Boardings take off at Cape airport

Boardings at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport through the first 11 months of this year are expected to have increased by more than 50 percent over a year ago after adding in final November boardings, airport manager Bruce Loy said Tuesday.

That would bring the total number of boardings to more than 8,000 compared to 5,309 for the same period a year ago, he said,

If boardings are solid in December, the airport could end up with slightly less than 9,000 boardings for the year.

That's good news for city officials who are hoping to eventually reach the 10,000 passenger boardings level. The city would be guaranteed $1 million in federal funding for eligible airport projects for every year it meets that boardings threshold, Loy said.

SkyWest Airlines, doing business as United Express, began offering round-trip flights on 50-seat planes to Chicago on Dec. 1, 2017.

The commuter airline replaced Cape Air, which previously provided round trips to St. Louis on much smaller planes.

Commuter flights serving Cape Girardeau and other small airports are federally subsidized under the Essential Air Service program.

Cape Girardeau city officials had expressed hope that United Express, with its connection to Chicago O'Hare airport, would boost boardings.

By the end of this month, boardings are projected to be up more than 2,700 for the year, Loy said.

Nearly 1,000 people boarded flights at the Cape Girardeau airport in October, according to Loy.

November figures were forecast to total around 950 passengers on United Express flights, he said.

Those figures do not include charter flights associated with Southeast Missouri State University's football playoff run, which will add several hundred boardings, he said.

"I am very pleased," Loy said. "I knew that hitting 10,000 the first year out of the chute would be difficult."

Even though that threshold is not expected to be met this calendar year, Loy said he believes the city is on the right track toward reaching its goal.

City officials announced earlier this year that the airport will offer more round-trip flights to Chicago on United Express, starting Jan. 7, 2019.

The expanded schedule will provide Cape Girardeau with three round-trip flights to Chicago Monday through Friday and two round-trip flights on both Saturday and Sunday.

In announcing the new schedule, city officials said they expect that having 19 round-trip flights weekly compared to the current dozen will boost boardings.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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