[Archive Home][Date Prev][Date Next][Index]
CAA: Airport News, "Akron-Canton, Ohio, Regional Airport to Become an International Stopover"
February 11, 2000
Akron-Canton, Ohio, Regional Airport to Become an International Stopover
Akron Beacon Journal, Ohio
Feb. 11--This spring, the Akron-Canton Regional Airport will become an
international stop-over when an Air Canada regional affiliate begins direct
flights to Toronto.
The carrier will operate three daily flights from Akron-Canton to Lester B.
Pearson International Airport in Toronto beginning May 15. The flights will
be the first international service available at the 53-year-old regional
airport.
"It's exciting," said Fred Krum, Akron-Canton Regional Airport's director of
aviation. "It opens up not only Toronto, but all of the Air Canada network
out of Toronto -- all the other Canadian and international cities."
The three flights will be operated on 18-seat turbo-prop aircraft by Air
Georgian, a regional affiliate of Air Canada. But it is not yet known which
brand name will be used, said John Percy, spokesman for the Toronto-based
regional carrier.
Fares for the flights will be announced early next week, Percy said.
Akron-Canton is part of the regional airline's six-city expansion. Service
also will begin in Dayton; Louisville, Ky.; Albany, N.Y.; Southbend, Ind.,
and Grand Rapids, Mich.
Percy said the Akron-Canton area has been on his company's radar for some
time.
"We've had some feedback from some of our customers," Percy said. "We feel
there's definitely opportunity there."
Krum said the Toronto service is just the beginning of a growth spurt for
the Akron-Canton Regional Airport.
In the next 60 days, he said, the airport will complete a master plan for a
$15 million expansion of its terminal.
The expansion is in response to the increase in traffic at the airport --
the number of passengers is up 85 percent in the last four years, Krum said.
Air Canada's regional affiliate will be the seventh airline to operate
flights in and out of Akron-Canton. The others are US Airways, AirTran,
Delta's ComAir, United Express, Northwest Airlink and Continental Express.
Krum said the new service is proof of the Akron area's increasing prominence
in the business world.
"There's just a lot of new business development here, and we're
communicating that to the airlines," said Krum, adding that he expects to
announce the addition of other new carriers soon. "They're starting to get
the idea of what's going on around here and respond."
Bob Bowman, vice president of economic development for the Akron Regional
Development Board, said growth at the airport will heighten the area's
attractiveness to business leaders.
"Obviously, the more accessible we are in the world marketplace, the greater
the opportunity for our companies to compete in that marketplace," Bowman
said. "It also allows us to attract investment -- the more access we can
create, the more desirable a location we are to businesses."
*****************************************
California Aviation Alliance: Airport News List E-mail Commands
To subscribe to the Airport News List, send an email, from the email account you wish to receive your posts on, addressed to listserv@californiaaviation.org and place only the following in the first line of the body of the message:
Subscribe airport YourFirstName YourLastName YourJobTitle YourAirport/Company
To unsubscribe from the Airport News List, send an email, from the email account you have been receiving your posts on, addressed to listserv@californiaaviation.org and place only the following in the first line of the body of the message:
Unsubscribe airport YourFirstName YourLastName
If you have problems or questions concerning your subscription, please contact stepheni@cwnet.com or visit the CAA Mail List Administration Page at http://www.californiaaviation.org/serv01.htm