Governor joined local leaders for airport announcement; AA announces new flights

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SOUTH BEND, Ind. --

“Tray table up, buckle up, we’re on our way,” said Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb.

American Airlines made a big announcement Thursday afternoon at the South Bend International Airport.

“We will be flying from South Bend to Dallas and Charlotte!” said airline representatives.

Tickets go on sale starting Monday for non-stop flights to both cities, twice daily for business and leisure.

American Airlines was once part of SBN’s lineup of airline services offered but left back in 2003.

“Just didn’t have what it has today,” said Dale Morris, Senior Consultant Government Affairs for American Airlines.

Officials decided 2018 was a more ideal time.

“The way the community rallied around our cause as an airline and their desire to want to bring service back to South Bend and we saw a genuine commitment,” said Morris.

“This makes is efficient, this makes it more than possible, this encourages more talent relocation to come here and that’s very very exciting,” said Gov. Holcomb.

Now, this will allow passengers who are looking to fly in and out of South Bend to fill 93,000 more seats each year.

ABC 57’s Andrea Alvarez spoke with a local travel consultant who says this benefits travelers in more ways than one.

“We now have access to American’s biggest hub which is Dallas, their next biggest hub, Charlotte. Right now, you might see decreased prices,” said Kevin Lawler, travel consultant with Feasting Flyer Travel.

And it could cause some healthy competition along the way!!

“We really only had the option to go through Atlanta if we’re going south with delta, but now going with Charlotte, they’ll be competing with a lot of the routes to southern cities,” said Lawler.

Governor Holcomb also mentioned that bringing American Airlines to South Bend will bring a new $20 million revenue to Indiana.

You can begin buying tickets on Monday, January 22 but flights will begin departing June 7th.



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