Contour carrier switch at Cape airport approved

The U.S. Department of Transportation has officially approved the change in carrier service at Cape Girardeau Regional Airport.

Contour Aviation was approved by DOT on Tuesday. The Nashville, Tennessee-based carrier is expected to take over service in mid-October at Cape Girardeau, airport manager Katrina Amos said.

Amos said the official start date will be Oct. 18. Tickets for flights under Contour will go on sale at the end of this week.

The start date was determined, in large part, by the Taxiway Bravo improvements, which began Tuesday. The $4.8 million project will necessitate a closure of the airport's largest runway — and thus closure of jet service — at the airport for 10 days. Currently, the closure is anticipated to be Oct. 3 to 13, but that is subject to change.

"We're trying to make sure that the start date doesn't coincide with airport closures," Amos said.

The wait for approval was longer than usual because of a heavy volume of regional airports changing service in the wake of SkyWest's termination notice for 29 communities earlier this year, including Cape Girardeau.

The change to Contour was approved unanimously by Cape Girardeau City Council members earlier this year.

Amos said she was excited about the announcement being official. Next, staff from Contour will begin establishing and executing a transition plan at the airport.