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SkyWest To Replace CapeAir As Air Carrier At Cape Girardeau Regional Airport: Destination Chicago

Lindsey Grojean/KRCU

The U.S. Department of Transportation has approved a new air carrier that will provide service to the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport. SkyWest will now connect passengers in the region with the Chicago O’Hare International Airport in Chicago. The new airline will offer 12 weekly round trip flights on  50-seat passenger jets.

 

After eight years, CapeAir will end its air service contract with the airport, and flights to St. Louis will no longer be offered when SkyWest begins service in December 2017. Bruce Loy, airport manager at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport, said they’re happy SkyWest came their way.

 

“They felt strong enough about this community to make a proposal that would offer us this service to Chicago O’Hare,”  Loy said. “And we’re very pleased that we’ll be able to provide this service to the community and the region beginning in December.”

 

Loy said they had a great partner in CapeAir with their support of the community and their customer service since 2009.

 

“I feel like we’re losing a piece of our family,” said Loy. “We’re still excited about the growth potential that we have now with SkyWest.”

 

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 will undergo several small changes, including an increase in waiting area seating, and a larger security holding area.

 

SkyWest will conduct interviews with current employees that would like to potentially stay on, as well as the possibility of creating additional part-time positions.