The Cape Girardeau Regional Airport celebrated their first flight to Chicago on Friday, Dec. 1 with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. In August, the U.S. Department of Transportation approved SkyWest, a United Express airline, as the new air carrier to provide service to the airport, ending an eight year contract with Cape Air.
Airport manager Bruce Loy gave his last thank you to the previous carrier, saying they were an incredible partner in making that moment possible.
“Cape Air brought back focus on this airport and this community for air transportation,” said Loy. “And because of them, we are so fortunate to have a bid from SkyWest to provide CRJ-200, 50-passenger seat service here with a lavatory and a flight attendant, dang it.”
At noon on Friday, the Canadair Regional jet arrived at the airport from Chicago O’Hare International Airport, and was given the traditional hosing down shortly after it landed on the runway.
SkyWest will connect passengers in the region with Chicago O’Hare International Airport in Chicago, while offering 12 weekly round trip flights. Flights will take a once-daily stop through Quincy, Illinois to pick up additional passengers, and travel time will average to about one hour. Both Quincy and Cape Girardeau communities had to select the carrier for one of them to connect to SkyWest.
Cape Girardeau’s airport terminal underwent several small changes, including an increase in waiting area seating, and a larger security holding area.