ROANOKE, Va. – Flights to Charleston or West Palm Beach could be in the cards if Roanoke-Blacksburg Regional Airport convinces a new airline to send some flights to Roanoke.
The new airline could help customers’ pockets and save the economy.
A trip to New Orleans or Tampa sounds great until you have to rush to your connecting flight. But Roanoke-Blacksburg Regional Airport (ROA) hopes they can eliminate that by partnering with Breeze Airways, a new airline that offers cheaper nonstop flights to underserved areas.
ROA Director of Marketing and Air Service Development Brad Boettcher with the airport said it could lead to more hires and give the local economy a boost.
“And if companies are interested in locating here, they are going to want to have as much service as possible,” Boettcher said. “As much we can put those building blocks in place and be better for the region.”
Boettcher said traffic picked up in the holidays, but capacity is still down 20%.
New flights could help the airport bounce back from the coronavirus pandemic, like a New York flight did.
The La Guardia flight that returned in November garnered plenty of passengers but also questions about the flight prices.
Boettcher said they reached out to the carriers to see if the fares could be adjusted.
“The business traffic is soft right now. You can’t be charging business fares and expect it to really do that well,” he said.
Boettcher said they are still in the planning stages, but if a deal is made with Breeze Airways they could see flights in about a couple of years.