MUSKEGON COUNTY, Mich. — Large and small airports around the country are seeing passenger numbers rebound. At the Muskegon County Airport, returning to normal would mean about 37,000 travelers would fly to or from the airport in Norton Shores over the course of a year.
Earlier this year Muskegon County Commissioners hired Milwaukee-based F3 Airport to manage airport operations.
With only one month on the job, new airport director Joel Burgess announced Wednesday, April 14 that an additional flight will be serving the airport beginning June 3.
“This is great news for our community and is an indicator that people are slowly feeling comfortable traveling again amidst the global pandemic,” said Burgess. "That additional third flight which will run five days a week is good to see. From an air service development standpoint that means the airline looked at the bookings for the summer and recognized that there was additional demand out of the market."
The 9:58 a.m., 3:25 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. departures from Muskegon to Chicago O'Hare are timed to provide maximum connection opportunities in Chicago and will provide travelers seamless access to United’s global network. From Chicago, United offers hundreds of daily flights to more than 200 destinations around the world.
All United Express flights from Muskegon to Chicago are aboard SkyWest’s 50-passenger CRJ200 regional aircraft.
"Summer is a busy travel time for West Michigan both inbound and outbound. The community loves this airport," said Burgess. "You can park, come in, get through security and be comfortably sitting at gate within minutes."
Unite Express's schedule calls for the third flight to end Aug. 16.
According to Burgess, from gate to gate the trip to Chicago is about an hour.
Customers can access the new flights at United's website or by calling United Airlines reservations at 1-800-846-8331.
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