Airline service to Chicago, KC to start Feb. 1

Monday, November 6, 2006

By Doug Wilson

Herald-Whig Senior Writer

Quincy Regional Airport will have daily airline service to Chicago's Midway Airport and to Kansas City starting Feb. 1.

The new air service for Quincy, along with flights to Decatur and Marion, will be funded with $1.65 million from the state of Illinois and matching funds from each of the cities. The financial incentives are offered to airlines through the I-FLY program created in 2003 by Sen. John Sullivan, D-Rushville, and other lawmakers.

"We knew at the time that I-FLY was passed that it was the infrastructure we could build off of and we knew we didn't have any funding" but expected it would eventually become part of the state budget, Sullivan said.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich announced flights to Quincy, Decatur and Marion airports today. He said commercial airline service is an economic development issue for the entire state.

"Increasing travel options between Chicago and downstate communities will boost our case as we continue urging businesses to look at expanding and locating in Illinois," Blagojevich said.

Air Midwest, a subsidiary of Mesa Airlines, will begin offering the flights on Feb. 1. No arrival or departure times have been set so far.

Quincy will get two daily round trips to Midway on weekdays. There will be one round trip each on Saturday and Sunday. In addition, Air Midwest will offer one daily flight to Kansas City.

Air Midwest will operate with Beech 1900 turboprop planes that can carry up to 19 passengers.

"The addition ... is a terrific boost for the transportation options of our region," said Rep. Jil Tracy, R-Mount Sterling.

Susan Shea, director of aviation for the Illinois Department of Transportation, was scheduled to visit Quincy, Decatur and Marion today. She said the Quincy service to Midway should be early in the morning and late in the day, with the Kansas City service sometime around midday.

"For us it's a really exciting day. We have been improving access to transportation," Shea said.

Airport Manager Mark Hanna said the city may have up to a $20,000 annual obligation as part of the new service. He said several contracts will need to be signed in coming days to finalize marketing efforts, space rental and other details.

"We've had four or five airlines trying to get this deal," Hanna said.

The flights to Kansas City will stop in Kirksville, Mo. Hanna said Kirksville airport ended its St. Louis flights last weekend and started offering Kansas City connections.

Hanna said the Kansas City connections have been sought for Quincy for years. "It's just a logical step for us," Hanna said.

Quincy Mayor John Spring said the airline service is the second bit of good news on transportation in recent weeks. Spring said the addition of a second daily Amtrak train helped create other options for travelers.

"Like Amtrak, if we want the service, we have to use it," Spring said.

Quincy has four daily airline connections to St. Louis aboard RegionsAir, which receives federal subsidies. But air service between Quincy and Chicago was suspended in early 2003.

Decatur's Chicago service ended in 1999 and Marion's service to Chicago ended in 1986. Both Marion and Decatur have St. Louis service.

Contact Senior Writer Doug Wilson at dwilson@whig.com or (217) 221-3372