O'Hare expands options for flights to smaller Midwestern towns
Come August, Midwestern travelers will have expanded options for flying from O'Hare International Airport to destinations in Illinois, Missouri and Kentucky.
Tennessee-based Contour Airlines will offer daily service to downstate Marion, as well as to Kirksville, Missouri, and to Owensboro, Kentucky.
"This new, frequent service will provide fast connections to points across the globe for tens of thousands of residents in southern Illinois, northern Missouri and western Kentucky," Chicago Department of Aviation Commissioner Jamie Rhee said Tuesday.
Flights to all three towns will be offered 12 times a week, with twice-daily service scheduled five days a week.
The new initiative is part of a federal government program, the Essential Air Service, to increase aviation opportunities for smaller communities "that would not otherwise be profitable," officials said.
Adding Contour will bring the locations covered by the Essential Air Service at O'Hare to 18.
The flights will "introduce fast and reliable regional jet service to our new EAS communities," Contour CEO Matt Chaifetz said.
Contour will begin service from O'Hare on Aug. 1, flying to Veterans Airport of Southern Illinois, Kirksville Regional Airport and Owensboro-Daviess County Airport.