Pan Am Seeks To Expand MidAmerica Airport's Routes
Flights to Detroit and Branson Sought
Belleville, IL (December 24, 2000) -- Pan American Airlines is working to get the federal government's permission to offer flights to Branson and Detroit from MidAmerica St. Louis Airport starting next spring, an airline spokesman said.
The airline has 10 Jetstream commuter planes, and is working to get government approval to use them for commercial flights, airline spokesman Dan Fortnam said.
Commuter flights also could be offered from other destinations the airline serves, including Portsmouth, N.H., Sanford, Florida, or Gary, Indiana.
"The wheels are turning," Fortnam said. "It's a process you never know how long it's going to take."
The airline must file paperwork, undergo inspections and conduct test runs of the airplanes before receiving government approval, Fortnam said. The Federal Aviation Administration and the U.S. Department of Transportation are overseeing the certification process.
Pan Am would not operate all the commuter aircraft from the same airport and will not start all new flights at the same time, Fortnam said. "We can't start all of them at one moment," Fortnam said.
Flights to Branson would be targeted to leisure travelers, while the Detroit flights, which would land and depart from Detroit City Airport near the downtown area, would likely target business traffic.
Fortnam said the airline is confident the new service will succeed because major airlines cannot afford to fly small aircraft into airports where they would be the only carrier operating, such as at MidAmerica Airport.
"We believe there is a niche and a market there," Fortnam said.
Information provided by the Belleville News-Democrat
David Van Den Berg Article © Belleville News-Democrat
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