnacle representative Phil Reed said.

After numerous phone calls to Colgan and Pinnacle Air, several of the fares changed. Reed will not confirm if the changes were a result of the investigation.