Cape airport celebrates added flights

Cape Girardeau airport officials celebrated the start Monday of seven additional United Express round-trip flights weekly to Chicago.

Airport manager Bruce Loy called it “an amazing day” as he and others marked the occasion with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Mayor Bob Fox said, “It’s a big thing for Cape Girardeau and our region.”

Utah-based SkyWest airlines operates the United Express service.

The expanded schedule provides Cape Girardeau with three round-trip flights to Chicago from Monday through Friday, and two round-trip flights on both Saturday and Sunday, officials said.

It includes stops at Barkley Regional Airport in Paducah, Kentucky, Loy said.

Several representatives of SkyWest and the Paducah airport attended the afternoon ceremony at Cape Girardeau Regional Airport.

Cape Girardeau now offers 19 round-trip flights weekly compared to the previous dozen flights, he said.

Under the new arrangement, Cape Girardeau will retain its direct noon flight to Chicago O’Hare airport, but the other two flights will include stops in Paducah before traveling to Chicago, airport officials said. There is no longer a stop in Quincy, Illinois, in connection with the Cape Girardeau flights, Loy said.

United Express will continue to provide round-trip flights from Quincy to Chicago under a separate arrangement.

Officials at both the Cape Girardeau and Paducah airports first announced the new schedule in August.

Loy said he expects to see increased boardings because of the added flights.

Under the Essential Air Service program, the federal government subsidizes air passenger service to Cape Girardeau and other small airports.

SkyWest previously served Paducah and Cape Girardeau, but under different subsidy contracts.

The airline offers flights on 50-seat aircrafts. The previous passenger service, Cape Air, provided round-trips to St. Louis on much smaller airplanes.

The subsidy agreement with SkyWest to provide air service to Cape Girardeau runs through November 2019.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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