COLUMBIA — The first arriving flight on the new route between Columbia Regional Airport and Charlotte Douglas International Airport lands Thursday night.
The route was expected to start in early June but now starts with its first departing flight from COU on Friday. A schedule change by American Airlines caused the route' earlier start date, Columbia Airport Manager Mike Parks said.
COU will see two more routes start in two weeks. Allegiant Air flights to Orlando-Sanford will start on June 3, and flights to Destin will start on June 5. Allegiant Air announced earlier this week that it will add a flight to St. Pete-Clearwater, which is on Tampa Bay, in November.
"It means better connectivity for everyone here in mid-Missouri," Parks said. "So, as we continue to have conversations with airlines about our current destinations or direct flights, the most positive thing is really where people can connect from here."
Columbia Regional Airport is set to undergo various improvements this summer as traffic increases from new flights.
The airport is working on parking lot improvements and plans to introduce parking shuttles to ferry passengers to and from a new south lot. That will start on June 1.
"Since they're opening up two more airlines, it'd be nice to have extra parking for the future people that come through here," said William Corrigan, a passenger.
The airport will also have a hot food kitchen that will open in the later part of the summer. Airport Drive is also going to be resurfaced, and new signage will be introduced.
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